Brigham City, UT to Park City, UT

Well the warning about a hard day today was certainly true. It was the toughest yet. It was 97 miles, with 2 mountain range crossings of 5,723 feet uphill. Everyone tried to get an early start for the day and our schedule was moved up 1/2 hour in the morning. Most of the ride today was urban, at least until we got through Salt Lake City. The area from Brigham City to Salt Lake City runs together as urban area. Our day's directions were a little confusing and there were a lot of local bikers out riding. I stopped one gentleman and asked directions. He insisted on taking us through most of the city to get us to where we could find our way for sure and led us for about 15 miles. Those are great interaction times and you get to tell about the cause we are riding for.

The Salt Lake City CRC is very near downtown. They hosted refreshments for us in the church basement. In the city, all the street numbers run North, South, East, or West from the Mormon temple downtown. That makes it pretty easy to find your way around. I did not detour to see the temple, as it was such a long day and needed to conserve my energy.

Immediately after leaving the church, the hill climbing for the day started. On a city street, there was a hill that was so steep, myself and 3 guys I was biking with had to walk our bikes up it. That was a discouraging start to what might lie ahead for the day.

The mountain climbing for the day was long and hard. I had my bike in the lowest gear most of the time, which means 5-6 mph. I wish I had one or two more lower gears for the extreme grade climbs (30 gear combos is not enough!!). The first mountain climb was up a narrow canyon that had homes built into the mountain sides and there were quite a few trees at the lower levels for shady spot rest stops. I can see why forest fires could be devastating to such areas. At the higher levels, it opened up more and we had several switchbacks to conquer. When we finally reached the peak of the first range, another CRC local group had a canopy setup with refreshments and carb snacks. They were a welcome site. One of the daughters of those folks had a spray water mister that she enjoyed using to cool us down. Those folks were very encouraging to us.

After that, we had a fun downslope ride for several miles. I could not let it totally go, as the road was not the smoothest and I would rather not wipe out going 40+ mph. The valley below was suddenly very hot. We needed to get on I-80 at that point for about 5 miles. The entrance ramp was so steep and long, that I had to stop and rest a couple times just finish it. Then the climb really began. I have never seen such a long and steep interstate climb. The traffic was very heavy, but we had a wide shoulder. Some of the semis were shifted down so low that they were just creeping along and emitting a lot of exhaust to us. There were several stopped by the side that had overheated. Once we reached the top, it was mostly downhill to the Park City area. We rode past the previous Winter Olympic sites, ski jump and downhill courses. This is a resort/ski town and pretty upscale.

After Park City, we needed to get to the Jordanelle State Park for our weekend camp. We had to get on US40 for about 4 miles, and immediately we could see ahead of us for the next couple miles a very steep hill. The was mentally tough. I kept thinking, I'm in the 4th quarter here and can't lose this game now. I biked most of the day with Don Brunsting and Mark Fasse , fellow Michiganders. We needed each other to keep going and support each other. I can't begin to tell you how physically and mentally challenging this day was. Prayers were answered as we were given just enough strength for the day to complete the ride at about 6:30 p.m. The ride had started at about 7:00 a.m. Also, my prayer about my sore hip was answered as the pain was a lot better today and did not act up during the long ride. It is still sore to the touch, but I can live with that.

Julie was not back from SAG when I arrived. She had to pickup at least 2 people that could not complete the day and other SAGs had a few more. The camp for the weekend is quite spread out and requires a lot of walking to get to our meal area, showers, and camping. Julie and I would have been far from the other campers if we wanted to be attached to the pickup. We decided that this would be a good weekend to find a local hotel for a couple nights and get recharged, do our wash and get caught up on things. We are at the Hampton in the Park City area and it is WONDERFUL!! No earwigs bugs in our room like our tent has!!

Tonight we worship with the local CRC churches at the state park. Tomorrow is promised to be another tough day of mountain range crossing and are told we will probably up with the snow. We covet your prayers for continued health and strength.

Love to all, P & J.