Day 14 - Baker to Milford

                                            Tuesday  June 6th, 2017

Today's ride from Baker to Milford would be one of our most difficult to-date due to 1) our longest distance of 83 miles, 2) three passes to be climbed, 3) potential wind and 90 deg heat in the valleys, and 4) a complete lack of services for food and water for the entire 83 miles. Yesterday evening we stocked up on snacks from the little store in Baker and we each carried over a gallon of liquids.

We had our earliest start of the entire trip. On the road by 6am. We said goodbye to Willie who headed west. Seven miles into our ride we crossed the border into Utah and promptly lost an hour as we passed into the Mountain Time Zone.

Yesterday, we left Hwy US50 five miles before Baker. Today we were following UT21, which has significantly less traffic than US50. For some reason Utah does not post a sign at the top of their passes with both name and elevation, like Nevada does. The passes we climbed today did have an elevation sign, but the posted value was often inconsistent with what our maps showed? Hence, no photos of the passes today.

We did encounter some strong crosswords crossing the valley between the Wah Wah and the San Francisco Mtns. Up at the top of our last pass of the day in the San Francisco Mtns we stopped at a rare covered picnic table to eat, drink and recover. We were pretty exhausted. Up pulled a pickup towing a large 5th wheel trailer. Out stepped an older gentleman who came over to talk. They had just pulled over to have lunch. We hinted that we were thirsty and asked what they were having for lunch, hoping for maybe a cold drink or something. The guy didn't get the hint. We could see them inside, eating their lunch as got back on our bikes and pedaled away.

We saw no other cyclists and very little traffic today. We planned pretty well with the food and water, ending the ride with a little in reserve. We did total 83 miles at 12.4 mph, with 3800 feet of climbing over three Ranges and across three Basins.

Once in Milford we stopped at a diner and motel ($45/night) that Willie had recommended. There we encountered another touring cyclist named Dean. He was solo and doing something very different than us. He was riding a Trek carbon framed bike and carried limited weight; a large handlebar bag and a large rear bag. He was moteling it, so no camping equipment. He was riding from LA to Maine, where he lives. The weird thing is that he does not seem to be bothered riding Interstate highway shoulders. He had ridden I-15 thru the Virgin River Gorge (20 miles of crazy) and also another portion of I-15 north of St George where the posted speed is 80 mph. He did run into both the Swiss Markus' and the unknown couple come in yesterday and both leave this morning for Cedar City. He took a rest day today and will head towards Salt Lake City tomorrow. 

Mike