DAY 18 - Burley to Snowville

Thursday July 17th 2008.

Snowville- very ironic name for the town that has been the (almost) hottest -112- yet this tour. (huntington - 116)

(IF you have facebook, it is easier for me to upload photos there...check them...or wait until i can upload them on blogger)

WE started out today with quite the large group and turned it into a 12 man peleton, rotating every so often for the roads were open and empty. Although, I still find that these roads are still very rough, and that they are not fully paved as per usual. It is like the pavement is made of mixed granular pea sized rocks and then coated together, leaving a very porous surface to ride on. Our group downsized 2 times over the course of the day.

The first part of the ride was climbing, we had two hills. The first hill was about 5 km long with a 5% grade. The second hill was a little bit longer and a little bit worse, (just like the song goes).

About 10 km from the 100 km mark, and still on an incline up, a head wind started and didn’t stop until now, about 9:30pm. Walter’s RV was parked at the top of the hill, and it was definitely oasis like in form. I pulled my group up the last 10km and was definitely looking for a break. Walter’s is the best place for we can sit, in the shade, for trees this past week, are FEW and FAR BETWEEN, it is definitely desert like, and now the sage brush is getting even smaller, so when you stop on the side of the road to relieve yourself, you really have to position yourself accordingly (wehee!!).

The border to entering UTAH was about 100m and we took a moment for a photo op.
Then we headed downhill into the wind…not as successful as thought of prior to leaving Walter’s. The last 40 km of the ride was mostly downhill, and definitely work, for the headwind was strong. Not to mention the temp on someone’s bike computer was reading 112 degrees F. See it is warm already, but then with the heat off the pavement, the dry heat off the pavement, really does make you feel like you are in a desert. I do not mind the heat as of yet, for when cycling; there is a breeze (which of course you are creating), it is when you stop, that I notice the warmth of the outdoors.

Hilena, Laura and I rode the rest of the way in together, keeping ourselves amused by telling each other stories and keeping our mind off of pedalling.

Once in camp, we signed in and ambled over to the water table...SO THIRSTY, we had been nursing our last water bottle (filled with bath water temperature liquids).

In all it was glorious, absolutely glorious to come camp and just be here. Then we were blessed with a wonderful shower set up. A rubber hose, under a tarp which was hanging over a dining tent. Quite the interesting set up. Picture will follow!