Noteworthy Goal Accomplished (or the Bucket List)

A number of years ago, I starting bicycling as a form of physical exercise, transportation and relaxation. Cycling is now one of my favorite pastimes. I frequently bicycle to work during the summer. For some time, I have wanted to do a long bicycle trip, perhaps back to my childhood home in Idaho Falls. I have done several 50 mile rides to Ogden, or back. I’ve also ridden over Sardine Pass (Brigham City to Logan) several times before Mom and Dad passed away. But I’ve never attempted a 100+ mile ride until now. Earlier in the year, my nephew, Jason Bushnell purchased a road bike and he suggested we make the long anticipated ride from Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls together. We decided we’d try to make the ride in September, after the weather cooled and we were in good shape after the summer cycling season. We eventually decided to try a shorter excursion, possibly to Logan to test our stamina before trying the more demanding ride to Idaho Falls. The Logan ride would be around 100 miles and would be a good test to see we could do consecutive 100 mile rides.

We finally set a date of Saturday, September 26, 2009 to make the ride. I was pretty anxious as the date approached, wondering if I would have the stamina and determination to complete the trip. At age 56, I wondered if I could stay up with Jason who is a young and healthy 23 years old. I’d also been having lots of flat tires and I worried about being stranded somewhere with multiple flats. I bought some new tires and a heavy duty tube in final preparation for the ride.

Jason arrived bright and early at our home, around 7:00 AM. We took care of some last minute details, grabbed a little extra breakfast and were ready to go. Janette was kind enough to volunteer to drive the “Sag Wagon”, trailing behind us with extra liquids and food, as well as our spare bicycle parts. We picked a beautiful day, quite warm for the end of September. The good weather meant we didn’t need extra warm weather clothing. I was also concerned about a head wind, as that can really grind on you after a while. We had little or no wind the entire trip. We left home about 7:40 AM.

Rarin’ To Go!

Jason and I were excited to get going! It felt good to start pedaling. About 7 miles from home, on Redwood Road, Jason got a flat tire. We got it fixed and continued along our way in short order. We rode north on Redwood through Rose Park, across I-215 and into West Bountiful making a quick stop at a gas station so Jason could top off the air in his tire. Along the way, Jason and I enjoyed pleasant conversation about bicycling, sports, school, work and family. It was really a beautiful morning and these first miles seemed to fly by almost effortlessly. We stopped briefly near Cherry Hill for a granola bar and some water (about 30 miles from home), then onto Highway 89. Here we encountered our first real inclines, though not really a serious challenge. Further up 89 we hit the junction with I-84. A stiff, cold wind was blowing down the canyon, and we really had to lean into it to maintain control and not get blown into traffic. Our first real climbing challenge was the ascent from the I-84 intersection to Harrison Boulevard in South Ogden. That is a steep climb and required some serious huffing and puffing before we made it to the top. Just in time too, as Jason experienced his second flat tire, shortly after we turned down Harrison. I had to loan Jason my spare inner tube and a CO2 tube, since he’d now flattened his only spare.

Made It to Ogden

Janette was to meet us at the Ogden Cemetery, at her Mother’s grave site. There she was, right on schedule. What a welcome sight after covering our first 50 miles! We replenished our liquid supplies and wolfed down another granola bar or two. Then we got Jason situated with a spare inner-tube from the car. After paying quick respects to Luana, Jason and I were on our way again.

Our next stop: Brigham City, about twenty miles to the north. We followed Washington Boulevard out of Ogden which turns into Highway 89 again. The ride was still pretty smooth and comfortable until we hit the “Fruit Way” stretch of road between Willard and Brigham City. The roadway there has a very narrow bike shoulder and there were lots of inclines, nothing real steep but enough to put a serious drain on our energy. The temperature was also rising. By the time we coasted into Brigham City it was after 1:00 PM and we were both looking forward to taking a break. We were now 68 miles from home. Janette was off to a grocery store to pick up some fried chicken for us, so we parked the bikes under the nearest shade trees we could find (in front of the local Auto Zone store) and waited for her. The chicken, pasta salad and coleslaw really hit the spot. After a little rest under the shade trees, nearly an hour had passed and it was about time to get on the road again.

