Trip, Interrupted

After 56 days since setting out on this tour, it was a bit hard to believe that today would be my last riding day before getting on a plane to Philadelphia and then India. Just to confirm, it’s just my last riding day FOR NOW. The BIG plan is still to get to the Grand Canyon but I just need to go to India for a couple of weeks to scout out a new documentary project. Ok, now that that’s clarified, on with the update.

My night in the RV known as Kittyhawk was fantastic and I awoke very well rested. Not long after that I would be very well nourished thanks to a breakfast burrito courtesy of my host, Mickey. As for Mickey, she hadn’t been out on her bike for a while so she decided to join me on the first 25 km of my somewhat short remaining ride to Salt Lake City. Actually, my day’s destination was Murray – about 15 km (ish) south of Salt Lake City – as that’s where Joe and his wife, Christie, live. As you may recall, I met Joe (and a couple of his friends) at Devils Tower, WY at which point he offered to store my gear while I travelled to India. Very generous considering I had just met him.

As for today’s actual ride, much of it was on one trail … well, technically it was on a few different trails but since they all merged together seamlessly it seemed like one trail. Either way, it made for easy navigation and easy riding. There was one stop I wanted to make before making my way to Murray and that was to Saturday Cycles. I was alerted to its existence by my Warmshowers host Ken back in Rexburg, ID as a cycle shop that focuses a bit more on touring and commuting cyclists. That seemed like a good fit for me. Sadly, despite my successful efforts to stay on schedule for an arrival in Salt Lake City on August 12th, that plan didn’t work so well in coordinating a stop at Saturday Cycles. The reason? Today is Monday. And Saturday Cycles is closed Mondays (and Sundays). Sigh. So much for good timing. Oh well, I took a few photos to prove I stopped by and then continued on my way.

The rest of the ride was easy. There was one stop for a train but fortunately there wasn’t a 70 minute wait involved. I also made an impromptu stop at Costco for an ice cream sundae only to discover they didn’t have serve such a thing. I defaulted a few blocks back to Wendy’s for a Frosty which was a much more successful endeavour.

It was shortly after 4:00 PM when I arrived at Joe and Christy’s place. And that’s how I met Christy. Joe was still at work but Christy was super welcoming and friendly. She directed me to “my” room where I proceeded to unpack and repack my gear in preparation for my detour to India.

The plan is to use either Uber or Lyft to get to the airport tomorrow. I downloaded the app and registered earlier in the day for both options so hopefully it will work out better than my Airbnb experience – granted, it would be hard for it work out much worse. However, I won’t think such thoughts as I need to be at the airport somewhat early tomorrow morning. My flight is at 10:00, so I’ll aim to be there for 8:00. Fingers crossed.

Today’s totals:
Distance: 67.60 km
Ride time: 3:30:27
Average speed: 19.27 km/h
Maximum speed: 34.24 km/h

And now my pedalling officially takes a bit of a hiatus. As such, this seems like a good time to consult the spreadsheet for a few overall trip totals thus far.

Trip totals (not final):
Distance: 5, 035.11 km (3,128.67 mi)
Ride time: 232:25:58
Average speed: 21.66 km/h (13.46 mph)
Maximum speed: 70.87 km/h (44.04 mph) on the way to Columbus, MT
Maximum distance: 263.65 km (163.82 mi) from St. Joseph, MN to Moorhead, MN
Touring days: 56
Riding days: 51

I have no idea how much time I’ll have for updates while I’m in India but I’ll see what I can do. Instagram photos might be more likely. Either way, I’ll do my best.