Day 14 Provo to Price.

There was a relaxed start to the day as loading was not until 7.30am, chance to pinch a little lie-in. It was flag day today in a little community that we were due to pass through, so the staff asked us to wear our 'America by Bicycle' tops to show the flag. That was OK for most but it wasn't the flag of some, so I wore my Wales top, Alan wore his Union Jack top, Richard Walsh from Ireland was in his national colours and 'sarge' was in his Trinidad and Tobago top, it added a bit of colour. Gary did not ride today because of his pneumonia and wanted to give the antibiotics chance to work. So the three of our group joined by Alan started off and seemed to be towing a large group behind us. Navigation was easy and we were soon out of town and the first climb reduced the group to just our 4. We headed for a narrow valley and the wind was really strong and against us. Steve dropped off, Alan and Al pulled away from me as we started to overtake groups that had started earlier. We were all struggling in the wind. The wind didn't last too long and we climbed most of the way to the first SAG, which was after 32 miles. From there the next 6 miles was a serious climb to the Soldier Summit at 7477 feet.
Everyone was looking forward to the descent but the wind blowing up the valley meant it was almost as hard as going up, plus the shoulder was poor and there were road works, apart from that it was fun. Got to Helper, a town named after the special trains that used to 'help' the normal trains over the mountain. I was with Al by now and we went off the main road into Helper to look for lunch, but it was all closed down with derelict buildings and I was surprised not to see a tumbleweed blowing down the street. Went to a supermarket in Price and made up our own lunch, the healthy option of course. The hotel was posh, but the service was very poor and people were losing the will to live in the dinner queue when the food ran out. Mis management of the first degree.
On a general note, I have now done over 1000 miles (1003.07 roughly) and am feeling pretty good. More than one Land's End to John O' Groats done and only three more to go. Got some pain in my right knee during the early climbing days, but that has gone. Got some nose-bleeds during the climbing days, but they wern't serious and I put that down to the altitude, the dry air and the effort. The rear end got a little tender in the first 4 or 5 days, but a personal tanker of Savlon running behind us has sorted that out. The training I did before the ride was good, but the 'match fitness' has now kicked in to the point where 65 to 70 day rides are now regarded as recovery days!!
As far as the photos on Flickr go they seem to be coming out in reverse order, scroll to the bottom and work your way up. I have not had time to add comments on many of them yet, but I will.
Today's distance was 75.6 miles.