No Italics Necessary: The Tour de Life – A Tribute to Our Dear Friend, Larry Johnston

When We Were Younger: Recap Tour de Ute, 1997

I’ve decided to continue the tribute to Larry in both his words from the itineraries he provided pre-ride and my commentary when synapses are activated to recall my personal experience as the ride unfolded.

Tour de Ute 1997

The Burr Canyon

In this first episode of Part 2, I’m going to use Larry’s detailed itinerary that follows and that we all received prior to the ride. I only hope the correspondence that Larry and I had prior and post ride are in some box in the garage that my wife insists that I toss. These notes are postmarked 25 Mar 1997, Mojave, CA.

Tour De Ute “Toor do ü-tay”

When: August 12-17 1997 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday); 4.5 days cycling.

Where: Across Utah State beginning at Uvada (about 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas), ending at the Utah-Colorado border near Hovenweep National Monument. Best map: “Indian Country” by AAA. [ed. note: maps were those origami paper things that preceded GPS]

Sag Vehicles: Glen’s Suburban, John’s Tundra

Day 1: Travel to Panaca, Nevada for 1:00pm rendezvous; proceed east in sags on Hwy 319 to NV-UT border at Uvada (el. 5,500’±) and ride via Hwy 56 to Cedar City (el. 5,600′). Stay that night at the Super 8 (#30± per person). Distance: 58 miles

Day 2: Ride Hwy 14 east and up, up, up to Midway Summit (el.9,896′) – a definite “Vaug-han”. Check out nearby Cedar Breaks National Monument. Proceed down then up to Long Valley Junction (el. 7,900’±). Turn North on Hwy 89 to Hwy 12. Ride east on Hwy 12 through the tunnels, over the “summit” (el.7,619) to Bryce near Bryce Canyon National Park – stay that night at the $30±/person Fosters Motel (you know, Al Foster’s place). Distance: 70 miles (don’t you love it?). Terrain: Big climbs, big descents; watch out for tourists.

Day 3: Follow Hwy 12 east and north through Escalante and the new national park to Boulder (el. 5,000′?). Stay at Pole’s Place$25±/person. Distance: 72 miles (don’t you love it even more?). Terrain: Up and down and all around; time to play…

Day 4: A short cut’s in store, who could ask for more? Ride east from Boulder on the “Burr Trail” and shuttle the 20± miles through Capital Reef National Park. Ride south to the ferry at Bullfrog Basin; swim or take the ferry across Lake Powell ($9/car – free/swim) before heading east on Hwy 276 where the day’s adventure can end at Hwy 95. Shuttle northwest on Hwy 95 to the only place to stay for miles, the Fry Canyon Lodge (it’s near Natural Bridges Monument); maybe $40+ a piece… it ain’t cheap. Distance: 103 miles not counting the shuttles and ferry; bring paddles/swim suit. Terrain: the Lake Powell crossing will be flat.

“Some parts of ALL the rides leave edible memories, but that morning in Utah riding with you (…we were first out together) when we both dropped in to the entrance of that canyon on the Burr Trail was, for me anyway, perhaps the most ‘spiritual’ moment I’ve ever known in a wilderness setting (… and that’s after traveling on all 7 continents). At that moment I felt like I shouldn’t even speak so as to not desecrate experience. I remember us stopping and observing with profound awe at our stunning surroundings without a word be said between us…. thanks for being there !!” Chuck Thuot from a conversation prior to his passing…

Day 5: Spin 12 easy miles back to Hwy 276 and continue east on Hwy 95 past the Natural Bridges cutoff (Hwy 275), the Mule Canyon Ruins, the Arch Canyon Ruins, and the Butler Wash Ruins to Hwy 191 at Blue Mountain (el. 6000’± just south of Blanding. Take Hwy 191 south to White Mesa. Turn left (east) on Hwy 262 for a while (9± miles) then take the road that leads to Hovenweep National Monument (more ruins) on the UT – CO border. Pack ’em up and head south and west through Monument Valley, Page, and Zion National Park to St. George or thereabouts. Find a place to stay… Distance: 93 miles, it’s more or less 396 miles total. Terrain: It’s probably all paved… rock and roll, watch out for Navajos.

Day 6: Return to place of origin.

Communication was as important to Larry as the planning and logistics. What follows is an update received postmarked 05 August 1997 Mojave, CA:

All is in a go mode for les Tour! There are 11 participants. The sag vehicles will be provided by John Holbeck (south vehicle) and Glen Rothell (north vehicle). Sag drivers pay no gas.

Logisticas are looking like this:

On Monday the 11th, Lance vaughan will proceed to Waterford from the Bay Area with his bike, John Adam’s bike (John A. please coordinate with Lance on bike transport) and probably Chuck Thuot, but not his bike (Chuck T. may find his own way to Waterford; Chuck, please coordinate with Lance and Richard). They will rendezvous with Richard Vaughan (of “Vaug-han” fame) and Don Lundberg at Richard’s house in Waterford, hopefully around 4 pm.

Leaving Richard’s house at 4:30 pm, they will proceed (with 4 bikes and gear) to Crane Flat where they will meet Glen Rothell and Tom Jones at 6:30 pm. Tom Jones (from Merced) will have earlier joined with Glen Rothell in Mariposa and helped prepare Glen’s Suburban with racks for 8 bikes (Tom and Glen please coordinate departure from Mariposa to be at Crane Flat by 6:30 pm). Richard’s vehicle (or whoever’s) will be left at Crane Flat, all proceeding to Larry Johnston’s house in Mammoth Lakes, arriving around 8:30 pm; all will stay the night at Larry’s house (voulez-vous acouches avec moi?)

On Tuesday the 12th Chuck Satterfield (from Mammoth) will arrive at Larry’s at 5:30 am and join the rest of the north contingent in leaving Mammoth Lakes no later than 6am. Breakfast will be enroute, maybe in Tonopah. The north group will arrive around noon at Panaca, NV. There’s a small restaurant on the southeast corner of the intersection of Hwys 93 and 319. Lunch and rendezvous with the southern contingent will be there.

Meanwhile on Tuesday morning, John Holbeck and Ron Burien will leave (with 3 bikes; John H. will be be bringing a bike for Chuck T. along with extra bike shoes) from Calimesa in time to get to the Las Vegas airport by 9:25 am. This is the time John Adam’s plane arrives from the Bay Area. From Las Vegas, they will proceed to Panaca and meet the north contingent at the restaurant on the corner of Hwys 93 and 319. After lunch all will proceed to the UT border and bike to Cedar City as planned.

There are a couple of notes on the remainder of the trip:

First, the 2nd day’s route will be slightly different. Instead of continuing on Hwy 14 from Cedar City to Long Valley Junction, the route will turn north on Hwy 148 at Midway Summit through Cedar Breaks National Monument and then on Hwy 143 to Panguitch. From there, it will proceed south on Hwy 89 to Hwy 12, then to Bryce.

At Bullfrog Basin (at Lake Powell), the ferry supposedly leaves on the odd hour; 9, 112, 1, etc.

Lodging has been reserved on Saturday the 16th for 11 people at the Best Western Travel Inn in Saint George (Exit #8 from I-15). There will be 3 – 3 bed rooms and 1 – 2 bed room; around $30 per person.

The south and north vehicle people have each been asked to provide a large water container (5+ gallons), bike tools, two ice chests and a floor pump. The south vehicle has been asked to provide an extra set pf wjee;s (one front, one rear). A CB radio will be available for each vehicle at Panaca (via Larry).

For the north vehicle, baggage space will be at a premium; please go light.

Any questions, please call. Au revoir mes amis!