Day 52, Panguitch to Cedar City

Eager to max-out our time with Brooce and Candace, we texted them out of their cosy motel to meet us for a Subway breakfast. Being good sports, they accepted our glamorous suggestion and met us at our campsite. Predictable but pretty good, we enjoyed our six-inch or foot-long breakfasts and my 22 ounce bucket of coffee almost made me feel human (after a lousy nights' sleep.) Having further considered their 7,000 mile road trip itinerary, Brooce suggested we may cross paths again- a few weeks from now, in California. Here's hoping!

We parted ways with those guys after Candace came to my rescue with some deep-heat for the pain in my neck (its' a real bonus to be able to turn your neck in the direction of passing traffic!) Brooce has one week left at his job in Phoenix before he and Candace hit the road across the USA. We wish them well (and slightly envy their air conditioning as we brace ourselves for the Nevada desert!)

The road out of Panguitch was long and unforgiving in its' consistent elevation-gain. Bent over our bikes and tuned into a dubious 'Rock Legends' playlist on our mp3 players, we continued to battle headwinds for over 4,600 feet. As it is Labour Day long weekend, we passed recreational petrol-heads of all sorts; speedboats and jet-skis on Lake Panguitch; youths on quad-bikes in the hills; SUVs and Harleys aplenty on the roads. They were all hares to us tortoises (only unlike the fable, they will beat us time-wise.)

Finally, we crept up to the summit of 10,600 feet and were rewarded with an unexpected and awe-striking view of Cedar Breaks. It was simillar to Bryce Canyon but with more forest, less hoodoos and no camera-toting tourists. Well worth the 4 hours of uphill riding! Somehow more uphill followed the 'summit' (go figure)-but only for another half an hour. Thereafter, it was smooth down-hilling for 18 miles. All that was required was gentle peddling and fierce steering through the switch-back turns. It was difficult not to be distracted by the fantastic scenery that surrounded the motion-blurred road stretched out before us (but self-preservation kept our eyes on the road -mostly.)

Literally rolling down into Cedar City, we quickly located our pre-booked motel; 'Valu Inn' (so cheap they had to save on letters!) At $36 and thereby only $3 more than the nearby campsite, it was a no-brainer. However we do hope at that bargain price that (as Brooce put it) 'the bed is free of wildlife'. On that note, I will retire (above the bedcovers, just in case.)