Blog

Cedar City, Utah… what a beautiful and colorful place!  Okay, this is just a picture of where I would park during the day and unleash the Fay Boy to go riding. 

Actually, Cedar City is really  a great jumping off spot for a lot of amazing scenery and national parks.  From here you can easily get to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase – Escalante, Dixie National Forrest and a lot of great roads for bikers or sightseers.  It’s also abut 4 hours from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon which is where I came in from.  Besides being close to a lot of great places to visit, Cedar City itself is pretty interesting.  It has a lot of historical stops and little museums, and the town feels like a bit of a throw back to days gone by.  I liked the look and feel of this place so much I worked on traveling slowly and stayed a week. 

To begin I’m not sure if it was that I was extra hungry this week, or if  prices were so reasonable that I felt obliged to eat more, but I was an eating machine.   Herme’s Drive-In Restaurant is a small burger joint that has lots of pictures of vintage cars taken from showings in their parking lot and it’s full of hungry customers.  I stopped here twice.  I  had a Herme’s burger and a Dr. Pepper which was inexpensive, very good and filling.  Besides the beef patty it had a slice of grilled ham, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onion and fry sauce, which is basically made of ketchup and mayo.  I went for breakfast three times to the All American Diner on the Main Street that was also packed with locals.  Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee each time and with a generous tip, it was under $10.00.  Also made a stop at Brad’s Food Hut, another busy burger joint.  Quarter pound burger with fixings (and more Fry Sauce) and real home made onion rings. 

Alfredo’s Mexican restaurant for breakfast another morning and a Bombadero breakfast burrito that was packed with meat and so big I ate half for breakfast and the other half for lunch at $5.50.  Fun place.  The Mexico vs Germany soccer game was on the TV and the crew was cheering their national team.  Mexico won 1-0!

Also found a place while riding one day that makes fresh pies and had a huge warm slice of peach pie and the filling and crust were no doubt home made and excellent.   I was eating the pie trying to save what I thought might be the best bite for the end, but I gave up because it didn’t matter.  Riding one afternoon there was a German bakery on my way to Zion and I had a Cronoot, which was their version of a combination croissant and donut laced with some kind of vanilla custard filling.  Wow, was that good too.  I’ve been eating too well on this stop, but with relatively inexpensive meals and most everything being really good, my appetite was unleashed.  I need to get out of here soon or get a larger belt. 

After a ride my third day here, I pulled over on Main St and just about the same time a biker pulled up on a sharp looking Moto Guzzi motorcycle.  He looked to be in his 50’s, had a bit of a road worn look and hair about a third of the way down his back.  We ended up going into the same place.  So as we we’re sitting at a bar one stool apart, I started a conversation asking a few questions about his bike and then we started sharing some “where you been riding lately” stories.  Oh, and this bar was great too!  I’m not sure I’ve ever been in one quite like it, but I have seen them on TV and old movies.  It was actually a pharmacy and had a ice cream fountain bar.  I had a root beer float and my new biker pal Chris, had some kind of lavender colored ice cream.  I felt like I stepped back into the 1950’s.  Anyway I won’t detail the conversation, but most of it was basically “Blah, Blah, Blah, I’m a biker and… Mmmm, this is really good ice cream, I have to come back here again”, then we would just stop and eat some more.  I’ll bet Chris was telling me some really great stuff, but I was too fixated on my ice cream treat to pay all that much attention.  It was all about priorities at this point.  I speak to a lot of people that motorcycle, but I haven’t had a root beer float in about 30 years and it needed some serious attention.

So, back to the reason I originally came here, the great riding and scenery.  First couple of outings were to Zion and then Bryce National Parks.  The day I went to Zion I checked the weather and it was going to be in the low 90’s and zero chance of rain.  I took a longer circuitous route and by time I got to there it was getting a little toasty.  I rechecked the weather and it was 103 degrees out now.  Oh well, part of the program when you travel on two wheels, but well worth it.  I’ve been through these parks on a bike before and it’s a great ride.  These places that are so unique and have so much depth to them pictures don’t usually do justice.  In person though, there is a lot of WOW factor. 

At one point in Zion there is a tunnel carved through a mountain and it’s probably a mile long.   Last time I was here there was a biker with his companion on the back and they were about three cars ahead of me.  The person driving the car in front of him must have been having a panic attack or something and was crawling along going just fast, or slow enough depending on your view point, so that it was hard to keep your balance on two wheels.  With two people on a bike, the degree of difficulty increases.  So as we went though the tunnel all you could here was two rumbling Harley’s and the biker ahead yelling things like “you got to go faster”, “please pick up the pace”, “hurry up, you need to drive faster”.  The memory of that last trip had me smiling the whole length of the tunnel this time. 

If I have only one issue with the roads here it’s that the highway speeds are 80mph and Utah is only one of 13 states that allow triple trailers.  I’ve never seen a problem on the road with one of these things, but it surely makes you wonder what would happen if they need to slam on their brakes and you’re in close proximity on a motorcycle.   I’m more of a 70mph kind of rider and when one of these trucks blows by you on the highway it really gets your attention.  I was going to ask a friend that’s a math major if there is there is a way to calculate the size, speed and weight if one of these trucks slammed on their brakes or had a blow out, just how many seconds would I have to pray or curse before I might be earning my angel wings.  Probably best I don’t know and dwell on that. 

So I’m breaking camp today at the local Walmart, which I stayed at for convenience while here.   I am headed further north after this blog post and going camping in the wilds of Utah for a while and unleashing the Harley Fat Boy for some more riding.  I feel the need to get back to me more natural surroundings and away from so many good food stops.  If not I’m afraid that the Fat Boy moniker will apply not only to my Harley, but to me too! 

Campers:  I picked Cedar City as my jumping off point for getting around the general area, but there is plenty of available camping near each of the major sights, dispersed and pay for stay camp grounds.  As usual I had good luck just asking at the Ranger Stations or visitor centers about available dispersed camping in the area.

Bikers:  Beautiful rides in this area once you’re off the main highway Rt 15.  Amazing views and lots of variety.  In a matter of a couple of days I was riding in afternoon temps as high as 103 and then was in higher elevations where my gloveless hands were ice cold.  Come prepared for a wide swing.  If you use Harley maps that show great riding routes or get maps at the local visitor centers, you can easily ride around here a week and still not be finished.  This is an area where it’s fun to ride, but probably better to be the passenger and take in the amazing views.

Personal Work:  This segment of my trip I fell off the wagon a bit on tending to my personal philosophy, except to help someone along the way, assisting a woman by pushing her broken down car to the side of the road.  I have been racking up more Travel Well points as I’ve been traveling slower, taking time to wander and explore, going where the locals go, keeping up with my journal and if there was a category for eating too much, I would have considered myself a master this week! 

Stir Up Some Air!