Bicycling Utah, Arizona, Nevada

May - 2009

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We woke up, loaded up the bicycles and walked over to the coffee shop for breakfast. After a very filling breakfast and several yummy cups of coffee, we went to the gas station, bought water for our water bottles and hit the road. We pedaled through Panguitch and made a left turn onto Hwy 89 and stayed on this road almost all day. The good news was the ride was very beautiful. The bad news was we went uphill for a very long time. We went uphill so long that we stopped several times in the middle of a climb just to catch our breath. The hills were pretty steady, between 1%-5%, with some hills going up to 8%-10%. We rode through Red Canyon, which was so awesome because the rocks changed from dark grey to red and orange in an instant.

There was a paved bike trail that we rode for about 7 miles, which kept us out of traffic.

About 2 miles past the summit, we saw a building that advertised Soup And Pie, so we stopped. We had a great lunch with pie for dessert. Jim just ordered soup and Pie, and didn't specify which kind of soup he wanted. He ended up with the same soup Mary Kay and Barbara ordered. The pie was homemade and Ala Mode included ice cream that could have been scooped with a soup ladle. One of the most interesting things was that when we were on the shoulder of the road, almost everyone except for the big RVs moved over and gave us room. The motorcycle riders even waved at us. We passed a building that looked like a barn, which had BRYCE CANYON AIRPORT painted on the roof. The airport is the only wood structure hangar in Utah, was built by the CCC in 1937 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. We arrived at Ruby's Inn and only one room was available. So, we planned to shower and catch the shuttle into the canyon, but, alas, even though it was advertised as running May through September, the shuttle doesn't REALLY run until Memorial Day weekend. So, we dropped our gear and rode our bikes into the park. Scott nearly had a heart attack when the park rangers charged $12.00 per person, even though we were on tandem bikes. We paid the $24.00 and saw some spectacular sights.

After seeing some of the sights, we returned to the hotel, showered and went for dinner. The restaurant was overpriced and under flavored-not one of our favorites. After dinner, we retired for the night.

Submitted by Barbara