DAY 14

ROUTE:Provo,UT to Price,UT	DISTANCE:75 miles	WINDS:30-35mph headwinds early
WEATHER:Beeoootiful for most of the day, but rainy near Soldier Summit for the later riders	TERRAIN:Much riding in the canyons	CLIMBING:3,300 feet

I need to make one very important point before I say anything else....riding 75 miles with a cranky backside is NOT fun. :( I'm having a really hard time getting my saddle right, but I made an adjustment 10 miles from the hotel today that I hope will help. My legs feel strong, but it's hard to use 'em when sitting is a problem! Okay, enough of that! Today we left Provo at 7:45 for the ride to Price. We had some significant climbing in store for us, as we had to conquer Soldier Summit at 7,447 feet. It was cool as we left the hotel but forecasters said to expect high 70s in Price. Unfortunately, the forecasters didn't warn us about the hurricane force winds we'd be battling all day! Okay, maybe they weren't hurricane force, but they were at least 30-35 mph DEAD IN OUR FACES. It's really demoralizing to be cranking just as hard as you possibly can and look down to find that your computer has you only going 7 mph. Ugh! Michael Dattolo, my ab crunch partner, actually got blown over by the wind. He was stopping at a stop sign, and a huge gust blew him right over! Luckily he didn't get hurt, and it made a great story for the scenic team to tell. Oh yeah, speaking of them...the Chicken Award went to Jim yesterday for making huge improvements in his riding ability over the first 13 days. Jim didn't do anything to personalize the chicken, and he even had the chicken ride in his seatpack rather than tape it to his helmet as the by-laws require. Needless to say, a warning was given tonight at route rap by the Chicken Prize Board of Trustees. The Chick was passed on tonight to Dennis from Massachusetts. Dennis became the most recent member of the shaved head club, and his initiation was particularly significant because he had worn a ponytail for the past 28 years. He said tonight that his wife Joyce, who is also on the trip, felt as if she was sleeping with a different man. He then asked if he could get it shaved daily. :) Anyway, back to today's ride. Besides the wind, we also had to contend with about 3,300 feet of climb today. I never thought this would ever come out of my mouth, but I sure do prefer climbing to battling wind! We reached Soldier Summit 45 miles into the ride, and the rest of the day was predominantly downhill. Sounds great, huh? Well, remember the stupid wind! There was a sign on the road that warned truckers of a 3-5% downhill grade for the next 8 miles. I was all excited because I knew I'd be flying. Hmmph. The darned wind was so strong that I had to pedal to keep up 16 mph on a steep downhill! That ain't right! The most beautiful part of the ride today was through Price Canyon. The rock formations were amazing, and they reminded me of the old cowboy movies I used to watch when I was a kid. I took lots of pictures, but pictures don't do them justice. By mile 65, I was starving (by the way, there is a town called Starvation,Utah...don't think I'd want to live there!), and I stopped with some other folks at a Subway in Helper, Utah. While I was there, I lowered my saddle just a smidge, and I felt like a new person on the last 10 miles into Price. If that doesn't do the trick tomorrow, Mason (the scenic team president, and CEO of the Chicken Prize Board, loaned me an extra one that he brought. It has a little more padding, and I may change to it at the SAG tomorrow if I'm still having trouble. Before route rap tonight, Big Dog (John from Alaska) asked me how my butt was. I was told that it had been the topic of conversation. :::laughing::: I guess we're all getting pretty comfortable with each other around here! Oh yeah...one other cool thing. Today, the scenic team stopped at this old store that everyone else thought was closed. The old guy who owned it said that his grandfather used to hang around with Butch Cassidy, and he showed them a picture of the two of them. Kinda neat! We have 66 miles tomorrow into Green River,Utah...our last day in Utah before crossing over into Colorado on Monday. Almost three states down! Gotta go check the weather and get ready for bed. Keep your fingers crossed that my derriere and my saddle get along well tomorrow! Thanks for checking in!

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