One Utah mayor will have a lot of biking to do after Saturday's BYU-Utah football game.

A day after the cities' councils wagered a trip to each other's meetings to sing the winning team's fight song, the mayors of Provo and Salt Lake City have concocted a bet of their own.

If the No. 16 Cougars topple the unbeaten No. 8 Utes this weekend, Mayor Ralph Becker has agreed to ride a bicycle to the Provo City Center with a donation for the Utah Food Bank in tow -- a 45-mile one-way trip. If, on the other hand, the Utes prevail and win the Mountain West title outright, Provo's own Lewis Billings will make the trip northward.

Of course, neither man is calling it a bet, but a "fitness challenge." The challenge is on comfortable turf for Becker, who is a regular cyclist.

"I'm not what I would call a 'road warrior,' " he told the Daily Herald. "I ride my bike to work a lot, and I ride recreationally."

Becker said he's biked a comparable distance in the past, but nobody should expect him to make the trip any time soon.

"I'm not really worried about riding to Provo," he said.

Billings, on the other hand, demonstrated his chops during the city's Bike to Work Day in May. He led about 30 people on a 3-mile trek through the streets of Provo. But that's just the beginning -- he said he tries to take 7-mile rides every other day and recently biked from Provo to Bountiful with his son, who was working on the Boy Scout cycling merit badge.

"I really like Mayor Becker," Billings said. "I am concerned truly for his health and welfare. I think it would be really ideal for him to have an opportunity to ride down to Provo."

One likely route would take Becker along State Street through South Salt Lake, Murray, Midvale, Sandy and Draper before he crossed under Interstate 15 by Point of the Mountain. He would bike past Thanksgiving Point before crossing back to the east side of I-15 in Lehi, then taking State Street again through American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Orem and finally Provo. Billings could follow the same path in reverse.

The mayors plan to attend the game at Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium together, just as they did in Provo last year. Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson has agreed to sit between the two in case a close game escalates their feelings.

The odds appear stacked against Billings, at least in Las Vegas -- BetUS.com reports that Utah is a 7.5-point favorite to win the game.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or astryker@heraldextra.com.