Desert Cycling In St. George, Utah

Desert view along Red Hills Parkway

Desert view along Red Hills Parkway

Every few years, I join my family for a vacation at my grandmother-in-law’s house in the town of Washington, a suburb of St. George, Utah.  And this year I decided to bring along my touring bicycle to do some exploration and photography around the area, and to see what it was like cycling in the desert.  I nearly bit off more than I could chew!  For those of you who do not know, St. George is Utah’s hottest place and regularly has highs around 105 F in the summer.

Beforehand, I had mapped out a few different scenic routes to take, both being about 50 miles round trip.  So early on the morning of June 22, I got up, got my gear together, and set out on the open road at about 7:30 am.  It was already 75 F outside.

Rock overhang at Pioneer Park

Rock overhang at Pioneer Park

I cycled out onto the long Red Hills Parkway and enjoyed the awesome views of rock formations, desert plants, and bunny rabbits hopping through the brush.  I stopped at Pioneer Park along the way which features some amazing rock formations.  You can see my bicycle underneath one of the rock overhangs in the photo gallery.  I was feeling good as usual this early in my ride, but my throat felt sort of scratchy and dry no matter how much water I drank which I thought was odd.  Ah, this must be one of the rigors of surviving the desert, I thought.

My plan was to head out into the Snow Canyon Park area, so I cycled on thinking there would be a fairly obvious sign directing me there.  Well, the sign was pretty obvious, but I missed it and ended up cycling out about a mile or two too far.  After cycling about 15 miles, my 2 liters of water were close to being empty so I asked a passerby if there was somewhere I could fill up.  The area I was in was known as Ivins, and I hadn’t seen any gas stations or stores around.  The passerby said that Tuacahn was the nearest place he could think of, which was a outdoor amphitheater about 2 miles down a road.  Checking out Tuacahn was pretty awesome, so I was rather glad I made this a water stop.

Next, I cycled back from Tuacahn to the road going to Snow Canyon Park.   Snow Canyon Park has a forest service station at each end of the park where you must pay a fee to enter.  By then it was about 10 am and I was considering heading back home, knowing that the high temperature for the day was going to be over 100 F.  Cycling in anything over 80 F is very exhausting and can be downright dangerous.  I noticed a couple of other cyclists had also arrived at the station and were paying their fees.  One of them called to me and said, “We can have up to 8 people included in our fee!  You’re in our group, ok?”  I thanked them and cycled on with them.  I made small talk with them and discovered that one of them was from Pocatello and had graduated from my high school a year earlier than I.  Small world, aye?

Snow Canyon

Snow Canyon

Snow Canyon Park is very scenic and features sand dunes, jagged mountains, and vertical cliffs everywhere.  I parted ways with my fellow cyclists, paused to take some photos, and then I cycled up a trail.  I cycled back to the main road and began looking around for a source of water again.  It was amazing how quickly I was going through my water!  I found the one camp site in the park that had running water, which was a small drinking fountain covered in wasps.  Through a combination of blowing them off of the spout while trying to turn the spring-loaded faucet, and dancing and running around like a idiot, I was able to fill up my bottles.  After sitting in the shade, calling my wife on my cell phone, dumping water on myself, and refilling my bottles again, I decided to cycle through the park and then ride back home on Highway 18.  I knew it was going to be hot, but I was a seasoned cyclist and had dealt with high temperatures before.

Cycling the road through Snow Canyon proved to be very difficult.  There was no wind at all blowing through the canyon, it was about 80 degrees, and the grade was very steep.  I had moments of dumping more water on myself and thinking that maybe this road was a lot longer than I realized.  I finally made it to Highway 18 after a good 45 minutes of laboring up the canyon road.  I turned onto Highway 18 and cruised down the long decline, which felt absolutely amazing.  I mostly coasted in an aerodynamic position to conserve energy and to rest up for the hills on Red Hills Parkway.

Red Hills Parkway seemed so difficult and endless, whereas it had been such a happy journey just that morning.  Perspective is everything, isn’t it?  I was quite exhausted, extremely hot, my water was almost empty again, and the little water I had left was hot.  I was sure that the temperature in the sunny, treeless environment was something close to 100 F in the sun.  After cycling up and down about 10 hills on that road, I stopped at a crossroads for a moment and check the maps on my cell phone, thinking that I had gone past my turn.  This was of course ridiculous since Red Hills Parkway turns directly onto the street going to grandma’s house.  I trudged on.  There were a couple of times when thoughts went through my head along the lines of, “I should call my wife to come pick me up since you’re supposed to do that BEFORE something bad happens to you.”  But after a few more miles, the area became more recognizable as being near grandma’s house, and I felt extremely relieved.

I found grandma, my wife, and my kids all hanging out on the back porch.  I took my shoes and shirt off off, drank some water, grabbed a couple beers, and relaxed!  I had ended my ride at 12:30 and the temperature was 90 F.  Next time I will try to leave earlier!

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