[amitoj]

Crazy, right? You bet.

Wait till you read the rest. What follows is my account of my first ever guided bike tour, where I would be going one place to the next powered by nothing but my own legs and my willpower, carrying all my stuff.

The tour was Adventure Cycling Association's (ACA for short) Inn to Inn tour of Utah, spanning 8 days, 350+ miles, starting at an elevation of 2,500' in St. George and reaching a max elevation at 10,597' at Cedar Breaks before starting a long descent back into St. George, climbing a total of 21,000+ feet on a bicycle. Along with pictures, I have included links to Relive videos of my rides which provide a very interesting 60-90 second long animated video, including things like terrain and few other interesting data points. I have also included links to my rides uploaded to Strava.

What is Adventure Cycling Association? This is a non profit organization that has been organizing cycling tours to "inspire, empower and connect people to travel by bicycle" for the past 40 years. I got to know about Adventure Cycling in a book I was reading about a family that cycled around the world to raise funds for Asthma. The book is called Breathtaking and is a wonderful read in itself.
Adventure Cycling

What is Inn to Inn tour? ACA offers tours of varying levels of support starting from self supported to fully supported. Inn to Inn is somewhere in-between where you stay in a lodge or a hotel but you carry all your gear yourself. ACA Inn to Inn

What is ACA's Inn to Inn tour of Utah? An 8 day tour through southern Utah, going through the spectacular national parks in Zion and Bryce, with overnight stays at hotels or lodges serving breakfast, and dinner at nearby local restaurants. Here's the official page of the tour: ACA Inn to Inn Utah Parks

I had booked the tour so long ago that I don't recall what prompted me to do that. But as the tour got nearer and nearer, so did my apprehension. I had never done bike touring before and my attempts at finding a rack and pannier for my bike had been futile. All I had was a deep handlebar bag and a 15 liter seat post bag from Ortlieb. A week before the trip I did a test of the fully loaded bike and it seemed to handle fine. Welp. I guess this will have to do then.

With that done, packed my bike into my Scicon bike bag to check-in, stuffed a few things into a carry-on stroller and got a lift from my wife to the bus stop, to take the bus to the Boston airport where I would catch a flight to Las Vegas. From Las Vegas, I was to take a 2 hour shuttle to St. George and a taxi to the hotel. And do it in reverse on the way back, except that my wife would pick me up at the Boston airport.

All went as planned and I was on the flight to Las Vegas. Here's a view of the Grand Canyons from the airplane window. Grand Canyons was not on the itinerary of the tour:



Day 1 (3rd June, 2023): 62 mile loop from Cedar City to Parowan and back

I landed in Las Vegas on 2nd June, took a shuttle to St. George and a taxi to my hotel. The riders' meeting was schedule for 4PM next day, with the tour's first ride starting the day after. So, I decided to make use of this time by checking off my goal of doing at least one 100K ride from the Randonneurs USA's route library. The nearest one started from Cedar City, went up to Parowan Gap and came back.

Relive video:
Parowan Gap Ride

Strava link:
Parowan Gap Ride

Parowan gap is known for the petroglyphs, which are large markings on the smooth stones that make up the gap, dating back centuries. These markings are in the language of the native Americans. Here are some pictures I took along the way:









The area where I live is surrounded by trees. 80% of New Hampshire is covered by trees, and that's what you see when you look up, not the horizon. For me, the change in scenery was jaw dropping. The ride also. helped in acclimatizing to the altitude as well for what was to come.

Later in the evening I met up with our tour leader, Lynn and rest of the 9 riders with whom I will be spending the next 8 days. We all introduced ourselves and discussed the logistics of the next day and touched upon what was to come later. I'll talk more about the group later, because the group itself was one of the best part of the tour.

It was a very emotional day for me as not only was this my 22nd wedding anniversary but also my eldest daughter's Black Belt graduation. My wife had been texting me all the details about the rigorous testing that my daughter was going through and I was sad that I was not there to encourage her through the ordeal. As a small consolation, I was able to see the graduation ceremony via video call.

