Salt Lake Scenic Meatball Ride Part I
 

Malkin and I have been pleased to see all of the beautiful pictures from various rides. Today we rode what we call the "Meatball Ride." It is a 58-mile tour of Salt Lake County.
This is us at the start of the ride. The bike is the new Co-Mo Speedster we've been dialing/breaking in.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb1.jpg
The next three images are moments along our way out of town to the west. We always walk over those railroad tracks to avoid pinch flats and headaches.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb2.jpg
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb3.jpg
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb4.jpg
Another lovely scene from the west-bound leg. We sometimes think the red crown is actually trying to tell us something...
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb5.jpg
Now we've turned south. This is the road we'll be riding for the next 15 miles or so. Long and straight.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb6.jpg
I always try to call the big bumps. This one was hard to miss.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb7.jpg

...to be continued

Salt Lake Scenic Meatball Ride Part II
 

Now we're rather far into the southern end of Salt Lake Valley. More rural and a pretty little stream.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb8.jpg
Past the Utah State Penitentiary. That razor wire would wreak havoc on our tires!
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb9.jpg
Our lunch break is clearly in sight. Just around the juvenile correction center and we'll be at IKEA!
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb10.jpg
The way is well marked.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb11.jpg
The Redster has landed.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb12.jpg
We share this lunch--it's why we named it the Meatball Ride. The red stuff next to the meatballs is jam. Yummy!
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb13.jpg
The ride back to the north is full of light industry and eBay.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb14.jpg
Past the Utah Transit Authority bus graveyard.
http://www.sharedocs.net/pics/mb15.jpg

And then home. We made really good time.

Cheers!

Thanks for sharing. I love to see other peoples scenery. I go out to SLC on business on occasion. I always wondered how the riding was around there. I do business out in Clearfield. Are you familiar with riding around there?

The century we did a couple of weeks ago took us through Clearfield. It is north of here about 30 miles and we rarely ride that far in that direction. That being said, the area around Clearfield is quite rural and quite pleasant for riding. The ride to Antelope Island and then south along the east side of the island to a place called Burr Ranch is quite popular.

Cheers!

I can assure you that Salt Lake City is every bit as beautiful as it looks!

Great pics brewer45. I've ridden that far south only a couple of time from where I live (Kaysville).

There is some pretty good riding up north here as well.

That's good. IKEA cafe is a fun place to stop for food, and exactly the same as in London. Luckily you were on the tandem so no room to pick up coathangers, storage units and all that other stuff that means you walk out of there having spent twice as much as intended.

Exactly the same as in London.
Except that when you walk outside of your IKEA you are in London, and we are in grumblegrumblegrumble Salt Lake City, UTAH fercryinoutloud.