[Reposting because the images didn’t show up before]
I took a two-week bike tour in Utah, USA. Took the train from Denver to Helper (Price), rode south from there through a series of long valleys to Bryce Canyon National Park, then went through Grand Staircase – Escalante on Skutumpah Road, which had a couple of nice slot canyons but also a bunch of short steep hills.
I got to Kanab, then up on the Kaibab Plateau and rode 33 miles of closed, paved road to the boundary of Grand Canyon NP. The park gate had a “No bikes on road” sign, which I decided to ignore. I was in the process of getting the bike over the gate when some rangers showed up and said walking was allowed but biking wasn’t. So I got within 12 miles of the North Rim but didn’t see it.
At least there was a great gravel road open down off the top. I headed northwest and took another gravel road skirting the east side of Zion. I misread the map, expecting it to go up and then back down, but it just kept climbing. Some people in a big four-wheel drive vehicle had passed me and then came back, saying they couldn’t get through the snow. I decided to camp and then push through the snow in the morning, when it was firmer, thinking it would only be a couple of miles back to pavement. Except the paved section also wasn’t plowed. So I ended up pushing for about 11 miles, and there was 4-5” of fresh on top of the old snow. About a mile from the highway a couple of snowmobilers came along, and they carried me (sitting backwards, holding the unloaded bike upside-down) and my gear out. Definitely the most exhausting 11 miles of biking I’ve ever had.
Then the weather warmed up again and I had a mostly nice ride back up to Price, with some good tailwind. But it felt really good to spend a day sitting on the train back and eating snacks and pretty much not moving.
3 Comments
[Reposting because the images didn’t show up before]
I took a two-week bike tour in Utah, USA. Took the train from Denver to Helper (Price), rode south from there through a series of long valleys to Bryce Canyon National Park, then went through Grand Staircase – Escalante on Skutumpah Road, which had a couple of nice slot canyons but also a bunch of short steep hills.
I got to Kanab, then up on the Kaibab Plateau and rode 33 miles of closed, paved road to the boundary of Grand Canyon NP. The park gate had a “No bikes on road” sign, which I decided to ignore. I was in the process of getting the bike over the gate when some rangers showed up and said walking was allowed but biking wasn’t. So I got within 12 miles of the North Rim but didn’t see it.
At least there was a great gravel road open down off the top. I headed northwest and took another gravel road skirting the east side of Zion. I misread the map, expecting it to go up and then back down, but it just kept climbing. Some people in a big four-wheel drive vehicle had passed me and then came back, saying they couldn’t get through the snow. I decided to camp and then push through the snow in the morning, when it was firmer, thinking it would only be a couple of miles back to pavement. Except the paved section also wasn’t plowed. So I ended up pushing for about 11 miles, and there was 4-5” of fresh on top of the old snow. About a mile from the highway a couple of snowmobilers came along, and they carried me (sitting backwards, holding the unloaded bike upside-down) and my gear out. Definitely the most exhausting 11 miles of biking I’ve ever had.
Then the weather warmed up again and I had a mostly nice ride back up to Price, with some good tailwind. But it felt really good to spend a day sitting on the train back and eating snacks and pretty much not moving.
“No bikes on road”? WTF??
Stunning