Day 2 (4th June 2023): 47 miles, +2,500' from St. George to Springdale

This was the first day of riding as part of the tour. We packed up our lunches, ate the breakfast at the hotel and hit the road. Everybody else's bike was equipped with rack and panniers whereas I was carrying all my stuff in my two bags, which gave me some anxiety about whether I was carrying enough or not. Well, I did intend to wash my clothes at least a couple of times. Here's my bike, fully loaded (or barely loaded). Couple of riders did comment that I was traveling light.



It would turn out to be a good decision to travel light in the end though because I did not have the gearing that a touring bike would normally have, specially for the climbs.

Here's the Relive video of the ride:
St. George to Springdale

Strava ride:
St. George to Springdale

We started the ride on the Virgin River bike path, and after 8 miles or so, my Wahoo GPS said that the ride was complete! Well, that was not right but I realized that the poor wifi back at the hotel was not enough to fully download the route from my phone to the GPS. Thankfully I had the route downloaded on my phone's RideWithGPS app so I stopped, opened it up and used it for a couple of miles. But this was becoming tedious as stopping and looking at the phone at every point in the cue sheet did not make for a very pleasant riding experience. Then I realized that I am carrying my bluetooth earpiece, so I put that in my right ear so that I could hear turn by turn directions. Anyway, soon I was engrossed in the scenery around me and was taking pictures every few miles!





Like all good things that come to an end, so did the bike path but not the amazing scenery.

At one point, I found myself riding on a road that had a speed limit of 65mph! That was a first for me because in the New England area, that speed limit is usually for restricted highways. But the road had a wide shoulder and I saw many cyclists on the road.




After riding for around 25 miles, the scenery changed and I started seeing glimpses of the Zion National Park and its large looming mountains.




I reached my destination hotel at 11:30AM only to be told that the room was not ready yet, which was to become a daily thing for me. But the hotel front desk was kind enough to store my bike and luggage till the room became ready. So I changed into more comfortable clothes, explored Springdale on foot, ate some lunch and went back to the hotel. Some more riders had arrived by then, and we all decided to just hang around in the lobby.

Soon the rooms were ready and I checked in, took a shower and met rest of the gang for a delicious dinner at a nearby restaurant.


After dinner, we did the usual thing of making a sandwich and packing some snacks for the next day.

Day 3 was a layover day for us to explore and hike the Zion National Park.

[amitoj]

Day 3 (5th June, 2023): Layover day in Springdale

We used this day to explore the Zion National Park. I was impressed by how we could move around without needing a car. The city of Springdale ran buses to and from the park and within the park, there were shuttles to take us to various hiking points inside the park, all free of cost. So, you could leave your car or bike at the hotel and enjoy the park without crowding up the roads. You could of-course take your bike into the park, but you'd need to pull over and yield to shuttle buses every time. That did not sound like a very pleasant biking experience, so we decided to hop on the shuttles.

We did a couple of relatively easy hikes to explore the park and see it from different angles. We did not want to stress our legs too much, given the riding that was in store for us over the next few days.

One was the hike to the Emerald Pools and second was to the Riverside Walk which would normally be the starting point for the Narrows but they were closed due to danger of flash floods. On the way back from the Emerald Pools, the crowd was starting to get bigger and as we crossed a big group, I heard moms in the group saying words of encouragements to the toddlers in front of them, to keep them going as long as possible until they had to be carried

















The magnitude of the rock mountains looming over you is quite a humbling experience as you feel your own smallness in comparison to these creations.

Apologies for the over processed photo below from Springdale but I wanted to highlight how the color schemes of the buildings in the town tend to blend well into the background. A building with an orange facade could be quite an eyesore and ruin the whole experience.



The day ended with dinner at Bit and Spur Restaurant across the street from our hotel, followed by the usual lunch prep and map meeting for the next day.

Day 4 (6th June, 2023): 54 miles, +3,400' from Springdale to Hatch

On this day, we rode out of Springdale to Hatch, with descents totaling 2,450' and ascents nearly 4,000 feet. Needless to say, this was going to be a tough ride with a lot of climbing. However, since no bikes are allowed inside the tunnel that leads out of Zion and towards Bryce, we were going to load up our bikes on a van and ferried across the tunnel. The elevation profile showed us doing 2 long climbs. Thankfully I had used my internet sleuthing skills the day before to scout a cafe before the long second climb.

