After a nice stay in an Airbnb, the team was ready to tackle the climb of the day at Guardsman Pass. We had beautiful scenery of the mountains and canyon as we rode throughout the day, and had a delicious lunch stop on our way to Salt Lake City! During our rest day, we enjoyed walking around Temple Square, watching an organ performance at the LDS conference center, seeing the state capitol, having a spontaneous interaction at East High, and welcoming Hanxi back to the team!
Quote of the Day
Stephanie: “Where is the president (Dev)?”
Andres: “Probably addressing the nation or something.”
RIDE OVERVIEW
Mileage: 42.6 Miles
Elevation: 4,648 ft.
Points of Interest: Guardsman Pass, Wasatch Mountains, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Cotton Bottom Inn, Salt Lake Utah Temple, LDS Conference Center, Temple Square, Utah State Capitol, East High School (HSM!)
Ride Dedication: Pat Guibord and Ron Guibord
Tales of the Trail
Day 46
After some well-needed rest, the team said bye to Doyle (our Airbnb host) and set out for the day, mentally prepared for the climb ahead. One group had the typical coffee stop at OG Cafe before heading out to the climb to join the other groups. We headed up Guardsman Pass in the Wasatch Mountains, where the first group ended up joining some locals for the journey up, and boy, were they speedy! The climb ended up being less challenging than we expected, difficult nonetheless, but climbing in Pennsylvania and Colorado earlier in the ride prepared us well for this mini challenge. Once we reached the top, the team enjoyed a 20-mile descent down the pass, going through Big Cottonwood Canyon and enjoying the stunning views that the surrounding mountains had in store for us - a great reward after a climb. At the bottom of the descent, we stopped for some grub at Cotton Bottom Inn, where most of the team got garlic cheeseburgers to fill up our bellies.
All fed, we went on to complete the last 8 miles of the road, where Dev managed to get a flat! His group was able to fix the flat in a timely manner, and they were on their way! The last 2 miles were difficult to navigate for the team as there were constant holes, cracks, and bumps in the road. Every couple of seconds, there would be a callout that echoed throughout the group, “Hole left! Bump middle! Car back! Slowing! Watch right!” It was a choir. Once we arrived at the stayover, our hosts at Zion Lutheran Church ELCA provided us with dinner and dessert! We got to chat with them over the meal and learn more about their members and the local area, many of whom were alumni from UIUC. Later in the night, Andres and Matt buzzed their heads! They will definitely be more aerodynamic on the bikes now. Jessica, Veronica, and Micah also got hair trims, feeling fresh with their new looks before heading to bed for the night, ready to explore Salt Lake City in the day ahead.
Day 47
We had a great start to the morning, and everyone got to finally sleep in before enjoying the day in Salt Lake City. It was a very chill morning, with a breakfast donation of cereal, bagels, and fruit. After freshening up in the morning, we shuttled to Temple Square, where we got to check out the LDS church and conference center, which both had beautiful organs! We stepped out of the conference center to get some coffee and returned soon after to watch an amazing organ performance. Yucong had a solo sidequest, as she participated in a free boxing class! After spending some time in Temple Square and shopping around, we shuttled over to the Utah State Capitol, where we learned about the history of Utah, looked at some of the art in the building, and took a brief nap on the grass outside. We also found out that East High, the school in High School Musical, was a 10-minute drive from the state capitol, which prompted us to drive over and check it out.
We arrived at East High, which was a primary filming location for the movie, and we walked around to check out the building. We ended up meeting a really nice auto shop worker, who agreed to do a portrait, and he even gave us a lesson on the street system in Salt Lake City. We talked with him for a while, and it was an amazing and spontaneous interaction that we’ll remember for a long time! Afterwards, we made our way back to the church, where people made sandwiches donated by the stayover, and we did some well-needed van cleaning before starting dinner. For dinner, we had pulled pork sandwiches and egg salad provided by the stayover, and we spent the rest of the night doing bike maintenance and prep for the next day. For some exciting news, Hanxi made her return to the team later in the night, as she flew into Salt Lake City to continue the ride!
Thank you to Zion Lutheran Church, ELCA, for letting us sleep in your church for two nights, giving us showers and laundry, and planning some amazing meals for us with some local Illini!
Sorry for the hiatus in journal posts, we’ve had a long stretch without service/wifi, and a couple of tough days.
Cyclist’s Corner
Today’s Rider: Dev Dassani
How are you feeling today?
I'm feeling pretty good. It was a hard day at first, with a very steep and long climb, but I definitely enjoyed the physical challenge, and it was amazing to get to the top of Guardsman Pass and just see the views of Utah and the descent, super fun just going down through the mountains into the valley and the canyon. And it was great to finally arrive in Salt Lake City, although I did get a flat with about eight miles to go, which was a little hard to deal with.
Which chore have you been doing for the team in the past week? Can you share your process doing this chore?
I am the journal chore. I think everyone reading this has a good idea of what I do, because you are all reading the journals, and I'm very grateful to everyone reading them.
What’s the best food you’ve eaten on the ride so far?
I don't know if this is the best food, but the most memorable experience for me was in Idaho Springs at Beau Jo’s Pizza. We got mountain pies, which was the first time I've heard of that type of pizza, and the pizza was great. And I really loved eating the crust with honey. It was pretty big and fluffy, which was awesome.
Do you have a favorite accessory to wear with your ride uniform?
Yeah, I have a tie-dye bandana that I really like wearing. I just think it's fun to wear a bandana, and it just makes the ride a little better for me, and I also just put a Sonic on my bike, so that's pretty cool.
Any favorite team memories so far?
Yeah, one of my favorite team memories was definitely biking up to Loveland Pass, which was already super challenging, but fun. And after that, I really enjoyed hiking up Mount Snicktau. We met some great people up there. It was just a really fun hike in general; it was my first time hiking that high, and everything about it was just super awesome. I enjoyed the challenge.