Day 31: Down and out

July 11, 2013

It was time to go. And it was time to go anyway, but last night was so damn hot I could barely sleep. I guess monsoon season is setting in, but for the first time in 4 nights it did not cool after sunset. And after a fitful night, sweating, and rolling around thinking, "damn it's hot", I woke up groggy but ready to get down to St. George, where it is even hotter, which makes no sense until you find out that if I do get to St. George, I will get a hotel, which will be cooler, thanks to modern chemical refrigerants.

Anyway, I got up and was packed before sunrise and made my way to a little coffee shop in town for breakfast. After that I hit the road for a pleasant ride. I had gone back and forth on whether I would spend another night in Zion riding up Kolob Canyon, on the west side. But after a conversation with a local, who told me about the elevation gain, and climbing, and so on and so forth, I knew I didn't have it in me, and continued on to St. George.

Except, just like the ride in, as I moved through Hurricane the skies grew menacing. I didn't feel like stopping and kept moving, and grew a little worried when the wind picked up, along with the lightning. I remembered a quicky-mart gas station and put the hammer down, unfearful of the rain, but with a healthy respect for the lighting.

I made it just in time, and pulled in just as the storm moved in.

The heavens opened, but I reached the gas station, and shelter, just in time.

I sat for about an hour or so, waiting. The clouds seemed very unpredictable, but I was getting tired of waiting and at the first sliver of a window of opportunity I went for it, and peddled like mad towards St. George; as much as you can pedal like mad with 40 or so pounds of crap on your bike.

But mostly I was fine, aside from a few sprinkles and winds.

Though there was definitely a lot of rain somewhere as I saw definite signs of flash flooding.

In time I made it to the outskirts of St. George, which is good, but there seemed like a lot of traffic, which is bad. Which would normally not be a problem on a road with a bike lane, but the St George bike lanes often seem like more of a problem than a blessing.

The bike lane is combined blacktop and curb, so it is really no good at all. You can't ride on the middle because you will crash on the hump, and you can't ride next to the curb because your front panniers will hit the side. The only place I could ride was to the left of the hump, on the blacktop, which put me in traffic.

Last week, when I left St. George, one of the headlines in the local paper was about bike lanes, and adding more of them, and making cycling safer. That being the case, I have a suggestion...

Hey, St. George, your bike lanes suck! Which is not really a suggestion more of a comment but I don't care.

Eventually I made it to town, and the hotel I called and made a reservation with while I was stranded at the gas station. But being a good bike tourist citizen I didn't want to take a filthy bike into the hotel room, so I stopped at the car-wash to give The Trucker a good bath...

The Trucker needed a bath. But not as much as I did.

I had a great time at Zion National Park. But it sure was nice to have a little dose of air conditioning. Oh, and a shower, which I had not had for 4 days!

Aaaaah, life's little pleasures we all take for granted, until we are tired, hot and filthy...

What the? Am I going back in time? I was beginning to feel like Marty McFly for a moment.

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 1,380 miles (2,221 km)

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