Monday,
July 23. Tuba City, AZ to 8 miles west of Grey Mountain, AZ. 42 miles of riding
in 2:53 hrs.
The short
day today what with our planned excursion to the Grand Canyon. So with that in
mind plus the fact that we were going to pick up an hour today going into PST,
I was a bit on the casual side today with respect to getting on the road. Got
rolling out of the decrepit little town of Tuba City at about 7 AM MST.
The ride from Tuba to the jcn of Rt 89 was kind of downhill
and fast and through about 10 miles of desolation. Then the ride south on Rt 89
started out pretty good, with a nice tailwind and good road. But shortly
thereafter the road alternated from good, to moderate, to meager, to shit. It
would just change mile after mile. And all of the issues there were with
respect to the berm. In places it would virtually disappear. Then again in
places it was 4 feet wide and pristine asphalt. Again, the terrain was pretty
deserted and dismal with no really scenic beauty – but plenty of traffic. And
again, as I kind of touched on yesterday, the Hopi Indian Nation Reservation
here is a very impoverished place. So you’re just kind of riding past all these
small huts and trailers with junk all over the place. The big thing here, on
this stretch of Rt 89 between Flagstaff and Page is that you go by umpteen
little roadside stands where the Indians sell their wares of artwork and
curios. You go by mile after mile of these roadside stands. Some are quite
elaborate and others are mere hovels for stands.
My ride to Cameron was shot and sweet despite the crap
sections of Rt 89. But after a support stop with Judy there the ride got
brutally hard. I had descended down to cross the Little Colorado River in
Cameron. But then spent the next 8 miles climbing out of that little canyon.
The wind changed to a headwind and the road continued to go from great to
God-aweful. Man was that a grunt climbing into a headwind for those miles as
the road just continued to piss me off. There were times when there was just
zero berm and I was forced into the road with all the bloody trucks and cars
buzzing by at 70 mph. And sometimes, when there was berm, it was 2 feet wide
with a rumble strip down the middle so you had 6 inches of good berm to the
right and left of the strip. And that climb just went on for eternity.
Topped out in the tiny Hopi town of Grey Mountain, another
decrepit little place with gift shops and curios stands and two gas stations
and an OOB hotel called the Anasazi Inn - very sad place indeed. Once back up
from the climb the road really never flattened out, but continued to false flat
upwards. And it made sense because I was at 5000 feet in ele. in Cameron, and
up to 6000 in Grey Mountain – and I’ve got another 1000 feet of ele. gain to
get to Flagstaff. Again, with respect to the terrain, it’s pretty boring, and
I’ve done this stretch a million times in previous years in a car coming and
going from Utah and the north and the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff to the south.
It’s just a non-stop flow of vacation traffic and 18-wheeler traffic.
Finally called it quits for the day about 8 miles west of
Grey Mountain so we could load the bike and head back to the Grand Canyon. I
was VERY happy to see that van what with plodding uphill and fighting a head
wind. So much for a nice, easy short day in the saddle. I was beat from just 40
miles of riding. Got rolling to GC and as soon as we turned onto Rt 64 west you
kind of begin this climb up onto the Kaibab Plateau and gain elevation every so
gradually until you’re up in the pine forests and out of the desert desolation.
Got into the park and I took a turn at the wheel so Judy
could check out the park as we drove. Stopped at the two biggest tourist spots,
Desert View and the Grand Canyon Visitor’s Center’s Mather Point. With the
heavy cloud cover the heat was way down. And I’ve never really been in this
area when it was so cloudy. Usually, 9.9 out of 10 days this place is hot as
hell and clear blue skies in the summer. But with this monsoonal weather
pattern as of late, today was quite a contrast to the typical summer day. That
did make for some easy, and cooler hiking to the viewing areas.
So really, our stop at the canyon was much like the movie
National Lampoon’s Vacation where Chevy Chase looks down into the canyon for 5
seconds and then herds the family back to the car. Only we stopped at two
places instead of just one. Now I’ve backpacked down into the canyon and to do
that it’s pretty much a multi-day to one week gig. So hiking to the Colorado is
the primo thing to do there. Just hiking down a few miles on the Bright Angle
or Kaibab trail does little to change the perspective of the place. So Jude was
very cool with just doing the Griswold thing and checking it out and then
hitting the road.
Today the place was just a beehive of activity. I mean it
was a mass of humanity from all over the world. Just lines and lines of people
at the railings checking out the view. And then all these people who never ride
a bike deciding to ride their bikes (probably for the first time in 20 years)
on this pedestrian walkway crammed solid with people along the canyon rim. It
was just insane. So honestly, it felt pretty good to “view and bolt” as we did.
We had camping reservations at the Mather Campground but we decided to just go
down to Flagstaff and chill there instead. We’d pick a day up and just keep the
ball rolling on to CA tomorrow. Back in Flag we hit this totally amazing Indian
(we’re talking Nepalese) restaurant for a buffet. The thing was just
spectacular. I mentioned to Judy how good it felt to be back in civilization
where we weren’t confined to some little hole in the wall place a gazillion
miles from anything. Flagstaff is a great city and a fun place to eat, drink,
hike, bike, and a whole lot more.
That’s going to do it for today. Short day, but
interesting day….Pete
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