Day Two - Salt Lake City to Eureka

In stark contrast to Saturday's stage 1, today was not quite so epic. And that was a beautiful thing.

The route started in SLC with some nice "rollers" along Wasatch Boulevard before dropping us down in front of the state prison on Pony Express Road. Thanks to the road signs in the area, we were leery of hitchhikers and didn't bother to pick any up as we rolled through.

After that, it was over the point of the mountain and into the "bubble" known as Utah County. Pony Express Road dumped us into Lehi and from there we turned west to catch Redwood Road which followed the west bank of Utah Lake and eventually spit us out in Elberta. On a map, that section of road didn't look too long, but riding it was an entirely different story. It was the road that never ends; at least that is what it felt like. Those 32 miles were almost as long as The NeverEnding Story, which was 102 (source: IMDB) minutes longer than it should have been.

Anyway, the scenery looking east toward the mountains was fantastic, but the west side of Utah lake is pretty bare and the sun beat down without mercy. The other challenge was the "men" in diesel trucks working in the farming communities on the west side of the lake who felt the need to spew exhaust all over us as they passed, yell disparaging remarks about lycra (like we haven't heard those before) and show us that they could point their middle finger. If only we can one day be "manly men."

The day ended on a "high" note as we climbed 2000 gorgeous feet from Elberta into Eureka over the last nine miles of the day. It's never as painful going uphill when there is something decent to look at other than the road in front of you going up, up, and up. To top off the day, we decided those 2000 feet should be seen going downhill as well. Just in case you're wondering, the scenery was just as great even when flying 4o miles an hour (dang headwind, we could have hit 55) down the mountain.

Tomorrow is somewhat of a "recovery" ride; only 52 miles from Eureka to Delta. 165 miles down, 265 to go. Here's to keepin' the rubber side up.