Relive Video:
Springdale to Hatch

Strava Ride:
Springdale to Hatch

Hatch was going to be our night stop only, on our way to Bryce Canyon because riding straight through would have been too much of an ordeal.

Once again, I was mesmerized by the natural sights around me as we left Springdale.






This is the cafe where I stopped and then everyone else stopped. Cutest Flintstoney cafe ever.


This was also the ride where I broke a spoke 5 miles from the destination. I heard a loud twang as I was going down the final bit of descent and next thing I knew my rear wheel was now wobbling. I stopped and made sure the broken spoke was not in the way and cautiously made it to the destination. Since the bike has disc brakes, there was not much rubbing on the wheel. After checking into my room and taking a shower, I unloaded the bike, turned it upside down and loosened the 2 spokes around the broken one so that the wheel didn't wobble any more. Our tour leader was carrying something called a FlexiSpoke which I had no idea what it was, so I decided not to do anything about it until we reached Bryce next day, which was only 22 miles away.

We stayed at a place in Hatch called Riverside Ranch RV Park and Motel. Hatch seemed to be one of those forgotten towns that no one visits any more. It sits between Zion and Bryce but people just drive right through it. We couldn't eat at the local Steakhouse because the truck that delivers raw food to them had not shown up in the past 2 days, so they could not serve a group of 10. We ate at the only cafe that was open. I think everyone ordered the same thing! But the motel was a very comfortable stay, with the lady running the place being the most helpful, warm and welcoming!




I was terribly missing my family as well by now. I had not been away from them for this many days in a very long time. Never since my daughters had passed the age of 4 and 6 I think, and never since my son was 1 year old. It had now become a daily ritual of video calls after dinner that helped a little. Plus, I sent them pictures and links to the Relive videos and my daughters never failed to respond with "wow" and "amazing". This remote thin line of connection with my family helped me a little to keep going.

[amitoj]

Day 5 (7th June, 2023): 23 miles, +1,300' Hatch to Bryce Canyon City

We had breakfast at the motel, got on our bikes and headed to Bryce Canyon City. Everyone told me that Bryce is even more beautiful than Zion so I couldn't wait to get there. Before Bryce, there is Red Canyon with its looming red mountains. This was also where the bike path started, so obviously I stopped to take pictures!

Relive Video:
Hatch to Bryce

Strava Ride:
Hatch to Bryce

By now we were at almost 8,000 feet of elevation. St. George, from where we started was at somewhere around 2,500 feet.







Our night stop was at Ruby's Inn, which was the only game in town. Turns out that Ruby is short for Reuben, the guy and family who put Bryce on the map by setting up tents and providing services to tourists in the 1920s, before the park became a national park. This was also our first brush with cold hospitality. Check in was at 4PM and there was no way they were going to let us in before that. And they didn't have any place to store our bikes either. Given those constraints, we decided to explore Bryce on our bikes, making use of the excellent multi use path that goes through almost all the main viewing points of Bryce. Below are some pictures of Bryce.

The stone structures in the picture are called Hoodoos and they are formed because the top layer is more corrosion resistant than the layers of stone underneath it. There is a day long hike to get to the bottom of those hoodoos which is supposed to be magnificent!









We had dinner as well as breakfast at Ruby's only, both being a buffet and honestly, it was not too bad for a buffet.

By now, I was starting to get a hang of bike touring. So far, all my cycling activities had been time-centric, whether it was a brevet or a local solo ride or even a commute. Bike touring brings on a completely different mindset of using the bike as a tool to explore your surroundings. It allows you to slow down and lets you absorb more and appreciate the beauty around you. This is the reason the next day I decided to go into the park again, before heading out to the next overnight destination. Most of the pictures above are from my second visit to the park.

