Today's 53 miles ride took us from Salt Lake City to Grantsville, UT. Some of us on the team were nervous for today's ride because of the tremendous climb to the flattop mountain, part of the Oquirrh mountain range in Utah. The climb to the mountain top was very steep, and the team anticipated a longer day even though the ride was shorter than our usual days.  Another element that we did not anticipate made our climb even more challenging: gravel on the road. The road was filled with gravel to the point that we had to hop off our bikes and walk the majority of the way. Even the cars that passed us on their way to the top seemed to have difficulty driving over the large rocks that littered the way. However, the picturesque view from the top made it all worth it, displaying  mountains beyond mountains all around. Most of us got to our stayover for the night at 5 in the evening and were fortunate to have our hosts from Grantsville High School provide us with some bread and fruit for dinner. Some of our teammates also bought some cactus leaves and tomatillos from a local supermarket for dinner tonight to add on to our usual palate consisting of lentils and spaghetti . Hopefully this will prepare us well for our 90 mile ride tomorrow.