Today's plan is a loop ride out northwest of Saint George, through Snow Canyon. I wonder if we might see some snow in the higher elevations - there was still plenty of the white stuff in the mountains east of SLC, and traces of it near here when we flew in last night.
First though, breakfast next door in the inn.
The Presidents House. We're in the room on the upper right, partly hidden by the ivy. Last night and this morning I was startled by English sparrows rustling in the ivy and bumping against the glass. Look at that sky! Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Portland anymore.
We were slow getting out the door today, and weren't really rolling until about 10. Today is ideal - it's about 60 when we start, and won't break the mid-seventies all day. We'll have to do better at getting an early start once it heats up more.
The first half or the loop was a mixed bag - the riding and scenery were as fine as we'd hoped for, but unfortunately we didn't bring our best game to the floor today. First, I picked up a flat only 12 miles into the ride, apparently from a sliver of glass. I'm trying to get another thousand miles out of this tire, and hope I don't regret not having replaced it. I definitely regret having brought along the wrong tube though - it's for Rachael's Straggler and its 26" wheels, not the 20" nes on the Bike Friday. I carelessly packed it because it has a schrader valve, forgetting that the Straggler uses those also. Something new to watch out for. At least the patch job was successful and held up.
Second, I crashed crossing a cattle guard. I'll bet I haven't hit the pavement in a decade - not since some idiot opened his car door on me in Italy (well, looking back over my notes I see that was in 2011 - so six years). Fortunately I was only going about 5 mph, so I only suffered some mild road rash and the bike was fine. Also some embarrassment, because another biker was right behind me. After verifying I was fine, he chased down Rachael to let her know of the situation. I was really surprised by the spill, because I hit the crossing cleanly at a 90 degree angle. It's a widely spaced grid though, and it looks like it doesn't pair well with small wheels. We'll have to watch for these and dismount.
Finally, the stress of the fall triggered an SVT (racing heartbeat) episode - something else that hasn't happened for quite a while. This one took longer to resolve than usual, so it significantly slowed down our progress until Veyo, where we stopped for a bit.
Looking north to Snow Canyon, from the outskirts of Saint George.
It was nearly 3 by the time we headed south for Snow Canyon. Plenty of time though - the days are long now, and after a few miles rolling along top, it's all downhill for the last 15 miles. We made good time until we reached the turnoff to the park, but after that progress slowed to a crawl as we stopped frequently to take in the stunning rock formations. Unbelievable, really. I'd been looking forward to the day's ride, but I really had no idea.
The park has a separate, paved bike path and is a delight to bike through. It looks like it has some spectacular short hikes as well. It's much less well known than all of the other famous parks in Utah, so it is surprisingly quiet. I won't be surprised if we look back on this as one of our favorites days of the tour.
Elevation gain: today, 3000'; for the tour, 3000'.
Dropping into the north end of Snow Canyon. OMG, this looks amazing.
Looking back at Snow Canyon from the south entrance. It made us wish we could go back and ride it the other direction. Some day, if we're lucky enough.
