I arrived last night in Panguitch, Utah after driving 660 miles.  It took me 10 hours with stops.

Good thing I started it out with some quality Java from the little Florence Coffee cabin in Butte.  You know your coffee is going to be primo if it comes from a drive up window on the side of a cabin!

Additionally, it was early on Sunday morning and as I dialed around SiriusXM where I found a replay of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem from July 11th, 1970 on the 70’s on 7 channel.  Here is a little bit of the countdown starting with Rare Earth “Get Ready” at #13 and ending with Three Dog Night “Mama Told Me Not To Come” at #1.  Unfortunately, the long distance dedication must have happened earlier in the program.  Only old people like me will get that joke.

It was still light when I got to the little town of Panguitch where I would camp for the night before my ride the next morning.  I was delighted to find my luxury camping spot with a grass pad and an electrical outlet!  It doesn’t get much better than that for tent camping!

I quickly set up camp and yes, tossed down a turkey sandwich and a beer before heading off to sleep.  Once in my tent, I was lulled to sleep by the mooing of the cows across the field and the rhythmic beat of the huge agriculture sprinklers.

Again, when I go tent camping on this trip I attract almost freezing temperatures for some reason.  This morning as the sun came up it was 40 degrees.  A quick check of my weather app said that it wouldn’t last for long.  The temperature in Panguitch would be in the mid 60’s by 9:00a.m.  I put on another layer and got another hour of sleep before taking a shower to warm up and getting my cycling gear in order for my final big event on the Hack-bbatical.

Today, my goal was to take a leisurely bucket list ride from Panguitch up to the end of Bryce Canyon National Park and all the way back down.  This ride would entail 86 miles of riding and climbing 5,800 feet in total by the time it was done.

I departed at 9:30a.m. from my campsite to find myself on a very generously wide shoulder on Highway 89.

This only lasted seven miles before I started the climb on Highway 12 up to Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest.

Once I got to Red Canyon, I knew I was on the right track as there were two Backroads Cycling Tour vans parked there waiting for their group to come down and relinquish their bikes.  They were taking the easy option of going mostly downhill and then the vans would take them back uphill.

As I pulled into the parking lot to take a photo of the van, I noticed that the Backroads customers were coming off of a paved bike trail separate from the road.  In fact, my Ride With GPS route that I downloaded from the Trek Travel route they take their customers on was telling me to go there as well.  What luxury I thought.  A whole bike trail away from the cars?  I found out later it would go on uninterrupted for another 12 miles!!

Red Canyon was beautiful and impressive.  Unlike Bryce, you are up close to view the different formations and the color of the red rocks are much deeper and powerful.  If you ever visit Bryce, don’t leave the area until you visit Red Canyon a short drive away.

As I passed by this formation, I thought it kind of looked like Homer Simpson.

Once out of Red Canyon, the trail was simply straight through a high elevation area with no trees so the wind had the opportunity to add to the challenge.  Unfortunately, it seemed that I would be hitting that wind on the way back in the evening.

The trail eventually turned to the right and took me briefly into the city of Bryce just outside the National Park.  Full of hotels, campgrounds, ice cream shops, etc., I was quickly back onto the road with an adequate bike lane entering the park.  I, of course, stopped for the classic photo op in front of the park entrance sign!

From here, it was pretty much a solid climb for the next 20 miles.  It wasn’t crazy steep, but it was constant.  Fortunately, the traffic was exceptionally low.  I was prepared for the insanity of Zion or Yellowstone, but it really was only a car or two every couple minutes or so which made the ride pleasantly peaceful through the pines.

On the other side of the road from time to time there were areas to pull off and view the landscape below.  I did not stop for these as I noticed that it was taking me longer than I expected to get to the end of the road/summit called Rainbow Point.  I made a decision to bypass these for now and rather stop at them on the way down when I would be taking advantage of the downhill momentum.  I just kept cranking.

Again, it just seemed like it was taking a long time to get these 43 miles done.  I was also running through my nutrition supplies quicker than expected.  I reminded myself that most of this from the beginning was uphill so the time factor is probably longer than you expected Mr. Glass Half Full.  That being said the closer I got, I felt weaker even though I was burning through my nutrition.  Something didn’t seem to be right.  About a half hour after this conversation we had with ourselves, I had a peek at the end of the trail up ahead.  I did my best to quickly pedal up what was left and at the end, I found my answer to my energy problem.

When I downloaded the route and decided to do this bucket list ride, I simply looked at the distance and how many feet I would need to climb.  It was within my capabilities so I thought nothing more about it.  Here at the summit, was a sign that revealed the issue.  Elevation.  I tend to do well in high elevation, but this was pretty high at 9,115 feet above sea level.  Obviously, there was some oxygen deprivation limiting my physical and probably mental abilities.  As we all know, I don’t need any more limitations on the mental side of my daily endeavors.

I walked the bike over the viewing area and took a few photos that seemed to catch the landscape for 500 miles into the distance.

I followed that up by enlisting a passerby to grab the classic victory climb photo since I had earned it.

Then it was time to fuel up again.  I had been saving this Stroop Waffel as a special treat once I made the summit.  I always perform well for treats!

I ate a few hundred calories more after that and then started the descent back to Panguitch with many expected stops along the way for photos of the landscapes at those viewing areas I passed coming up.

At the second stop, there was a particularly prominent Hoodoo.  Throughout Bryce these are the interesting rock formations that everyone wants to see.  Often they remind you of faces or things kind of like that one I saw back in Red Canyon.

I finally exited the park and was back in the city of Bryce.  I was almost out of nutrition and had a lot of miles to go yet so I pulled into a general store and went for the classic cyclist revival meal of a Coke in a real glass bottle and a crappy turkey, ham and cheese sandwich on white bread.  As odd as it seems, this combination had everything I needed to get me back home.  I am still amazed today that drinking a Coke when you are kind of depleted just bounces you right back up.  It is magical.  It saved me at the end when I did my full Ironman and it put me back in the game today in Bryce so I could clip off those final 15 miles back to Panguitch.

That long stretch of bike trail had all the wind as expected.  However, it was mostly downhill which eased the effort.  No matter, I was full of Coke and white bread sandwich so I had magic powers!  I clipped off those last 15 miles with ease all the way back to my swanky grass tent pad.

After a quick shower, I headed into the camp office where I found two elderly ladies who I assumed lived here most of their lives and probably owned the place.  I told them about my day and that I had a hankerin’ for some meat, potatoes, and vegetables.  Some home cookin’ if you will and if they could make some recommendations.  They said if it is meat you are lookin’ fer, head on down the main street out front.  When you get to town, keep going about a block or so and look for John Wayne on your lefthand side.  That’s where you will find your meat at Cowboys Smokehouse Cafe.  I thanked them and drove there with purpose.

Sure enough, there was the Duke himself!

I entered the supposed meat palace to a friendly greeting and a waft of smoked meat.  So far, so good.  I was seated promptly and told there would be some live music tonight.  Live music on Monday night in of all places Utah!  As a bonus, this place even sold beer!  Something that is unusual in a small Utah town.  Ordered some suds and the three meat platter while the talent was setting up to begin his croonin’.

Well, this was Monday night entertainment folks.  Not the weekend headliner.  That means we are talking Karaoke machine and a microphone.  The guy had to barely be 18, but he had a wonderful voice.  Half of the patrons knew him by the first name and the rest of us Bryce tourists were just happy we were getting some local flavor.

My local craft amber arrived along with my three-meat plate piled with ribs, sausage, pulled pork, hand mashed chunky potatoes with pepper gravy, and asparagus.  A meaty ending to my self imposed Hack-bbatical 2019!