Day 15: Milford to Cedar City

May 13, 2010

I slept late to help recover from yesterday. It took a while to get the free breakfast at the diner. So it was past 10 by the time I got on the road.

Once a hub of activity. Now mostly vacant. Much of downtown Milford is boarded up.

Through town, then along train tracks on the east side of town and across a big bridge that crosses the tracks. The big bridge seems very out of place in rural Utah.

View of Milford, Utah from the bridge over the railroad.

Then right on highway 129, south to Minersville. It's an old road that parallels a newer better road. So there's almost no traffic. The road goes upstream in a wide flat valley with many irrigated fields.

Utah has much more irrigated agriculture than Nevada.

At Minersville I turned onto highway 130 south to Cedar City. The road suddenly starts climbing into the desert. Still no trees after climbing 1700 feet to the summit. Some areas were unusually barren, overgrazed.

Farms end and I'm back in the desert again.

As usual (it seems) there was a few minutes of rain and hail near the summit. The storms hang stationary over the high places, so I can't wait until it passes by. It's best to just pedal through it as quickly as possible. Hail is less bother than rain. I can brush the pea-size hailstones off my jacket and the jacket stays dry.

A long gentle 1700 foot climb from Milford.

The temperature dropped to 43F for a few minutes during the rain, but the temperature was in the 50's for most of the day. Up to about 60F at the end of the day in Cedar City. The sky was mostly overcast all day.

Traffic builds as I approach Cedar City (elevation 5846 ft., population 20,540). It's the biggest town I've seen since Carson City on day 4. After crossing I-15 there is suburban style traffic for 5 miles to the city limits. Then 2 more miles to downtown.

Landscaping along I-15 at the north edge of Cedar City.

Much of the town has a view of red rocks to the east. I was hoping to ride up into the red rocks to Cedar Breaks National Monument. But the road is still closed and the recent snowfall takes away any hope of getting through even if it's closed. The road climbs above 10,500 feet.

Carnival in Cedar City against a backdrop of red rocks.

I passed a couple of RV parks on the far north edge of town but kept going to find something more in town. On the south side of downtown I couldn't resist a $35 motel room. The weather is fine for camping but the RV park is in a less convenient location and would be more than half the cost of a motel. I arrived at 5:30 PM. With the late start, it was an easy day.

Cedar City appears prosperous. It's the home of Southern Utah University and many Mormon churches. The downtown historic district seems to be thriving. I didn't see a single fast food franchise in town. And very few convenience stores (their main business is tobacco, beer, candy and soft drinks which don't sell well in Mormon towns).

I've been in the Basin and Range province for 12 days. The scenery has been interesting but I'm overdue for a change. Tomorrow I return to the "normal" world where rivers actually go somewhere. Next stop, the Virgin river and Zion National Park.

I've been on the Adventure Cycling Association "Western Express" route since Sacramento. But tomorrow I veer south off the route towards Zion and the North Rim.

Distance: 59.3 mi. (95 km)

Climbing: 2387 ft. (723 m)

Average Speed: 10.1 mph (16.2 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 31.5 mph (50 km/h)

Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 767 miles (1,234 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	2
Comment on this entry	Comment	0