Day 12: Gravel Roads

Well the 73 mile day started off well, as I forged onto Salina, UT by my lone self, hand written directions in hand. The scenery started to green up and the air smelled fresh again. Enjoying the ride, not getting lost.

Then I got on the frontage road of I-15 after about 32 miles and it looked promising. Not a car in sight (minus the ones using I-15), a nice red pavement, and clear skies. Well that all lasted about another 2 miles...and then the frontage road turned into a gravel road, which a road bike is definitely not suited to ride on. So I unclipped and walked for awhile in hopes that the pavement would return, and to my likings it did about a mile later. BUT, that only lasted for about a 1/2 mile. Then I was walking again...for the next 7ish miles. Huge bummer. So that ate up about 2 hours. Not to mention, not only did the frontage road turn into gravel, but it also had some random, completely unnecessary, ridiculous hills. Not easy or fun to walk up in bike shoes and with a bike. But I made it, met some of the guys for lunch, and got back on good old U.S. Route 50 East for the last 30 miles.

The gravel frontage road...

During the last 30 miles, we got waved down by some Highway Patrol Officers because of some insane oversized load trucks. We were all wondering what they could be carrying that the police were literally stopping traffic. We were all shocked as two trucks carrying some random machine parts drove by legitimately taking up both lanes. I have never in my life seen any oversized load that big.

Waiting for the trucks to pass.

Shockingly Gigantic.

Once we got into town, we were pleasantly surprised by a complimentary stay at the very friendly Friendship Inn. Then we ate some dinner at Famous Mom's Cafe in town. If you are ever in Salina, UT, you HAVE to go to Mom's Cafe and get a scone, it's a must. And you have to use the honey butter. It really was to die for. SO good.

We have a long, tough day ahead of us tomorrow, as we're squeezing two days of riding into one, so we can take a trip to the Grand Canyon and still stay on schedule and not skip out on any of the biking on our route. So with that, we're off to Green River, UT tomorrow!