The Utah Randonneur

In spite of a rather cool morning start 14 riders set out on what would turn out to be a beautiful day to ride in southern Utah. Riders from Washington State, Colorado and Salt Lake thought the weather was spectacular while those from Arizona, Nevada and So Cal thought it could have been a little warmer. Temperatures finally did hit the upper 70’s so it appears that Spring may finally be here. There was a little more traffic than usual on the roads but with such a nice clear day it is easy to understand why many people were out and about. Most of this route is on quieter side roads and the rest of the route has good shoulders to ride on. Once you get up into Zion however the roads are very quiet and are mostly new pavement. Public traffic is not allowed into the main canyon of the park from Spring through Summer so there are only a few shuttle buses sharing the road with you. These free shuttles run on propane and are very quiet. Spring in the canyon is spectacular as the streams are full, the trees are green and the flowers are out. With next to no traffic it is quite a peaceful place to be.

The head of the canyon at the Temple of Sinawava is the turnaround and the highest point on the ride. After departing here it is almost all downhill along the Virgin River back to the start/finish area. Some might disagree and claim that there is actually a hill or two between these points but those little hills hardly count at all! Variable canyon winds do count however and there were a few of those on this day. There were also quite a few flat tires during the day and this was a little unusual. A couple of riders had 3 or more flats but I think we can chalk that up to bad luck (or something). In the end, riders had a pretty good day with only one DNF to record.