We are slowly creeping out of the desert and into the green heartland of Utah. I was a sweep today (which means I was the last rider so vans could keep track of when to leave). It was a nice descent into Payson, and we saw a lot of new things (or things we haven’t seen in a while). For the first time in a week, we ran into a stoplight! On one of the downhills, we were being chased by the shade of a cloud, which was fun considering we were hitting speeds of 30 to 35 mph. Grasshoppers were all over the place to the point where at crew stops, any step you took in the grass would be followed by a sea of moving insects. A lot of us took videos walking through the grass. Finally, we saw both a pool and a house being transported separately on the highway. Although I had heard of this as a kid, it was an experience to be passed by such an oversize load. They both had two convoy vehicles following them, and took up almost two lanes. Good thing there was no traffic on the opposing side of the road or they would have practically blown us off the road.
After the 80-mile ride, we arrived in the early afternoon to the Payson Community Center and Town Hall where we were staying only to be told we had to stay outside for another 2 hours before lodging was clear. I took the time to clean my bike and take a nap under a tree.
That night, we went to the single bar in Payson (which is actually a decent sized town) to celebrate our friend Alex Rosell’s 21st birthday. We had to get memberships to the bar (which I kept as a proud memento) because Utah state law requires it. It seems as tough this state, which is mainly Mormon, has pretty strict alcohol rules. It was a fun night out with some pool and country singing! Since it was karaoke night, we saw most of the town’s best singers fight it out for the best song. There were some great tunes and a lot of theatrics.
Tomorrow we roll into Salt Lake City!
No comments:
Post a Comment