Theme tours (page 4) - CycleBlaze

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Theme tours (page 4)

Henry DaltonTo Wayne Estes

A friend and I rode across southern Utah in mid-May of this year, and the weather was fine--not too hot at the lower elevations, only a few patches of snow at the higher elevations of Cedar Breaks. I forget if you've seen them already, but I highly recommend side trips from your route to Bryce Canyon (crowded, but worth it; most of the route from Panguitch to Zion is on an excellent paved bike path), Cedar Breaks (almost as good of scenery as Bryce, almost no tourists), and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

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2 years ago
Jeff LeeTo Wayne Estes

I lived in Orem (Provo area) for three years starting in 2009. I can assure you that as a non-member of the LDS church it, was very much like living in a foreign country!

My wife and I went back for a visit two years ago, and Utah Valley seemed to have absolutely exploded in population - and it was already busy several years before when we lived there.

I looked at your route (North of Spanish Fork, anyway, which is the area that is familiar to me.) Looks pretty good.

I see your route has a spur to Vivian Park on the bike path. That's a nice ride. Any specific reason you're going up the canyon? (Other than it's very pleasant?)

Something you could do, if you want to do a little climbing, is ride past Vivian Park on the shoulder of 189 for a short distance, and make a left onto 92, AKA the Alpine Loop. That climb will take you past the Sundance Ski Resort (which has a very good restaurant, by the way). Past that is one of the all-time great scenic bike rides in the area - if it's open; much of the year it's snow covered. You can follow the Alpine Loop to the high point over 7,000 feet and then down past Timpanogos Cave (worth checking out), and then down into Cedar Hills, where it's close to intersecting with your route.

As you probably already figured out, the only reasonable way (well, the most pleasant way) as you go north to Salt Lake City is on that Jordan River Parkway Trail. When we lived there, it wasn't complete all the way to SLC,  but looks like it is now.

I look forward to reading your journal when you do this route!

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2 years ago
Peter BrownTo Karen Cook

I rode the mission trail in San Antoino on a rented Citibike type rental. I think there were four, we followed the river. It was a fun ride, we docked the bike at the last mission and took the bus back to the Alamo.

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2 years ago
Peter BrownTo Wayne Estes

I was thinking about a Civil War Battlefield tour, but that may have to be limited to National Park Battlefields. I was intrigued by the swim in every lake theme, I did do a motor tour once where I swam in every Great Lake on the trip. The Mission Tour sounds awesome.

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2 years ago
Wayne EstesTo Jeff Lee

Jeff, thanks for your insights. There are many interesting loops possible in the Wasatch range. I decided the trail in Provo Canyon would be a worthwhile scenic detour since my route passes by the trailhead. Generally, the Promised Land route stays in the valleys and minimizes mountain climbing. Several routes through the Wasatch range do look appealing. In 2013 I ended a tour with a 20 mile descent to downtown SLC on the Emigration Canyon route, with a stop at This Is The Place.

Henry, thanks for your comments as well. I biked across southern Utah twice before, visiting all the National Parks except Cedar Breaks. I passed through Cedar City in mid-May 2010. My plan was to pedal up to Cedar Breaks but the snow was too deep. The road was closed beyond Brian Head. Now I don't think I could do the huge climb to Cedar Breaks. It may seem nuts to pedal north-south along the eastern edge of the Great Basin. But this is a theme tour to see the region that is majority Mormon. Utah's national parks are awesome, but aren't the focus of this tour.

I have plenty of time to revise the plan between now and May 2022. My newest routing addition is the City Creek and Bonneville Shoreline trails from the state capitol to Bountiful. I will need to push the bike up 1.4 mile of 12% grade, but the birds-eye views will make it worthwhile.

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2 years ago
Wayne EstesTo Jeff Lee

Jeff, I will think long and hard about the mountain loop around Mt. Timpanogos. It would add one day to my route but would add scenic variety. Thanks for  the suggestion.

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2 years ago