Archive for July, 2004
Up, Down and All Around… Utah
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Hanksville, UT
What an amazing couple of days! Getting up well before dawn, getting me and the bike ready, then blasting off to some new adventure that I know as lines on a map, but never really know until I jump on the bike and move out.
The past few days have included lots of climbing – and lots of amazing scenery to go with each one. The route from Escalante to Boulder was incredible – after a bit of steady climb half way out I crested the hill and was on my way down a road cut right into this huge slick rock area – the switchbacks cut right into the rock face of the mountain, zigzagging all the way down to nothingness.
Of course out here there is little to stop you from going over the side, but I have gotten used to that by now. I guess that unlike lawsuit happy California, people here in Utah take a bit more personal responsibility for things – if you go over the side you probably weren’t paying attention, shouldn’t have been there or there is just a bit of cleaning the gene pool going on…
1,000 Miles and Cranking
Monday, July 12, 2004
Escalante, UT
I made the short (50 mile) hop from Bryce Canyon to Escalante to get ready for an early morning climb (an all day climb to Boulder Town) and for a stretch of road that I’ve read about (and feared…) for some time. It’s called “The Hogback” and it is about 3 miles of narrow, two-lane road (no shoulder, of course…) that rides along a high ridge, with nothing on either side but down and down and down some more. It might not be as bad as it sounds, but I am leaving early in the morning to try to have as much of it to myself as possible.
But today was also a milestone – 1,000 miles down far (only a few thousand more to go!) and I am loving it. It’s still hard work every day, but every mile is worth it. Amazing scenery, lots of time to think, body getting stronger every day – and you literally never know what is around the next curve…
The Harder the Battle, the Sweeter the Victory…
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Bryce Canyon, UT
All I can say is my new setup rocks! I powered up another few thousand feet this morning, flew along another 20 miles with a great tailwind and finally made a big right turn (so I am once again heading east instead of backwards towards the west…) and zipped into Bryce Canyon.
I’m going to lay low for a few hours until the heat dies down and then take the bike up into the park for a sunset tour.
I am so glad that I didn’t let those Arizona idiots knock me down. I know that I still have a lot of desert left (in fact, one stretch coming up in a few days that is over 120 miles with limited or no water…) but I am finally, after nearly three weeks on the road and lots of bike tuning, in a groove, moving strong every day and loving the ride, the view and life itself!
As I have seen so many times in the past, just put your head down, see past the problem and visualize a better way – and it will be there. All the trouble getting here was worth it. I am on a bike, riding across country. Cool.
Hardtail? Hardcore? Hardly…
Sunday, July 11, 2004
OK. This has little to do with where I am, but how I am getting there…
Before I left, Scot Harrel and Scott Kennerly mentioned that they saw a show about these guys building custom choppers and riding a few hundred miles to test them and compete for whatever it is chopper riders get excited about.
And I ended up seeing part of a rerun of the show while cooling off in a no-name motel (my favorites…) somewhere a few hundred miles back.
Zion Cycles – A Transformation
Friday, July 09, 2004
As mentioned earlier, for every fool out there trying to make this a bit harder, there are three or four people that make it all worth while.
Fred Pagles, owner and cycle dude extraordinaire of Zion Cycles in Springdale, UT is one the great ones. From the minute I walked into his shop to get some spare parts he took a real interest in the ride, the bike and anything he could do to make them both better. Of course, Fred is a cyclist himself and, as I later found out, has done some cool touring in Alaska and elsewhere.
He went through all the things I was concerned about, worked into the evening to get the bike tweaked just right and by the time I left I had better tires, shifting back in order, bars adjusted and – most important – new killer pedals (Crank Brothers Mallet Cs for those interested…).
I am the Road Ruler!
Friday, July 09, 2004
Springdale, UT
What an amazing couple of days! I started out from Marble Canyon, did 30 miles to base of the Kaibab Plateau (the north rim of the Grand Canyon), pulled off a 4,000 foot climb with ease – and then finished out with another 35 miles to set the stage for the next day’s ride into Zion Canyon.
The early morning ride to Kaibab was great – little traffic, cool weather and great scenery. The climb was a killer – 4,000 feet over just a few miles, with tight switchbacks in the beginning, then never ending uphill sections, but it got cooler and cooler as I went up, the view was amazing, and it ended in a beautiful pine forest, wind rushing through the tops of the trees and it was great to just push on through the forest.
I was so pumped that I decided to race down the other side and blast across the lower plateau to the next town. It was a ripping downhill ride that had me riding the brakes and praying for a clean road ahead, then it leveled off into the plateau – where a mean crosswind/headwind fought me for at least 15 miles. In a weird way I was actually enjoying that part – I was laughing at the wind as it tried to slow me down, but no way – the desert didn’t beat me so this was nothing!