Also, the night before, one of the riding buddies and I tried out the FlexiSpoke thing and after a lot of head scratching and wondering how to make that contraption work, we managed to fit it onto the bike. Best part of the FlexiSpoke is that you don't even need to take the tire off!

Day 6 (8th June, 2023): 41 miles, +2,500' Bryce Canyon City to Panguitch Lake

This was one of those routes where your net elevation gain was only around 600 feet but it involved descending 2,000 feet and then climbing back 2,600 feet. Go figure! Again my internet sleuthing skills had identified a couple of spots to stop and eat before starting the big climb out of Panguitch and to Panguitch Lake. And boy was I glad that I did that. Because right after that, there was a 7.4 mile long climb for 1,200 feet. There was nothing to do but get into the right gear, get your head down, and pedal up. But I stopped of course to take pictures!

Relive video:
Bryce to Panguitch Lake

Strava ride:
Bryce to Panguitch Lake

We retraced our route out of Bryce Canyon for a few miles, which meant crossing Red Canyon again and another chance to take more pictures.





I still continued to be in awe of the vast landscape in front of me and all around.





The most tasty and refreshing thing I have had after a tough ride. It says beer but it is non alcoholic.




This was also probably the lowest point in terms of quality of stay, but again thankfully we were here just for the night. Our tour leader had managed to convince a local place to deliver food for dinner and the hotel's manager was generous enough to let us use their dining space. This saved our tired legs from riding down to the restaurant and back up. Dinner done, we had a quick map meeting and then prepared our lunches for the next day.

Next day was going to be another tough one though.

[amitoj]

Day 7 (9th June, 2023): 42 miles, +3,200' Panguitch Lake to Cedar City

The back to back days of riding and climbing were starting to take its toll. So far, I had covered 266 miles on bike and foot and climbed more than 15,500 feet in 6 days. But now we were on the return leg of the tour, but not before hitting peak elevation of 10,600 for which we had to conquer a 14 mile long climb that would cover nearly 2,500 feet of climbing! Someone told us that there will be snow at the top. I was excited to see snow in June. Haha!

Our overnight stay did not have breakfast, so we had to ride 5 miles around Panguitch Lake to another breakfast place. As I rode up to another rider from the group, they mentioned that the scenery reminded them of Switzerland, and I thought to myself that how lucky I am to be in this place, in this moment. I ate a hearty breakfast of stuffed omelette and butter on toast, with 3 cups of coffee, surrounded by people getting ready for a day of fishing at the lake as well as my small riding group.

Our destination today was Cedar City, which was 2,000 feet below Panguitch Lake. BUT, we needed to first climb 3,000 feet to the highest elevation in Cedar Breaks, before getting onto a long screaming descent into Cedar City. Imagine rolling down a hill on a bicycle for 22 miles! That's the thought that pushed us up the long 14 mile climb to 10,600 feet at Cedar Breaks. Towards the peak, there was snow around the road and to complete the experience, there was some sleet too falling from the sky.

Relive video:
Panguitch Lake to Cedar City

Strava ride:
Panguitch Lake to Cedar City

The only way to make it up the climb was to stop frequently and take photos!











Close to the top, I started feeling lightheaded when I moved my head around. That was a sign to take it easy. I was glad to see a sign for Chessman Ridge Overlook near the top so I pulled into it. The views as you can see above, were well worth the climb. I lingered around as long as I could, and soon it was time to start the descent.

But even the descent provided such stunning views that I had to pull over a few times to take pictures. As per Strava, my max speed on the descent was 45+ mph.









That was probably the best descent ever. Reached the city, back into civilization, and found a local establishment to hang out at till dinner time. Dinner was at a local, family run Mexican restaurant where for the first time, I had Agua Fresca, a refreshing drink that came in 3 flavors: rice water, cinnamon and watermelon. I went with cinnamon. It has been 6 months since I gave up alcohol, and so now I was exploring the non alcoholic section of every menu and discovering things I had missed all along.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, prepared our lunches for the next day and had a map meeting, for the last time. There was some concern that we were going to be riding our bikes on the Interstate tomorrow but our tour leader assured us that Adventure Cycling would not put us on the interstate if there was any other option.

