Friday the 13th. No black cats crossed our path, no broken mirrors, no flat tires, only good luck today. Since today was a shorter day of riding, we didn’t have to be on the road until 7:00am, instead of our usual 6:00am.

Last night and this morning we heard the freight trains as they sounded their whistles and rumbled past our hotel. This morning as a group of us left town, we waited at a crossing as a train rolled by, then we began our day by riding into the wind. After 16 miles of pedaling we arrived at Minersville, our first rest stop. After eating, drinking and resting, we rode on.

The wind abated as we ascended Dry Willow Peak, elevation 7,076 feet.

At mile 37 our hard working support crew of Mary Jo, Jack, and Susan, had lunch waiting for us.

Today they were assisted by Jennifer and Lee Anne. We quickly devoured sandwiches, fruit, energy bars, crackers, cheese, and chips, all washed down with water and Gatorade.

For our final stretch of riding we once again worked hard pedaling against the wind. Since Nevada and Utah have open ranges for cattle, we cross over many cattle guards. These 5’ wide sections of about 10-12 parallel pieces of metal pipe, each about 5” apart, cross the road and the cattle will not walk on them. But there are also “fake” cattle guards that are just painted lines on the road, and the cattle won’t cross these either.

We rolled into Cedar City between 11:00am-1:00pm and settled in at the Utah National Guard Armory, our home for the evening. Since there was only one set of showers, men and women took shifts getting cleaned up. Then we had the afternoon free to explore town, clean bikes, sleep, read and write in journals. After spending the last week in a beautiful but desolate area, with small towns and few services, some of our riders went to local bike shops to have their bikes repaired.

Today fellow rider John Molineaux rejoined us after leaving us June 6 in Fallon, Nevada. He went to Reno to have repairs made to his bicycle. He then drove a rental car here and will ride with us tomorrow. But today we bid farewell to fellow rider Rich Fowler as he returns home to Sacramento, California, and his work with Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Rich was a member of the planning committee that made this ride a reality. He helped many riders assemble their bicycles when they arrived in San Francisco. He also smoothed out many logistical wrinkles and made our first two weeks of riding more enjoyable. We will miss his humor and words of encouragement. We look forward to seeing Rich again when he rejoins us for the last few days of riding as we approach Washington, D.C.

This evening members of Christ The King parish treated us to a delicious array of desserts. We enjoyed sharing with them our reasons for participating in Brake the Cycle, and they shared stories of their crusade against poverty in this area.

Tomorrow we ride again,

Jerry Hrovat