American Fork, Utah to Heber City, Utah
The day I’d been awaiting with a mix of excitement and a bit of fear, is finally upon us.
Time to make a left turn and head into the mountains on our way to and through the Rockies.
Now, if you remember from my earlier posts – I’m riding a beautiful hand crafted steel racing bicycle that’s built for speed. Speed yes, but NOT for hills. Normally when you ride hills, you want to shift your gears to the largest possible rear wheel gear (mine are ALL absolutely tiny – oops) and the absolutely smallest front/pedal gear (mine are all absolutely HUGE – oops, strike two). So while most people “ration” out their gears, saving lower gears for the steepest and hardest parts of the hills, I have pretty much no choice but to drop down into “first” gear as soon as the hill begins – and then just “gut it out” praying my legs are strong enough to get me to the top without having to push the bicycle up the mountain.
So as I rode straight into the heart of some major Utah mountains looming ahead of me – I was a bit concerned about what lay ahead.
For the most part – my concerns (for now) were unnecessary. For most of the day I rode through beautiful winding hills, gliding gracefully between the mountains through some incredibly beautiful scenery (waterfalls and mountain peaks and rock cliffs, etc.) A bicycle riders dream.
And then I got cocky.
I didn’t realize it, but the town of “Sundance, Utah” home of Robert Redford and the Sundance Film Festival was right off my mountain road from Provo to Heber City.
And as I approached the road that turned off to Sundance, I thought “What the heck – let’s go see where Robert Redford lives…” After all, it was ONLY a 2 mile detour from the path I was riding. How bad could a mere 2 mile detour be.
OK, remember those racing (non-hill climbing) gears I told you about. Well I was about to find out EXACTLY how bat a mere 2 mile detour could be.
As I started up the hill everything seemed normal and comfortable – a nice gentle climb, a $200,000 Ferrari passing me on the way into town – you know, just your average day on The Dog Cancer Ride Across America.
But then the hill got nasty – and it took every ounce of energy I had – huffing and puffing and shouting and swearing (it helps, really) to push through that little 2 mile detour. To give you a sense of just how steep this hill was – when I rode back down I had to brake (hard) all the way down to keep my speed under 35 MPH. At one point I looked down and I was going 41 MPH and I’m sure I could have gone much faster if I wasn’t worried about actually stopping at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill…
Oh, and what was the payoff when I finally reached the top of the hill…? Actually, not a whole lot – no town, no nothing. Just a $300 per night resort filled with cars in the parking lot, a cute general store (the origin of the “Sundance” catalog) and a deli with some of the nicest hosts behind the counter (for the second day in a row, my drinks and food were on the house once they heard about my ride for dog cancer charities).
Then it was back down the hill to finish my way through the mountains to our resting place in Heber City, Utah. Tomorrow (and the next few days) it’s high desert and then into Colorado where the “real” mountains begin once more. If the hills are anything like my 2 mile detour into Sundance, I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me.
Good night, from Heber City, Utah (just a few miles south of Park City and the famous ski resorts).
Sleep well and I’ll see you down the road. Bye for now.
- Ted Schneck
On The Dog Cancer Ride Across America
www.DogCancerRide.com
