Now It Is Getting Weird. Wahoowah.

Somewhere/Nowhere on Utah Route 39 Northeast Of Ogden

August 3, 2021

Utah Route 39 going north out of Ogden (cringe) is a beautiful drive. Initially it parallels the Ogden River (stream) as it passes through walls of rock that made me think there must have been an easier place to build the road.

It then begins to ascend gradually (in a car) from I’m guessing around 5,000 feet to around but probably just shy of 10,000 feet.

I stopped to take a photo at probably 8,000 feet and this cyclist is spinning up the hill. I’m thinking my legs would have given out miles ago. I share words of encouragement as he passes by.

A few minutes later I take a rest stop. As I pull back toward the road I see the cyclist taking a snack break. I drive over and offer him a Gatorade. We discuss how he started in San Francisco and is probably headed to Chicago. He is going by way of Pike’s Peak so that he can cycle up that. How he does a ride like this every summer.

At this point, I am in complete awe thinking my walkabout pales in light of his adventure.

He asks me where I’m from. He says he graduated from UVa in 1978. What? Wait! Two Wahoos cross paths on a deserted road in Utah?? If I got his name right, he’s Bob Kaplan and grew up in the suburbs of Philly. Now he lives in SF. Majored in psychology at The University.

He gave me his cell number so we could exchange contact information.

If you are wondering about the Gatorade, he turned it down. Bob only drinks the real thing (I drink Gatorade Zero).