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Published: September 11th 2015
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MOAB
Have spent the past two days in Moab, small population and dedicated to mountain biking, mountain off roading and rafting. A few interesting stores and little else.
The rest has been partially rejuvenating, but the extra day in such a single dimension town, in a small hot room seemed a little excessive. Also because room so small we locked our bikes up on the back balcony out of general view. However some thieving person removed my Revelate seat bag and contents being two tubes spanner and multi tool and two cans of chain lube. $220+. Will Need To source some tyre levers before leaving town. Not Happy. Now the bikes are in the rooms which makes for access difficulties.
MOAB to DEVILS CANYON. Section 5 CANYONLANDS STAGE 52. New section Distance Kms 106.30 kms; Total Dist to Date 5779 kms;
Road Condition: mostly good, but with narrow riding shoulders; Weather warm- hot day rising to 38c . First day leaving breakfast without a jacket! Time in Saddle: 5.43 hrs Speed: av 18.5 kph. Max speed 56.1 kph Av Cadence 72 rpm Elevation: 1640m up; Total up to Date 53,015m; 710m down; down
to date 45266m.
Today we had blue sky and lots of sun, BUT no headwind, which made riding far easier, despite climbing 1,640 metres of elevation!
The Canyon lands are nestled between red rock cliffs of unusual shapes and rock arches. It was interesting riding, despite it being a major highway the entire ride. Surprisingly very busy, with many large trucks and camper buses. The shoulders were narrow and half occupied by rumble strips which need to be avoided, and shredded tyres and glass. A lot of glass as apparently if stopped by police and they find an open bottle of alcohol in the vehicle, even if it's a passengers the driver is heavily fined, so the solution seems to be to throw the bottle out the window, mostly landing on the shoulder!
Tonights camp reminds me of Australia, many trees, not gums though, stubby grass and red sand. Found a pleasant shaded spot to pitch the tent and while away the hours until mealtime, the day's major event! Need to be observant now for rattlesnakes and scorpions. Also bears but i think that may be a figment of someones' imagination. Wouldn't be surprised
to see a coyote though. Saw a few dead ones on the roadside. The scenery looks like it is out of the Roadrunner-Wylie Coyote cartoon!, so you get the picture. Speaking of pictures we also road past the cliff that Thelma drove her car off in the movie- Thelma and Louise.
DEVILS CANYON to MONUMENT VALLEY. Section 5 CANYONLANDS STAGE 53. Distance Kms 134.18 kms; Total Dist to Date 5913 kms;
Road Condition: mostly good; Weather warm- hot day rising to 44c; Time in Saddle: 6.00 hrs Speed: av 22.3 kph. Max speed 63.4 kph Av Cadence 73 rpm Elevation: 1200m up; Total up to Date 54215; 1700m down; down to date 46966 m.
Again no headwind! The weather on departure was 8c, but left without jacket as temp yesterday rose quickly. Got to 44c at lunch, so let some air out of my tyres so they didn't explode. Happened to me once in China, so now very wary!!
The red rock monuments and ridges are weird shapes and quite spectacular. Unfortunately the heat haze interfered with the colour, but amazing how they just rear up out of the earth. No real
information but undoubtedly millions of years old. The colour of the earth is similar to Central Australia. Looks like iron ore in colour. Last night the stars were spectacular, filled the sky and were bright and sharp. The altitude was quite high last night so the night was cooler than anticipated, maybe the air was thinner. Unfortunately the tent floor had a slope and somehow i put my head at the lower end, so the blood rushed to my head. Didn't make me any smarter though!!
Quite buggy. The camp site here is red earth, no grass and minimal trees, so shade is at a premium. Tomorrow being a rest day it should be fun avoiding the burning sun. On the ride to camp saw all the various monuments so see no reason to do the tour. Cannot understand why we have a rest day here, and everyone is of similar view! Only two days into riding. 8 days last session ??!? Another non sensical TDA decision. The people who scout the rides need to get out of the cars onto a bike and make decisions based upon that experience. We are responsible for our own meals
tonight, so
we are hostage to the owners of the park who seem to own all the amenities. Someone asked why its not named Goulding's Monuments!, the parks owner, who in fact owns everything. MONUMENT VALLEY. REST DAY
REST DAY MONUMENT VALLEY
Today is a rest day, extremely bright sunlight and very hot. Did a few chores then moved from shade to shade. Cooler on the bike with our self made breeze. Everyone quite lethargic in the heat.
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sandra frogley
non-member comment
Doing well
Enjoying your comments and think you are doing a great job of the ride, enjoy the last few weeks. G. & S.