DRAFT ITINERARY
SAT 9/20: AFTERNOON DEPART/GREEN RIVER, UT
Distance: 185 miles / approx. 3.5 hours
We can get a late start (2pm – 3pm) for the brief ride to Green River, UT. This means we can get the bikes, get packed, etc. without any hurry. The route through Heber, Duschesne, and Price is scenic (we pass the Strawberry Reservoir). This puts us within easy striking distance of the fantastic ride down Rout 128 into Moab.
Overnight: Green River, UT
SUN 9/21: GREEN RIVER-MOAB
Distance: 90 miles / approx 2 hours
Excellent ride down I-70 to Rt. 128, a gorgeous ride along the Colorado River. Get into Moab with plenty of time to ride through the Canyonlands, check into our hotel, and ride the bikes in Arches NP around sunset.
http://www.nps.gov/cany/
http://www.nps.gov/arch/
Overnight: Moab, UT (Arches NP)
MON 9/22: MOAB-BOULDER
Distance: 285 miles / approx 6.5 hours
A travel day, but on two of the most gorgeous 2-lanes in the world: Bicentennial Hwy and Route 12. This ride alone is worth the entire trip. Our destination will be the Boulder Mountain Lodge and the fantastic restaurant Hell's Backbone Grill. This ride/destination might be the centerpiece of the trip.
http://www.scenicbyway12.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_State_Route_95
I’ve reserved 2 rooms at the Boulder Mountain Lodge; I’ve also made reservations for 5 (we can change this) at Hell’s Backbone (late dinner—8:30 pm).
http://www.boulder-utah.com/lodge.html
http://hellsbackbonegrill.com/
Overnight: Boulder, UT (Escalante)
TUE 9/23: BOULDER-RUBY'S INN
Distance: 75 miles / approx. 2 hours
From Boulder, it's a short trip along the Escalante down Hwy 12 to Bryce Canyon. The drive is gorgeous. We can drive around and explore Bryce Canyon NP.
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/grand_staircase-escalante.html
http://www.nps.gov/brca/
Overnight: Ruby's Inn, UT (Bryce Canyon NP)
WED 9/24: RUBY'S INN-SPRINGDALE
Distance: 115 miles / approx. 4 hours
This is a new leg from last year. We ride from Ruby’s Inn along Hwy 12 to Panquitch, and then through the Dixie National Forest to the Cedar Breaks National Monument. From there we head down Rt. 14 to Rt. 89 to Scenic Route 9 into Zion NP. I figured a low average mph for this leg, as the route is very curving and scenic. We stay overnight in Springdale, which is right at Zion NP.
http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/dixie.htm
http://www.nps.gov/cebr/
http://www.nps.gov/zion/
Overnight: Springdate, UT (Zion NP)
THU 9/25: SPRINGDALE-BEAVER
Distance: 126 miles / approx 2.5 hours
Today we can explore Zion NP and give ourselves about 3 hours to get I-15 to Beaver for an overnight.
Overnight: Beaver, UT (off I-15)
FRI 9/26: BEAVER-PARK CITY
Distance: 200 miles / approx 3.5 hours
Short travel day on the interstate highway (I-15) North to Park City in time for dinner and relaxation/wind down at the house.
SAT 9/27: RETURN BIKES/FLY HOME
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
My This I Believe essay
Tomorrow I lead 4 groups of kids through writing an essay for NPR's This I Believe. Now, I have never written one for myself, so I just did. Here it is:
I Believe in Public Space
by Steve Robinson
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a love of public spaces: public schools, public libraries, public parks. Whether inside or outside, these are the places I’ve always felt the most at home. The idea that a place can be used by anyone has always given me a feeling of warmth and inclusion. Heck, I even feel this way about public restrooms, provided they are clean and well-lit!
As a kid, the public spaces in my community were my favorite places to visit and spend time. While I didn’t always love school, I felt safe in those public buildings, sitting on scratched up but sturdy desks, using a book that some other student had used the year before. I have a vivid memory of seeing a long line of voting machines stacked in the hallway of my elementary school. “How cool,” I thought. “Adults come and use this place when we’re gone.”
Ours is a capitalist society, and I obviously think that it’s okay to own things, including places and land. Lots of nice things happen on private property. But for me, the truly exciting and meaningful places are open to the public. This is particularly true of public schools. I’ve spent my entire life in public school buildings. I loved the school buildings of my youth with their worn terrazzo floors, painted cinder block walls, and high ceilings with slightly stained acoustic tiles. My college days were spent in similar spaces: the libraries, the lecture halls, the dormitories—all public spaces at a public university. It’s no wonder I chose to teach at a public college. From kindergarten to this very day, I have spent nearly every day of my life in a public school building. This, as much as anything, has cemented my belief in places that are open to the public.