With that, we went to sleep, prepared for the last ride of the tour, which was going to be mostly downhill. We were looking forward to reclaiming all the climbing we had been doing over the past 7 days. I had plans to stop by at the Kolob Canyons along the way.

Total distance: 308 miles
Total climbing: 18,500 feet

[amitoj]

Day 8 (10th June, 2023): 70 miles, +2,700' Cedar City to St. George via Kolob Canyons

This was it. The final day of the tour, and the route had everything packed into it. Cedar City to St. George is a almost a straight shot all the way down, from almost 6,000 feet elevation to 2,500. Most of this was going to be on frontage roads, roads that run parallel to Interstate 15. But some of it was going to be on actual I-15 as well, with huge trucks flying by at 80+mph. Last few miles into St. George were going to be on a bike path, which would be a welcome relief but for distracted folks on e-bikes.

As planned, I was going to stop at Kolob Canyons. That's why my final ride is split into 3 parts:

Cedar City to Kolob Canyons: 21 miles.

Strava ride:
Cedar City to Kolob Canyons

This was quite an uneventful 21 miles, with hardly any traffic and quiet roads. Probably my highest average speed of this trip so far at 17.4 mph, thanks to the gentle downhills.



Kolob Canyons: 10 miles total

Strava ride:
Kolob Canyons



I went into the visitor center to inquire about what I can do at the Canyons and the park attendant told me that the 5 miles long scenic Kolob Canyons road was open all the way to the top for pedestrians and cyclists only, whereas cars could go only half way up, since the falling rocks had damaged part of the road. They also told me that it went up more than a 1,000 feet. I did some quick calculations in my head and decided that many times during this trip, I had done more climbing per mile than this, so this can be doable. Besides, who knows when I will be here next. Carpe diem.

With that in mind, I clipped into my pedals and started going up the road. Soon, I could no longer hear the traffic from the Interstate. The only thing I could hear was my labored breathing and cicadas clicking in the bushes all around me. Couple of folks on e-bikes whizzed past me going uphill but not before giving me a few words of encouragement, bless them since I needed them.

My Wahoo bike GPS switches the screen to an elevation profile when it detects a climb, a feature that I frequently use as it tells me how much I should push and how much energy I should conserve. This is what it showed after a mile or so into the climb:



As I made my way to the top, I could see sections of the road that were destroyed by falling rocks and as a result were not wide enough for cars any more. Another reason I was glad to be on my bike.

Looking at the smooth road, I was already dreaming of flying down the road!







View from the top:





And fly I did down the road, hitting max speed of 45mph on my bike.

Kolob Canyons to St. George: 31 miles

Strava ride:
Kolob Canyons to St. George

This was it. The final ride of the tour, and it was all going to be downhill, mostly. Soon I was on the dreaded section of the route which was Interstate 15. One of the riders up ahead messaged to say that she got stopped by a trooper on the highway who said bikes were not allowed but gave her permission to go till the exit that we were to take. This was a bit surprising but maybe not, because it is not uncommon for law enforcement officials to not be fully aware of the laws with respect to cycling. We had verified that there were certain sections of I-15 that specifically mentioned that bicycles and pedestrians were prohibited from traveling on the I-15 but we were not on any of those sections. This made sense because there was no other alternate road that we could take either. I had initially considered stopping on the interstate to take a picture of me with my bike next to the I-15 sign but after hearing about this, I thought it prudent not to tempt fate. But I did manage to take this pic while riding. If you zoom in, you can see the 80mph speed limit sign as well a little further down the road:



As per the route, I got off the interstate at the right exit and immediately got onto some bad sections of the road. All of that had me looking forward to the bike path. This was the last scenic photo I took of the trip while on my bike:



And right after that, I got a puncture in my rear tire. This happened on a noisy, full of traffic part of the route, so I decided to just fill up my tire so that I could get off to a quieter road and take care of the flat. As I trudged up the hill, I saw a couple of riders from my group stopped by the side of the road, fixing a flat themselves! I thought this is a sign from above for me to take care of this right here right now. So, I took out my tools and spare tube, flipped the bike over, took the wheel off and took out the tube. I ran my fingers along the inside of the tire and felt a small piece protruding into the tire. Took that out, put a new tube in, pumped air into it and went back on the road. I had already asked the other 2 riders to carry on.

