The first day back on the bike after a few rest days is always fun - your legs are actually kinda sorta recovered and you momentarily forget how much your butt will hurt at the end of the day. We started by loading up our gear, a bigger ordeal than usual considering that the vast majority of our gear was in the corner of the motel room. After the van was loaded at a not-so-reasonable hour, Daniel and I both went for a Dennys Super Slam breakfast before rolling out.
For the front half of the day, we fought one of the worst headwinds we’ve had so far, and it was raining on top of it all. Nancy lent me her super high tech biking jacket which made a world of difference, and after warming up I was in a much better mood to keep going for the rest of the day.
About halfway through the day we passed by a massive wind farm, later learning that the plant is part of the power corridor which runs all the way through to Utah and Nevada till California. The sight of the turbines spinning while facing directly towards us could only mean one thing - a tailwind was upon us. With the wind in our favor and a Micheal Lewis podcast in my ears, we made it to lunch with ease.
After a final post-lunch climb, the rest of the day was a slow and steady descent all the way to the stateline. After far too many days in Nevada, the ‘Welcome to Utah’ sign was a sight for sore eyes.
We spent a while hanging out on the bench underneath the sign, taking pictures and indulging in some trunk snacks. To end the day, we loaded up the van and shuttled everyone to Great Basin for a final night of camping in Nevada.
Many marshmallows were made and many stars were spotted. It feels good to have made it to Utah.