Concrete Pillows

The toughest part of the ride was about to begin, up and over Sardine Pass and into Cache Valley. I could sense that Jason was growing weary and perhaps he was having second thoughts about going any further. Since I’d ridden over Sardine a number of times, I was confident we could make it and I had every intention of finishing the ride, a full 100 miles and all the way to Smithfield. I didn’t fully comprehend how hard the climb was going to be, not really factoring in the 68 miles and over five hours of bike riding we’d already completed. Anyway, off we went, up the steep grade past the Highway 89 junction, then onward and upward toward Mantua. This was probably the most difficult part of the trip for me. It really felt very hot here. When I would stop, there was a fair tailwind, but it seemed to be just the right velocity that I felt no airflow when I was pedaling, therefore no cooling. Before long, I was down in my lowest gear and still struggling. I think I stopped two or three times to catch my breath before we made it to Mantua. By then Jason was past me and we didn’t even stop when we passed Janette parked along the roadside. We started up the next incline, still another four miles to the summit from here. I started to catch my second wind now and I’d just set a mental goal to make it to the next speed limit sign. I’d get out ahead of Jason, then stop and wait for him. By now I was in my lowest gear with speeds dropping to 5-6 mph. My bike has a 3rd front ring, so I could gear down lower than Jason, making the ascent a bit easier for me. I finally reached the summit. Janette was there to celebrate our momentary victory and provide us with some refreshing ice water. Having made it to the top, I almost felt like the ride was over. However the odometer said we still had over twenty miles to go.

Down the back side of Sardine, what a thrill! You can hit 40 mph here and you have to be careful not to hit even a fairly small stone that could send you flying at these speeds with the skinny road tires. It’s energizing because you don’t have to pedal for four to five miles. The leaves were turning into their brilliant autumn colors as we sped past, hardly noticing due to our exhilaration and fatigue. When we got to the bottom of the pass and to the floor of Cache Valley it would have been nice to just stop and call it a day. Unfortunately, as I previously mentioned, we are still nearly 15 miles away from Logan. There was nothing else to do but keep pedaling, Janette had already gone up ahead to Susie and Curtis’s home in Smithfield where we would meet her (and probably pass out). Methodically, robotically, we keep on moving. Finally we made it to the outskirts of Logan and turned onto 10th West to avoid the Logan city traffic. At a traffic light on 10th West, I told Jason I was running on fumes. He said he was on empty also. When we got back to the highway on the north end of Logan, I ran out water. That’s bad. Providentially, it felt like part of the last few miles into Smithfield were downhill. Then we got a little refreshing, cooling headwind as we entered Smithfield. Jason suggested that we just call it quits when we got to Lee’s Market in Smithfield as we would be past 100 miles there. I said okay, but when we got there we were still 3/10 of a mile short. I told Jason we ought to just ride the rest of the way to the Wall’s home, since it was only about a mile away. So we did! We made it! We were completely spent, but we did it! What a relief to get off those bicycles at long last. We rode 101.5 miles and it took us just over 6 hours riding time; we arrived just after 4:30 pm. Too bad Susie and Curtis weren’t there to celebrate our triumph and maybe honor us with a salmon bake. We honored ourselves with a Fat Boy sandwich instead (thanks, Susie).

Smithfield - We Did It!

Thanks for going Jason. You pushed me on to accomplish a goal I might never have attempted. We’ve now got a memory we won't soon forget. I don’t know that I will ever make the long trip to Idaho Falls, but we made it to Logan on that beautiful, Indian summer day. Thanks for your support and encouragement Janette, we truly wouldn’t have made it without you. Thanks to the good Lord for watching over us along the roadways, and for stamina, endurance and the blessings of the Word of Wisdom. What a thrill to accomplish a long sought after goal and enjoy the journey along the way.

Proof Is In The Pudding