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Sunday, July 6, 2008, KOA Campground, Cedar City, Utah
We got up early, but the clock showed an hour later than usual because we entered a new time zone, Mountain Time, when we crossed into Utah, so we left at 6:15 rather than 5:15. Unfortunately, the wind never entirely died down from the night before so we were dealing with it from the start. At 13 miles, we arrived in Minersville and stopped at a Convenience store for snacks. As we were leaving, we happened to see Mama drive by. We weren’t expecting her because she usually doesn’t leave until much later. We ran into the middle of the street waving our arms and hoping she would look in her rearview mirror and see us. After several long seconds, her brake lights come on and she pulls over. She didn’t see us in her rearview mirror, but she saw our bikes with flags leaning against the wall further down the street. Since she was there, we ate more snacks. After re-checking the map, I discovered my mileage calculations were wrong; we had over 50 miles to go to Cedar City. Oh well. Once on the road, we played an adapted version of an old game: “Name That Tune.” The first player sang the first word of a song. If no one got it, he sang the first and second word. If still no one got it, he sang the first, second, and third word. This kept up until the correct song was blurted out. The winner received a point and the “microphone” to sing the next song. Fun. I won. As the ride to the summit got steeper, we stopped playing and fell into our usual pattern of riding separately, as well as we could until reaching the summit. At the summit, we ate some more and rested briefly before descending, which is always fun and sometimes so relaxing that you can get sleepy. The descent was gradual, so we pedaled also. On the way, we saw an eagle perched on top of a telephone pole. The wind was slightly with us which was great because I was tired from yesterday, sleepy too. I was almost falling asleep while I was pedaling. Fortunately, after a while, big puffy grey clouds moved over us and shaded us from the hot sun. Close by cloud bursts erupted all around. Finally, our turn arrived and we were pleasantly rained upon which woke me up and cooled us off. When we arrived in the town of Enoch, we were wet and refreshed. We waited for the others to arrive: Becky, Willie, and Paul. Upon arrival we discovered Paul had fallen because he was not paying attention; fortunately neither he nor the bike was hurt. We went to a Maverick gas station and what a pleasant surprise. They had literally 40 different soda, coffee, icee, shake, and ice-cream dispensers. Everything you could think of. We’d never seen such a variety, and at reasonable prices, cheaper than California. For example, four ice-cream sandwiches for a dollar. I made a foot-high tower of frozen yogurt in a cup for only $1.90, which fed half the family. Later in the day, we ate Little Caesar’s pizzas in the park, where we changed and cleaned up, then went to the evening service at the First Baptist Church of Cedar City. We heard a good sermon by Jim, the interim pastor, on the “Tator Family” and sang some old hymns, something we hadn’t done for years and I miss it. Before sundown, we set up the tent at the KOA campground, took showers, ate, and did laundry. Everyone is tired and tomorrow we plan to take a day off. We rode 200 miles in three days. I am on a new map now. Our next ride should be very difficult. We are crossing the hardest mountain pass out of Cedar City over 10,000 feet. We need to rest up to gear up for it. 54 miles.