Arizona---"But I feared that I myself had unleashed him. For he was the fury that would be as soon as Florence Arizona found her little Nathan gone."

Brutal. We were up at 5:30, and my intention was to ride from about 13 miles south of Page to the east side of Kayenta. The wind was howling, and in our faces I might add, so after 6 miles, we decided to bump all the way south to Hwy 160 and head east. If you are thinking "well, they just ride the easy parts" please read on.








The wind was a sort of cross/ tail wind with gusts that wanted to send you into the traffic lane. Add to that a rumble strip and narrow shoulder and you have a good training exercise for bike control. I have seen pictures of Monument Valley...westerns set in Monument Valley...where the sky was blue and the air was clear. When the dust started blowing, the air turned brown and we couldn't see the sky...couldn't even see the sun. Patty and I pressed on and I finally finished near Red Mesa. When we had loaded the bike and gear, we had hoped to stop at Four Corners...but none of us saw the sign, and then it was too late. We didn't want to turn around and go back. :( Flat Stanley was a little miffed...he gave all of us a lesson in map reading.










We stopped in Durango at Hasslefree Sports because the bikes were filthy and a lot of that dust had gotten into the shifters. I was thinking about some spray lubricant, but Chris said bad idea. And he's right. Why? Because we may have more dust tomorrow and the next couple of days, and if we do, that lube will pick up all of that dust and gunk up the shifter. He offered to use some compressed air and blow out the shifters. Thanks for being our second hero, Chris. Bravo to Hasslefree Sports!
I finished the day with a little over 3200' of elevation gain...100.1 miles, plus a little over a mile where I forgot to turn the Garmin on...and an average of 16.95.
Was today's ride fun? Not exactly. Was it memorable? Absolutely. Would I do it again tomorrow? In a heart beat...but not tomorrow...because tomorrow we do Colorado and the elevation profile looks like the letter "L"...L is for love it.
maybe you can't...because you won't...