How to Deal with the Idiots on the Road
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Marble Canyon, AZ
So, along with my determination not to let any one person – even idiots racing by in big ass trucks – from stopping me, I’ve worked out a strategy for lowering the risk of encountering these fools, keeping out of the heat and enjoying a bit of each day off the bike.
Fairly simple really – I’ll just head out at first light, generally around 5:00 AM or so, ride until 2-3:00 and then call it a day. I figure the truckers aren’t out in full force yet, the RVs are still waking up having a five course breakfast in their pull-out dining rooms, and the pickup driving “Jethros” are sleeping off their life numbing multiple six-pack session from the night before.
The heat is generally too much after that anyway and it has been most insane when I have found myself out there late in the afternoon. My guess is the truckers are just as tired as I am at that point (even with AC and Merle Haggard blasting all day…), the RVs are racing to the next campground, and the boys with their toys are racing towards the bar.
By leaving much earlier and stopping a bit earlier I should be able to get in some decent riding time, enough for 50-75 miles a day, see some beautiful scenery without being a race track and have the afternoon to scout around where ever I happen to end up.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but after thinking about the patterns I’ve noticed over the last few weeks, I think that will work…
Double Century: 100 Miles, 100 Degrees
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Marble Canyon, AZ
Well, I pulled off my first “Century” today – a ride of at least 100 miles. 115 miles to be exact…. And just to make it more interesting, I had to do it in well over 100 degree heat. Its not that I really wanted to do it today, it is that I had to go that far if I wanted to get to anything resembling a town, where I could get water and food – and not have to sleep in the middle of the desert.
I keep thinking that I am out of the desert, but I guess I should have looked at the maps a little closer – if you go below a certain altitude out here, you are back in the desert and that is that. So after nice cool weather at the Grand Canyon up at 7,000 feet, I had to dive back down to 4,000 feet – and back into the desert, back into no water for miles and back into the damn heat again.
The only thing that made the ride interesting was, as usual, the amazing scenery and that this entire section was through the Navajo Nation. Quite cool to be in another world, both in terms of the land itself and the people. Because I generally hang out a bit when I stop – it is just too hot to run in, run out and be on your way again (as I saw with everyone in cars), you have a chance to see a number of people come and go and in this case, to hear people speaking Navajo (or at least I assume that is what it is called…). It’s a very different language with cool sounds and intonation. Of course, I don’t understand a word, but that also adds to it as you try to guess from the body language, facial expression and tone what the conversation might be about – and of course, I am sure that whatever I was imagining wasn’t even close…
Grand Canyon Run
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Tusayan, AZ
The ride into the Grand Canyon was a long one, and it was a bit tricky as there was a steady rush of cars, trucks and tour buses streaming north along with me.
As usual, some of the cars give you room, few SUVs do and, today’s exciting new fear – tour bus drivers actually seem to take pleasure in scaring the living daylights out of anyone on a bike. I’m not kidding… It is a long, straight road and can see ahead for miles. There can be no one coming in the other lane – and these idiots in the tour buses don’t move over an inch, running right up against you with a wall of air that rattled me each time. After awhile each time I saw them in my rear view mirror I vigorously pointing over to the left to both let them know that they should do it and that I figured out the thrill of sneaking up on me. After that most did move over a few feet – guess I spoiled the fun of scaring the living daylights out of someone…
My thoughts that that wasn’t coincidental was confirmed by the couple that watch over the campground I’m staying in south of town. She said that she rides into town quite often and had the same problem. She spoke to a local police officer and apparently he said that many of them do it just to relieve the boredom of shuttling tourists back and forth from the Grand Canyon – rattle a guy on a bike, see what happens, keep moving. Another example of people who not only live rather sad lives, but a group that I would like to chain to the side of the road so they can see what it feels like!
Route 66
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Williams, AZ.
I decided to keep the ride short today as it was a bit of climb from Ash Fork and Williams is located on another of the few sections of Route 66 that has survived out here. As such it is a combination of classic motels whose time has come and gone (my favorites for overnighters), tourist traps and regular businesses hanging in there.
The combination of being on “Route 66″ and being the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon” (because it is the main Interstate exit if you are heading to the South Rim) interesting mess of bikers, European “Americana” tourists and the hordes heading to the Grand Canyon. And I mean hordes – not only it is summer, and a weekend, but the Fourth of July weekend – people everywhere and prices up accordingly.
I decided to end the day early and got a room in a very funky place right in the middle of town. Not much to report except that it was great to just walk up and down the main street, doing what I am sure many do – imagining what it was like “back in the day.”
I did have the best milkshake I’ve ever had at “Twisters”, a retro 50s joint on the east end of town and I treated myself to a great dinner at Rod’s Steakhouse – a tradition in Williams and well worth it.
Back out again tomorrow for the long ride to the Canyon.