The route was Park City to Heber up River Road and on to Francis then Kamas then back to PC over 248.
I looked on google maps to see if there was a better way to Heber than riding US-40. I thought I found a secondary road that would do the trick....
Ooops.... So, reminding myself that all good rides sometimes include roads like this one and assuring myself that this is the road I saw on the "map"...I headed out. The road climbed for a bit and wasn't all that bad. I'd ridden worse roads (rim deep sugar sand on fixed gears) back in the day with my buddy Brian. I traipsed up this little path for a bit and came across something a bit more smooth and decided to give that a try.
Stupid is as stupid does.
This path didn't go very far but it was a might better than the gravel. Needless to say, the gravel petered out after a while and turned into dirt. Yep, you guessed it....I followed that for a bit until common sense over whelmed me and I turned back only to find a gap in the deer fence paralleling the highway and bushwhacked down to US-40. I musta looked a sight to all driving on the highway but whatever.
Once on the highway I was in the company of tractor trailers, diesel trucks towing boats and everything in between....needless to say, not fun but direct.
After about 5+ miles of this, I got to the turn off on River Road. It's a beauty of the climb...nice and steady at about 5%.
Once over the top of that, the road undulates a bit and then ends with a great descent into the valley that leads to Francis.
It's not North Carolina, but it'll do.... 10 miles of this to Francis.
The rest of the ride goes like this.....I hit Francis and went up a punchy little climb...short but sweet. Over the top and down to Joe's Country store for a powerade and banana bread. That's where tail wind started. Only 2 miles of it but I'll take it. Next stop Kamas and 12 miles to PC and home....sounds easy right.
Once on Hwy 248, I encountered roto milled highway up and over 2 climbs....that's where the legs went south. I did "ok" over the first....until I saw Levi Leipheimer TT'ing the other way....flying....he did have a tail wind...but that didn't seem to matter to my ego. But he is a PRO after all so I said "fuck it" and kept riding....as slow as humanly possible without coming off the bike. I then descended toward the next hill and flatted.
After fixing the flat with a patched tube, the smallest mini pump known to man or beast and an CO2, I limped up and over the last hill and rode it in... All in all....a good ride....actually a great ride because I got to ride.
