Strong Bad

I decided to take my camera along on one of my favorite rides. The road is called Chalk Creek. It runs from Coalville, Utah to the Wyoming border. From Coalville, it's about 48 miles round trip. My wife and I usually leave from Wanship, which adds another 15 miles. Trip total: 63. There is very little traffic on the road, and it is common to see many more cyclists than cagers. Today, we didn't see very many of either. The cars/trucks that do pass commonly give a wide berth and are not a problem.

The road between Wanship and Coalville:


My wife


Me


The road up Chalkcreek.








The monument at the Utah - Wyoming border.

The road back down.


Sweet.

YATES

that last pic is awesome.

Plow13

love the last pic too!

cedricbosch

Wow! Beautiful roads.

GPB

All very cool.

Strong Bad

Thanks. I like that last photo too.
The images didn't quite capture the number of hills on the route.
Over 3900' of climbing. Here is a map with the profile:

lvleph

50 or so miles further west and it is not going to be nice and green like that.

Hocam

Looks like a lot of nice rollers and steady low grades, must be a fantastic ride.

Great pics!

Strong Bad

I think 50 miles west would have put me right in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.
Any land out that way is nothing but salt flats, mud bogs, or sage brush.
There are some roads on the south side of the lake, but yesterday would have been miserable.
Over 90 degrees.

lvleph

It is 35 miles from Wanship to SLC. So my estimate was a bit off, but 50 miles would not put you in the Salt Lake. Anyway, that doesn't matter. I was expecting different terrain, since I wasn't clear on where Chalk Creek was. My mom lived in Salem UT, so I definitely know what it is like out there. I would say up where you are you have the better end of the stick. Of course in the winter months you may have some difficulties getting around.

Strong Bad

Stange thing is, I use that road for training in the winter when the inversion sets in.
They keep the road plowed all winter, and when it's inverted, the temps can be a good 20 degrees higher than in the SL valley. Later in the year, even Chalk Creek can get a little brown and dry, but right now it's a little bit of roadie heaven.

blonduathlongrl

+1!
makes you want to be there!

lvleph

Yeah, all those green fields will turn brown and crunchy in a few more weeks probably. I wish I lived a little further outside of Richmond, so that I could get on some nice roads like that. I have to ride 25 miles before I get to some country roads.

thejanitor

That looks like a sweet ride! I'm looking forward to trying it out in a year or so when I move up to Salt Lake... I can't wait.

MIN 

Great ride. It must be nice to have a wife that rides. Check out my ride pics in my sig.

theshoemaker

Great info here StrongBad. I think I might do this route. I'm interested in the winter possiblilities too. Thanks!

Strong Bad

Beautiful pics! (Puts my little rout to shame). I posted to your thread that I did that ride several years ago.
I was incredible, even though I was in fog most of the way to timberline.
And, yea... I'm VERY lucky to have a beautiful wife that loves to ride!

zimbo

I'll be in Utah for 5 weeks this summer and was thinking about doing the Chalk Creek Road Race which I believe finshes with this climb. Do any of you Utahns know more about the race (i.e. would I need to find a ride back down, etc.)?

--Steve

Strong Bad

Here's a link to the info:
https://www.usacycling.org/events/get...rmit=2007-1346

zimbo

Thanks, I had seen that. What I'm looking for is profile info, course logistics, how to get back down, etc.

--Steve

thejanitor

Sorry, zimbo, but I don't have any info about it.

Strong Bad

I'm guessing from the distances and descriptions on the flyer that the races end back down in Coalville (where they start). For the profile - look at my map.

Ostuni

great pics there! thanks for sharing! more?