Public spaces make me feel warm inside: a bench on a public street, a seat on the public bus, a path through a public park. I was thrilled to learn that large sections of the American West are designated by the Bureau of Land Management as public land. On a recent motorcycle trip in Utah with my father, we cruised on Harleys through Arches National Park just before sunset. As sunlight streamed through the sandstone arches on every side of us, I thought “No one can own this—it belongs to everyone.” I appreciate the irony that all North American places—both public and private—were taken from Native American cultures, many of whom did not have concepts of ownership that applied to place.
I believe in public spaces because they belong to everyone. Everyone belongs. The fact that anyone may use a space fills it will possibility. My belief in the power of public places reveals something about me. I like things that are shared, things that are fair, and things that are open to everyone. Perhaps my belief comes from some egalitarian sense of democracy and inclusion. That would make me seem like a really good person, wouldn’t it? But it could just as easily come from a deep-seated fear of being excluded. After all, if a place is public, than anyone can belong there. And if anyone can belong, than so can I, right?
I Believe in Public Space
by Steve Robinson
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a love of public spaces: public schools, public libraries, public parks. Whether inside or outside, these are the places I’ve always felt the most at home. The idea that a place can be used by anyone has always given me a feeling of warmth and inclusion. Heck, I even feel this way about public restrooms, provided they are clean and well-lit!
As a kid, the public spaces in my community were my favorite places to visit and spend time. While I didn’t always love school, I felt safe in those public buildings, sitting on scratched up but sturdy desks, using a book that some other student had used the year before. I have a vivid memory of seeing a long line of voting machines stacked in the hallway of my elementary school. “How cool,” I thought. “Adults come and use this place when we’re gone.”
Ours is a capitalist society, and I obviously think that it’s okay to own things, including places and land. Lots of nice things happen on private property. But for me, the truly exciting and meaningful places are open to the public. This is particularly true of public schools. I’ve spent my entire life in public school buildings. I loved the school buildings of my youth with their worn terrazzo floors, painted cinder block walls, and high ceilings with slightly stained acoustic tiles. My college days were spent in similar spaces: the libraries, the lecture halls, the dormitories—all public spaces at a public university. It’s no wonder I chose to teach at a public college. From kindergarten to this very day, I have spent nearly every day of my life in a public school building. This, as much as anything, has cemented my belief in places that are open to the public.
Public spaces make me feel warm inside: a bench on a public street, a seat on the public bus, a path through a public park. I was thrilled to learn that large sections of the American West are designated by the Bureau of Land Management as public land. On a recent motorcycle trip in Utah with my father, we cruised on Harleys through Arches National Park just before sunset. As sunlight streamed through the sandstone arches on every side of us, I thought “No one can own this—it belongs to everyone.” I appreciate the irony that all North American places—both public and private—were taken from Native American cultures, many of whom did not have concepts of ownership that applied to place.
I believe in public spaces because they belong to everyone. Everyone belongs. The fact that anyone may use a space fills it will possibility. My belief in the power of public places reveals something about me. I like things that are shared, things that are fair, and things that are open to everyone. Perhaps my belief comes from some egalitarian sense of democracy and inclusion. That would make me seem like a really good person, wouldn’t it? But it could just as easily come from a deep-seated fear of being excluded. After all, if a place is public, than anyone can belong there. And if anyone can belong, than so can I, right?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Fitness
I don't have a blog for this. And when I think or work on it (as with most other hobbies), it usually dries up into dust after a while.Here's the Navy PFT Standard for 35-39 year old males. Pretty interesting.
So I have this book You On A Diet, and it told me that a 40 year old man should be able to do 35 push ups. I put the book down and managed to just do that many. Okay.
I read online that any fit person should be able to run a mile in under 6 minutes. I went out and ran a mile in 8:20. After some additional research, I can see that the 6 minute thing is baloney.
Still, I think that running might be the fitness activity for me. I liked it as a kid when my Dad bought that 70s book on running (photo to your left). We ran some races with him, including Emily's race in Detroit and a thing on Mackinac Island called Run Around The Rock.
Pros for Running
- I hate the gym
- Planning routes and stuff is fun for me
- I like to think while I run
- I can do it anytime
- I hate the gym
- My right foot hurts (well, not all the time, and the cyst that was there is gone, and if I wear boots while using a shovel it's fine, so--it's just a little tender place where I used to have plantar fashitis and I have to watch it)
- I don't want to hurt my knees
- That's about it
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