As I was about to catch up to them, I noticed that I was losing air, AGAIN! Well, thank heavens that I was carrying 2 spare tubes and not 1! This time I managed to find a nice shaded spot and got to work more meticulously. Managed to find a nail embedded in the tire and pulled it out using my trusty Swiss army knife.

With that taken care of, I resumed my journey but for the remaining miles, my mind was pre occupied with wondering what would I do if I got another flat, as I was out of spare tubes. Note to self: carry a patch repair kit as well, which can at the very least give you a plan C in case you run out of spare tubes.

Thankfully I reached the hotel without any further incidents, checked in and took a refreshing cold shower.

We met for dinner one last time, where I treated myself to a nice ice cream brownie sandwich for dessert:



After dinner, we met again in the hotel lobby, hugged each other for sharing the last 8 days and bid farewell.

As my plane took off, I took one last photo of this beautiful, vast land from the plane window, grateful that I got this chance to travel and absorb this wonderful experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life:



Total Distance: 378 miles
Total Climbing: 21,270 feet

[amitoj]

The scenery, the riding, the weather was all only half of the total experience of the tour. The other half was the company of the 9 riders I had during the tour. Each one in the group was a real gem of a person. I am not the most outgoing person anyway and being of a different origin from the rest of the group usually makes it more difficult for me to overcome my shyness and blend in. But not with this group. They all treated me with the same kindness, generosity and humor as everyone else and probably made a little extra effort on their part to make me feel comfortable as well. And that made a world of a difference in my overall experience of the tour. Many of them had done several epic rides, from trans America to trans Europe. I was in awe of their experience and humility.

The oldest rider in the group, Tom was a retired 78 year old gentleman who had signed up for the tour only 3 weeks prior, and then went and bought a bike for the tour! And yet, he was always right up there with rest of the group throughout the tour. He even fell down twice during the tour and got right back up and onto the bike! If I am half as fit as him when I hit 80, I'd consider myself lucky. I will never forget the keenness and curiosity in his voice and eyes every time he heard something new.

The oldest woman in the group, Barbara was an almost 70 year old lady, who has done many tours including the self supported Trans America bike tour. She had a very calm, satisfied with life kind of an aura around her that put everyone at ease.

Then there were the three amigos (Mike, John and Steve), who had been riding together for 20 years and yet could not be any more different in personalities. After a ride, I would seek them out so that I could join them and not get bored till dinner time.

There was also a married couple from Colorado, Britton and Gina who were Mexican by origin. The husband was an experienced bike tourer with, I think, even a ride across America under his belt. His wife, a novice tourer, was the sweetest person of the group while the husband had a great sense of humor. They were the quintessential "lovely couple".

There was another woman with us, Krista who was probably the youngest at heart! I hope to have the same keen sense of adventure and thirst for life when I am at her age.

Last but not the least, our tour leader, Lynn, deserves a special mention. She really led the group well and ensured that we all had fun and were in good spirits. She has been leading tours for many years and has done several self supported tours herself, including one in Australia. As a tour leader, she was responsible for running sweep too, which meant she was always the last one to reach the overnight destination ensuring everyone else made it. Along the way, she would also shop for groceries so that we could pack our lunches for the next day. And all this, she carried on the bike. Truly an adventurous spirit. At some point, I even asked her whether she had had anyone from India in her group and she had to think long and hard and finally said probably not. I reflected on why's that myself and thought maybe it's because cycling as a sport is not very popular in India.

Here's a group picture of us on our last day



Anyway, in the end it is not very difficult to organize an inn to inn tour on your own, but you won't ever be able to get together a group of individuals like this one. And that will make all the difference.

I am already looking forward to next year and planning to do an Educational Road Tour with ACA. This is where they teach how to do a fully self supported bike tour, from pitching a tent to cooking food to loading up the bike. Something like this one:
Into to Road Touring - Virginia

I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience and would consider getting out there on a bike yourself one day.

