It's hard to come to terms with the fact that this Cranking Odyssey is coming to an end. With just these last two riding days to go, our motivation levels are dropping knowing that each mile we travel brings us one mile closer to reality. We're taking it easy to make sure we complete this odyssey on a high note without any more bonks, dummy spits, injuries or accidents.
At Bryce Canyon, we were back up at 8,000 feet so we waited for the morning to warm up before we got started. Although the temperature dropped to about 3C overnight, it was not too bad because it is a dry cold. By the time we headed out of the park and got breakfast in Bryce Canyon City, we didn't get going until about 10:30am.
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| Red Canyon |
Our second last day on the road turned out to be a bit of a non-event after all that we have seen over the last 52 days. We started off by cruising down the bike path through Red Canyon where they have built tunnels into the rocks hanging over the roadway as a grand entrance to the approach to Bryce Canyon NP.
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| Red Canyon Bike Path and Tunnel |
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| Red Canyon from the bike path |
It was a relatively easy ride day as we got a nice tailwind after Red Canyon for about 5 miles to take us into Panguitch town where we had a coffee and doughnut stop (blueberry-lime doughnuts are delish!) and re-supplied for the coming night.
The rest of the ride up to Panguitch Lake was uphill with sections of Utah's short, steeper rises; pushing into a headwind through the alpine forest and hunting territory with many ATV trails heading off into the wilderness. The higher we got, the more the leaves on the aspens were turning golden.
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| Panguitch Lake |
Panguitch Lake is very peaceful right now. I suspect it would be a very popular destination in the summer time for locals seeking a little relief from the Utah heat. We just made it in time for our last stay at a National Forest Service campground on this odyssey. The campground is closing in 4 days time for the end of the season.
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| Our last campfire |
We have the campground almost to ourselves, going to sleep in the quiet of the night and smelling of smoke from our last campfire, listening to the cows mooing across the way.
CRANKING ODYSSEY STATS
Total Odyssey miles: 2,893
Overall Fastest Speed: Steve (46 miles per hour) Mandy (36.8 miles per hour)
Bludge Days: 6
Bonks: Steve (1) - Day 46
Dog chases: 3
Dummy Spits: Steve (7) Day 10 - because it rained; Day 16 - because the rocks in the river were slippery; Day 29 - because it takes me so long to get ready in the morning; Day 36 - because I was blogging and Steve was dieing of starvation; Day 44 - because the clothes dryer didn't dry his clothes; Day 45 - because by the time I got organised he didn't get to eat a crappy dinner until 8pm; Day 47 - because his bike shoes were smelly and wet from sitting in the pool of water around our tent yesterday afternoon
Mandy (3.5) 0.5 Day 14 - those freakin' wreckless Idaho drivers!; Day 26 - because my bike computer had a meltdown; Day 28 - because Steve wouldn't help hold my bike up in the wind after watching it nearly fall over 3 times whilst I tried to put my clothes away in the panniers because it looked like rain ahead; Day 44 - because Steve's bushies flew back and hit me in the face (twice)
Flats: Katie (4); Steve (1); Mandy (2)
Wrong turns: 8
Beer of the day: Wasatch Polygamy Porter
Lesson of the day: time really does fly when you're having fun!
No. of days with no shower: 20
No. of days in a hotel: 13
Starting weight: Steve (90kg) Mandy (51.5kg)
Day 30 Rawlins weigh in: Steve (183 pds / 83kg). Mandy (110 pds / 50kg)
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