Editor's Note: Columnist Lee Benson spent the past week bicycling east to west across Utah, from the Nevada line to the Colorado line. This is his final column on the experience.

Most people traverse Utah via the interstate system. You can go from Evanston, Wyo., to Wendover, Nev., along the I-80 freeway and never have to exit. Or you can travel from the southwest corner in St. George along I-15 and then along I-70 to central Colorado without having to get off for anything other than another tank of gas.

The heaviest-traveled traverse is the north-south corridor along I-15 that links Arizona to Idaho. It is possible to drive the entire distance, more than 500 miles, without encountering a single traffic signal.

Then there are the roads less traveled. I just spent eight days on them, crossing Utah on highways much older, and much less popular, than the freeways.

All along these roads are reminders of bygone days when they were the mainstream. One in particular stands out in my mind. It's a large sign on Highway 6 in Helper that says "Balanced Rock Motel." The sign itself is in decent shape, and for a moment you think the business might still be in operation — until you look past the sign to a dilapidated building that obviously hasn't been slept in in years.

I pedaled down the lane to the old motel and looked around for a minute, imagining the scene 50 years ago when the place was in its heyday.

I then looked up on the hill to the balanced rock that has long been a local landmark. The rock is still defying gravity — holding its own, in sharp contrast to its namesake motel.

Not everything is obsolete or outdated along the roads the freeways bypass. Many businesses are thriving, and the people who live there sure aren't has-beens, but it's obvious things are catered to a local clientele instead of people passing through.

In 400 miles, I did not see a single police car looking for speeders.

The prices off the beaten path can be a nice surprise. Here is where you can still find a motel room for $45, where you can get a Pepsi out of a vending machine for 65 cents, where you can order a rib-eye steak dinner for $15.95, including dessert.

In Delta, my wife and I saw a movie for $11 — that was for both of us.

Another fringe benefit: some places don't have cell phone service at all. It's amazing how relaxing it can be to not check messages.

Other random reflections from my time in the Utah Outback

• Most curious highway sign(s): On the "loneliest highway" from the Nevada border to Delta, there are two signs opposite each other. The one on the east says "No services, next 43 miles." The one on the west says "No services, next 40 miles." Besides the two signs and a lot of sagebrush, there is nothing else in the vicinity. It's as if a masochist put up the signs almost exactly halfway between help. They might as well say, "You're Toast."