SR-173

Before I start, I have a few things to say.

1: I HATE riding on sidewalks. They are bumpy, they have people on them, they have power poles to dodge, and glass and curbs and signs. Ugh, they are not fun to ride. There is nothing better than smooth asphalt for cruising.

2: There are a lot of very bike friendly roads in Utah... SR-173 is NOT one of those roads... I rode a lot on the sidewalks today.

This highway starts at SR-111 just south of Magna about 5400 S. It shoots pretty much straight east. There are some pretty good gradual grades, not overly hilly, but not completely flat. On it's way east, it passes USANA Amphitheatre, West Ridge Golf Course, SR-172 (5600 W), SR-154 (Bangerter), I-215, Taylorsville High School, and SR-68 (Redwood Rd). From 56oo W to Redwood (about 4.5 miles), there is no shoulder and no bike lane, thus the sidewalk. The road continues on and passes the office of a GREAT dentist who happens to by my dentist, and a fan of this blog, Dr. Matthew Binns. Oh... also... I am sleeping with his Dental Hygienist... It's okay though, I'm married to her. The road dips under I-15 and passes Intermountain Medical Center before ending at US-89 (State St). From SR-111 to State st is 9.9 miles. More than half of that has neither a shoulder or a bike lane, so as I said before, not very bike friendly.

I woke up at about four o' clock this afternoon, I work graveyards for those that didn't know, and had a message on my phone from Kathy Jo, the dental hygienist that I am sleeping with, that she locked her keys in her car and needed me to come rescue her. I took a look at Google Maps, saw SR-173 and figured, "why not?" I donned my bike gear, filled my water bottles, aired up my tires and shot to her office. After unlocking her car and retrieving her keys, I dropped into the office said hi to everyone, enjoyed my super-husband moment, and headed west for SR-111. From I-15 to Redwood is a pretty good ride, slight uphill grade, but great big shoulder. After Redwood, it got sketchy and after getting a face full of diesel exhaust, I figured it was time to hit the sidewalk (I was after all riding during rush hour... idiot). The road continues uphill from there and I rode at 10 MPH, cursing myself and the traffic deciding which way I was going to go home BESIDES 5300 s. On the way, I saw a neat little 9-11 memorial park and snapped a photo. I crossed 5600 w and saw the sweet reprieve of a wide shoulder. There is very little traffic past this point so for me, therapy. I had about 4 miles of sweet, smooth, flat, wide-open asphalt. I finally reached SR-111, snapped a pic of the sign, and headed back. After my therapy session, I decided that returning via 5300 S wouldn't be SO bad, after all, it is a good downhill grade which means cruising around 30 MPH. I was right and seldom rode on the sidewalk. I continued on 5300 S past State and hit Vine st which is an awesome bike ride and finally headed home. All in all, it wasn't too bad of a ride, and I will most definitely hit this one again, except for the scary sidewalk part. My ride today was 30.7 miles I rode it in 1:43:33 at an average speed of 17.7 MPH and a top speed of 35.8 MPH. Tally to this point: 4 highways, 112.8 miles total, 56.4 miles of state roads. Thanks again for reading, blog fans.


Chris