Watch out when in Provo

Saturday I rode for about 3 1/2 hours along the route in red:

As I made my way south on 9th East in Provo, I stepped up the level of alertness about 5 notches. You see, I lived in Provo for about 4 years and I know what type of drivers roam there. It's a good thing I was on heightened alert because seconds later a little Honda Civic buzzed by me with only a foot or two to spare. It wasn't 20 seconds later as I was approaching 820N that another student waiting to turn left on 820 N while on 9th E cut right in front of me. Again, lucky me that I was anticipating such a move and I braked hard to slow down enough to avoid a potential collision. I'm not sayin' all drivers in Provo are like these two, but there are certainly enough to warrant paying extra attention if you have to cross through this area on your bike.

I really enjoy riding the roads on the southeast side of Provo Lake (very few cars and long stretches of country roads where you can maintain long consistent efforts), but to get there from northern Utah County you don't have many options that don't involve navigating through lots of busy roads and stop lights. In the past, I've hopped onto Geneva Rd. from Vineyard to 600 S Provo, but Geneva Rd. has too many trucks, the shoulders are narrow and speeds are high. This time I took 400 S from Vineyard all the way east to Canyon Road and then south connecting to 9th East. It's actually a good route with the exception of the 9th East section that runs by the BYU campus (where I almost got ran over....). I think next time, I'll detour the 9th East section by going up behind the Provo temple along the bench on 1450 E.

Also, Miles has again made some awesome video of the lunch rides, this time on snow. Here's the link. And yes.......that's me who turfs it at the top of Squaw Peak. Thanks Miles!