To borrow this from Lynn, tailwinds and sunshine.

Cheers,
Amitoj

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ampere]

Nice to see you back Amitoj! And what an action this is! The clean smooth tarmac look awesome indeed to ride or drive or run!

[ninjatalli]

Wonderful experience Amitoj. What amazing sights and views; plus the option of doing sight seeing during the rest of the day is perfect! Btw good to see the earlier experiments with the long saddle bag worked out for you - they are definitely a good alternative to the usual panniers, no?

What's next on the cards? Colorado? Or maybe the Smokies during fall season

[condor]

Lovely pics there ! Cycling + touring / visiting places is in a different league than driving and seeing places.

Someone I knew long back when he & I were at the same client's place in Riyadh, later moved to the US. A few years back he got into this business and now runs the Sojourn Cycling and Active Vacations.
I keep seeing the pics he posts, and wish I could such trips too.

[gypsygenes]

@amitoj enjoyed reading the tour report. Landscapes look gorgeous. And more importantly, I like your funky rear view mirror.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by ampere

Nice to see you back Amitoj! And what an action this is! The clean smooth tarmac look awesome indeed to ride or drive or run!

Thanks! Majority of the roads were quite smooth, and mostly empty, which made for a very enjoyable riding.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Wonderful experience Amitoj. What amazing sights and views; plus the option of doing sight seeing during the rest of the day is perfect! Btw good to see the earlier experiments with the long saddle bag worked out for you - they are definitely a good alternative to the usual panniers, no?

What's next on the cards? Colorado? Or maybe the Smokies during fall season

Thanks. Next up I have to do a 600km ride in the Finger Lakes region of New York in July, to compete the Super Randonneur series, which is totally different from bike touring. With my newfound joy of bike touring, I just might be able to make a travelogue out of it.

Originally Posted by condor

Lovely pics there ! Cycling + touring / visiting places is in a different league than driving and seeing places.

Someone I knew long back when he & I were at the same client's place in Riyadh, later moved to the US. A few years back he got into this business and now runs the Sojourn Cycling and Active Vacations.
I keep seeing the pics he posts, and wish I could such trips too.

Thanks for sharing that. They seem to be based out of Vermont, which is just north of where I am. I will definitely reach out to them next.

Originally Posted by gypsygenes

@amitoj enjoyed reading the tour report. Landscapes look gorgeous. And more importantly, I like your funky rear view mirror.

Haha I don't ride without that mirror. It's been an integral part of my kit for years now. So much so, that when I was walking back after dinner in Hatch, I heard a car coming from behind and instinctively looked up and slightly to my left to catch its reflection in the mirror, only to realize that I was walking and not biking

[ssathiyanarayan]

Hi Amitoj, Nice to read your travelogue on bicycle tour. Great writing and sharing of the experience. That's the spirit of cycling. It brings along all from varied background and field. Helps then unite on the team goal. The sad part as you mentioned - Cycling as a sport is not picking up much in India. I blame it on the attitude, support and infrastructure. Being a randennuer myself I realized this in a hard way. Wishing you all the best and super good luck to complete your SR. It's something I missed out and will be in my bucket list for a long time to come. Happy miles and milestones ahead ��

Apologise for quoting things fully. Wanted to quote for the details spread across

[PreludeSH]

Congrats on a great trip and beautiful photographs.
The landscape of Utah is truly amazing with red/yellow/brown colours on naked rock and earth . Having lived next door in Colorado for close to 2 decades, I find this serene and you acknowledge the vastness and your tiny self in all of that.

[FrankMartin]

What an awe-inspiring tour this is !! Brilliantly written, it gave me goosebumps to read through your adventure and couldn't stop reading till the end. This has also made me think more seriously about long distance cycling.
Reading about Tom was inspiring. Stuff of legends IMHO to be doing this trip at 78. Take a bow!!
It would help cycling novices like me if you could also add a little about the supporting equipment that you used like the bicycle bag n how you organized your riding gear.
Keep Riding Bro !!