Day 1: Salt Lake City to Provo, Utah. 65 miles. 1900 feet of climb.

This is the basic route I'll be taking from Utah to Indiana

One down, twenty-four more legs to go.

Today was a good day to get back into the routine.  It was a hot day, in the low 90's, but not too long and not much climbing.  

Getting started for another adventure

The day started in an unusual way as, one mile out of the hotel, we rode through the Salt Lake City Airport property.  It was actually very cool to be riding right next to the runway on a designated bike path that many locals use for commuting.  We had to pass through a series of closed gates that were opened remotely as we approached.  How the City has allowed that is beyond me.   Couldn't take pictures as there were folks all around watching us and photos were strictly forbidden.

The Valley floor of the Salt Lake City metro area.  The Wasatchs are on either side.  Strip mining causes the discoloration on the mountains in the distance

Much of the morning and the afternoon was spent on various bike paths that run from Salt Lake City down to Provo.  The morning route reminded me of a similar path on last year's ride just outside of Sacremento, along the American River.  Same thing today.  Lots of waterfowl, and my first live rattlesnake sighting.  None of us who saw the snake were brave enough to stop and take it's picture as it was hissing at us from the side of the path.  We just gave it a wide berth and kept pedaling.  All the day, we were riding towards and then alongside the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains.  

91 degrees on the bike path; snow covered mountains in the distance.

I spent a good deal of today's ride following a pack of very fast riders.  I say "following" as I wasn't within their group and barely could keep up with them.  The group included four guys from The Netherlands (who are all very accomplished riders) and a couple from Bristol, England.  Every once in a while, three other folks, a Catholic priest, a woman from Maryland and the college professor from Massachusetts who rode part of last year's ride before he had to bail to take care of his ailing father, would join the group.   Even though much of today's ride was flat, these folks were pulling over 22 or 23 miles per hour.  

By the afternoon, we were riding along the foothills of the Wasatch Range.

And yet, I wound up being the first person to check in to the hotel this afternoon.  How did that happen?  Basically, while the Dutch riders were amazingly strong climbers and fast riders, they were flying down the paths so quickly that, at least ten or twelve times today, they missed the turns.  So while everyone else rode about 65 miles, they must have done another five to ten miles.  I would catch up to the group while they were stopped to wait for one of their own who'd missed a turn.  Then we'd all regroup and they'd all take off like a shot.  I also stopped to take pictures.  Most of the others just kept riding.  Anyway, they all missed the sign for the last turn off before hitting the hotel, hence my getting there sooner.

Today's journey ended in Provo, Utah; home of Brigham Young University.  A REALLY well-manicured campus!

When we all got in, we were a group again.  Spain and Holland were playing in an opening round match at the World Cup, so we all hung out in the bar of the hotel, watching the game that had just begun.  Stretching and showers could wait for later.  (Holland annihilated Spain 5-1).  The boys in the bar were quite pleased.

All in all, not a bad day.  I'm really tired from probably pushing too hard on the first day as well as dealing with the heat and the elevation.  So it will be an early night in preparation for tomorrow's 76-mile ride with a climb up Soldier Summit (7,447 feet elevation).