The rest day in Salt Lake City was phenomenal, but it was time for us to get back on the road once again. We were able to ride from one Utah university to another, in University of Utah to Utah State University. The temperatures were rising after coming down from our forays in the mountains and the new challenge, or maybe the returning challenge, was staying cool and hydrated. Our team in the van, now unfortunately adding those who wiped out on our last riding day, was being super helpful in meeting us at the rest stops and doing their best to keep everyone else in good shape and spirits. Let’s retell what happened on the road for us today.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 88.5 miles
Elevation: +2,286 ft. / -2,417 ft.
Points of Interest: University of Utah, Salt Lake City Olympic Flame Holder, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Great Salt Lake, Box Elder Creek, Utah State University
Tales of the Trail
Since the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church where we were staying was very close and just to the South of the University of Utah, we had a little bit of a tour through campus to start the day. We saw where the Olympic Flame for the 2002 Winter Games would have been lit and then made it through the center of campus before diving more into the heart of Salt Lake City. As we rode through the city, we saw just how big of an operation the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is with office buildings and churches and temples. It was almost a city of its own within the greater city. As we approached our exit from town, a train problem had us hike our bikes over a pedestrian bridge and then we were onto the amazing trails that would continue long into the day.
To start, we followed the Jordan River and Legacy Parkway Trails, then it was the D&RGW Trail that we would take all the way to West Haven Trail and finally we would exit as we were Southwest of Ogden. Before all of that though, we noticed along the trails we were riding earlier that the 2002 Olympic Games logos were present, so some of this biking infrastructure must have been built for the purpose of getting people around and improving the city at that time. It was neat to have been at the stadium where the opening ceremony would have been and then follow it up by riding the trails that were built for the event.
There was also not a cloud in the sky this morning. We looked around while riding at one point and couldn’t see anything but blue. For early in the day, that was really nice, but at the time it made us worried about the afternoon without any shade from the Sun that seems to be so powerful up here at elevation. We passed plenty of cyclists and had plenty pass us along our way to the first rest stop. That first rest stop was a hit, by the way, because it was a gas station that was so new it wasn’t even on Google Maps and it had many, many calories on offer as displayed so well by Anthony here:
The temperature kept rising as we continued on, but because we were on trails and separated from traffic, the mood continued to be easy going since that stress of moving vehicles around us was taken away. We found a treehouse to climb in and grab a moment in the shade and then the two teams found each other at the end of the trail just a couple miles before the second rest stop. Again, we fueled here and brought plenty of water for the next stretch because the ride too was going to get tough. Most of our day thus far was flat, but the crossing from Brigham City to Logan over Sardine Summit was looming. After another 16 miles, we reached the base.
This climb was nothing insane compared to what we have been conquering over the last couple of weeks, but being on the highway and having the Sun bake us for the hour in which we would be climbing did not make the effort that much easier. Those on the road found the van a couple miles in at a pull off and filled up the water bottles again. Cole jumped into Box Elder Creek to cool off and was dry again almost before starting to ride. Everyone made it to the top successfully though and followed it up with a descent most of the way to Logan. The road afterwards was a little bit longer on the flats than to say we descended to Logan, those last couple miles brought on some extra exhaustion and hurt for sure.
We are spending the night at the First Presbyterian Church here and they arranged dinner for us along with showers at the local high school, so we could not be happier. For dessert, we even had some ice cream popsicles called Creamies that are local to Cache Valley and they were so good. We’re looking forward to checking off a new state on our list tomorrow.
