At the starting point, saying farewell
Day 1 - Mt. Carmel Junction to Kanab – Saturday, April 16th
My daughter Emily provided transportation for us to the starting point of the trip.
The starting point was chosen because it was the nearest point on our length-of-Utah bicycle trip to where we needed to cycle for doing the length-of-Arizona. By doing so, we will be able to one day say that we have cycled a contiguous route from Canada to Mexico.
Much of the day was spent in traveling by car, leaving only a few hours for cycling, but that was according to plan. We ate supper at the Thunderbird restaurant with my daughter Emily and her daughter, Patricia, then we unloaded the bicycles, and headed for Kanab. My daughter headed west to camp in Zion National Park.
At
the starting point, saying farewell
The
intrepid cyclists, ready to roll
The only difficulty posed by this 16.5 mile section of the trip was the 1,000 foot climb before Kanab (the destination for the day). You will also notice in the following profile, that it is steepest going from north to south.
Fortunately, our physical conditioning was up to par, as we were able to cycle it all, with only a few rest stops.
Due to our fairly late start (6:30 PM), it was pretty dark by the time we arrived in Kanab. Fortunately, we had lights and strobe-lights with us this trip.
We got a room at the Four Seasons Motel. It was a bit more expensive than we wanted to pay, but when they applied the senior discount, it was within range. It seemed amusing to me, since bicycling the length of Arizona is not something someone would associate with a senior discount.
On this partial-day, we cycled 16.5 miles at an average speed of 8.0 miles per hour.