The first Utah milepost is 174. It was almost all downhill from Dinosaur to the state line, and the first 10 miles or so of Utah are on a gradual downslope. I took advantage of this, plus the lack of a headwind, to make up for lost time.
After mp 169, the usable shoulder shrinks to about 2 feet. So I rode in the road. There is little traffic, and what there is seems quite bike-conscious. At mp163, rumble strip disappears, making shoulder usable again at about 4 feet wide. Then, less than two miles later, a rumble strip is cut right down the middle of that! In some places it's paved over, thus usable, but better consider it unreliable until, after mp 169, the shoulder widens to at least 6 feet again. Starting to get passed too closely by bike-hating assholes and bike-unseeing dimwits.
In Jensen, had the lunch special at L and M Country Store. Everything overpriced, but the beef burrito was pretty good. After passing through all those no-towns (just names on a map) and closed towns, I've learned to grab a home-cooked meal at every opportunity.
Just past there, at mp 157, shoulder dwindles to two or less usable feet. A cop, Utah highway patrol, stopped me to warn me about the danger. He wasn't being an asshole, either. He told me about a bicyclist who'd gotten splattered on this same stretch, some time ago. He was riding with another cyclist, something I realized was a bad idea when I saw how some motorists swerve into the shoulder after passing me. Dollars to doughnuts they're looking at me out the right-side mirror. Anyone riding in front of me would be hurting or dead.
Milepost 153 makes 52 miles for day 21.
Night temps have been almost balmy since dropping below about 6000 feet.
Stopped at the Quizno's still 9 miles from Vernal, to use their wifi. Nobody knows the goddamned key. Nobody knows who to fucking call to get the goddamned key. Bunch of mindless zombies. Funny, in the movies the only way to put them out of operation is a bullet to the brain. Guess that makes these guys unstoppable. Fortunately, their activities are relatively benign. Will try to upload when I get to Vernal.
last updated 2009-08-20 22:50:42. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com