Day Six - Logan, UT to Cedar City UT (AKA Hell Day)
You will not find any pictures from this day. When I got up in the morning it was already raining hard. The temperature was in the low 40's. I continually looked at the weather channel and the radar on my blackberry. The storm was spinning around the Great Salt Lake and looked heavy, lots of dark greens and reds on the radar. So I waited and waited. Finally at around 10 AM I decided to pack up and go. This is a decision I would regret, I should have called the front desk and tell them that I was staying another night.
As I packed the bike under the portico of the hotel the wind was blowing hard. I took off and headed down route 89 and across the Cache National Forest. As I headed up into the mountains that must be crossed to get to Salt Lake City I looked down at my temperature gauge I started getting nervous. The temperature dropped to 35 degrees in the pouring rain. Thankfully I started down the other side of the range the temperature began to rise. I had the heated vest and heated grips blasting. This was small comfort as I rode down Interstate 15 through massive construction zones in heavy traffic. I stopped for gas just north of Salt Lake City. I got a cup of tea and called my friend John at work in Martha's Vineyard. I asked John to take a look at the radar on weather.com. He said things did not look good pretty much in any direction it was raining in a swirling stationary storm. He told me that I was screwed and wished me luck. I changed gloves and got back on. It was not long before I was really cold again. I made it to Provo and stopped for lunch. I must have been a sight to see. My rain protection was leaking and I was really stiff. It hurt to swing my leg over the seat to get off the bike. As I sat shivering in the Arbys I thought I must be crazy. I mean this is something I choose to do and it was not very fun right now. So I sat in the restaurant for about an hour and then took off again.
It rained on me on and off most of the afternoon. Finally around 3 PM it stopped. I finally made it to Cedar City, UT. I found the Holiday Inn Express and checked in. In the lobby I met 3 Harley riders that were coming from Vegas. They looked at me and could tell I was beat up. They told me that it was 80 degrees in Vegas when they left earlier that day. I finally felt like I was far enough south to get some heat. I took a 1 hour hot shower and ordered a pizza. This was as close to hypothermia I have ever come. I reminded myself that this was my idea and I need to make it fun. Tomorrow would be much more fun.
Day One - Marlborough MA to Ashtabula OH
Day Two - Ashtabula to Dexter, MN
Day Three - Dexter MN to Mount Rushmore, SD
Day Four - Mount Rushmore, SD to West Yellowstone, MT
Day Five - West Yellowstone, Mt to Logan, UT
Day Six - Logan, UT to Cedar City UT
Day Seven - Cedar City UT to Williams. AZ
Day Eight - Williams, AZ to Durango, CO
Day Nine - Durango, CO to Amarillo, TX
Day Ten - Amarillo, TX to Little Rock, AR
Day Eleven - Little Rock AR to Cordova TN
Day Twelve through Fifteen - Memphis, TN