SR-65... and 86

Few things are more exhilarating than blowing snot rockets with one hand on the handlebar at 35 mph down a 6% grade.  If you haven't figured it out by now, I did a little descending on Thursday (Aug 12th).  Okay... a lot of descending... But I also did a lot of climbing, so I EARNED those 35 mph snot rockets.  I went on a long ride to the tune of nearly 5 hours on SR-65, and since I decided to add all the little short highways I also did SR-86.

SR-65 starts at I-80 near Mountain Dell Reservoir.  It heads north, descending down a short hill to Mountain Dell Golf Course where it then climbs a steep grade for a mile until it levels out and passes Little Dell Reservoir.  About a mile after passing the reservoir, the road ascends a little over 4 miles to the top of Big Mountain Pass where it continues down into East Canyon.  A short while later, it passes East Canyon Resort, then East Canyon Reservoir where it intersects with SR-66.  The road meanders north east for a little less than 9 miles until it terminates near the town of Henefer at I-84, 28.3 miles long.  In the town of Henefer, SR-65 runs into SR-86.  That road runs from Henefer to I-84 for 2.1 miles.  Here is the map and elevation profile:

Training for the half ironman is going well.  I was supposed to 3 hours of riding, then 20 minutes of running on Thursday, but I have been itching to do this route for a while so I decided to just go out and hit it knowing full well it was going to take me well over three hours.  I headed out early Thursday morning to beat the heat, and pulled off the freeway at the Mountain Dell Exit, then parked my car at the top of the hill.  On the way up, the radio said... the DJ on the radio said (radios don't talk, silly Chris) that the high for the day would be somewhere in the 80s, currently somewhere in the 60s.  Uh Oh.   I filled my water bottles from my new water cooler, and hit the road (he he).  On the way down the hill, I thought through my frozen brain that arm warmers would have been a nice thing to bring.  I wiped the frozen snot from my nose at the bottom of the hill and started up the steep incline desperately wishing the increased blood flow would bring life back into my icy arms.  After conquering the short climb, I thought seriously about heading back to the car until I came into the sun and started to thaw a bit.  For me, riding and running is ALWAYS most difficult at the beginning.  I passed Little Dell

Little Dell Reservoir from Big Mountain.  I took this one day while riding my mountain bike

and looked ahead to the archway formed by the trees over the road and saw a red flashing police light.  I thought "that's weird" then quickly realized that the red light was in fact a red bike jersey which gave a nice flashing light effect as the rider passed from shadow of the trees to the light breaking through.  Ha ha!  My first victim!  I gave a little extra effort then upon thinking of the horrid amount of climbing I would have to do, I backed off.  I eventually caught the poor soul only to find that he was in fact a Dr. Matt Belman.  I had no idea who he was, but I thought it would be nice to climb with someone to talk to.  On the way, we chatted about cycling and triathlon and I asked him where we might stop for refills.  We continued pumping our legs on up the steep switchbacks

Again from the top of Big Mountain, you can see some of the switchbacks of SR-65 on the mountain in the middle of the picture.

passing a couple more riders on the way.  I never got their names, but they seemed like nice fellows.  When we reached Big Mountain Pass, we stopped for a minute or two for a food and water break, then Matt told me I could descend as fast as I wanted but that I ought to wait at East Canyon Resort (for a refill)  I did... of course... hitting 44 mph and I caught up to the "nice fellows" near the bottom of the descent.  I waited for Matt who showed up a few minutes later, and we refilled.  We continued on and kept chatting when the wind in our ears and the width of the shoulder would permit.  We climbed a short steep ascent, then cruised on into Henefer.  On the way we discussed where to go once we reached Henefer.  I stopped at the freeway to snap a pic of the end sign and Matt continued on to see what the road to Echo Reservoir looked like.  When I finished up, I saw him coming back to me, so we continued on to the general store in town for another refill.  I convinced Matt to ride with me down SR-86 (didn't take the time for a sign photo here) and he convinced me to take the freeway... yes, the freeway... down into Morgan.  It probably isn't the best idea I've have ever had, but judging by the fact that I am here writing this, it turned out okay.  There was one particularly frightening moment when we were passed by two semi trucks, side by side traveling upwards of 60 mph four feet away.  For you mathematicians out there, I'm talking to you Josh, that's 40 mph hour faster than the 20 we were riding.  He he.  We reached Morgan and stopped at the 7-11 in town for yet another refill before the ride back up the hill to East Canyon Reservoir.  While there, I bought some jerky to snack on.  Matt did the same thing at the general store in Henefer so I figured I'd try it out and I think it is going to become a habit... so good... thanks Matt!  We rode up the road (SR-66 if you didn't figure that out) and were nearly hit by a crazy lady in a big SUV going too fast around a blind corner not paying attention with another car coming the other way.  We threw our hands in the air, Matt had a few choice words for here, and she skidded to a halt.  I rode up to her window and she squabbled something about us being in her way and I told her, "We have more to lose of you hit us... You ought to be more careful!"  She stared at me like I was from Pluto and yellled, "I need to be more careful!?" and squealed her tires as she sped away angry.  I told myself that she thought about it later, realized she was in the wrong and prayed to her Heavenly Father for his and my forgiveness... I forgive her...  After summiting SR-66, we rode past the reservoir back to the resort for another refill and begin the arduous climb back to Big Mountain Pass.  I did most of the talking at this point.  I was still feeling pretty fresh despite having ridden 50 miles already, but Matt had ridden close 15 miles more than me when I caught up to him.  We continued on up the hill and finally reached the top.  We stopped for another food break and Matt thanked me for the great ride and for pulling him up the hill (it's a cycling thing, you don't actually pull people up the hill, it's just a bit easier to go when you have someone with you).  We exchanged phone numbers and I descended down to my car, blowing snot rockets on the way.  I got in my car, stopped for a picture and headed home.  After arriving, I got right on my treadmill and ran 2 miles.  Yes... I am crazy.  Today's ride was 74.1 miles, somewhere around four hours 55 minutes.  Top speed 44.1 mph, average speed, 15.1 mph.  These are my 16th and 17th state roads, 535.8 total miles ridden, 222.5 miles of state roads.  Thanks for reading!