This is my weekend ride down to the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center and back - right at 49 miles and some change. I had wanted to ride a few times during the week, but we had quite a bit of rain. So going out this Saturday morning, the air was cool and had a sweet pine smell from the wind coming off the Chuska Mountains.
I got down to the Visitor Center pretty fast. I roll in, drink up a water bottle, have a Cliff Bar, and then re-fill or top-off the bottles. A young family pulled up and were on their way into the Visitor Center - it's the Park HQ - the young woman looked me over and said, "I don't see any panniers..." kind of in a puzzled voice. "I teach and live about 25 mile up the road, at the college." I replied. "Oh! we were wondering because, like - where did you come from?"
Like I've mentioned before, I'm seeing a lot of horses out near the Boundary, inside and outside. Like all the ones I see, they tend to be leery of the bike - this time, this young colt stood defiant (still staying by mom) and the bright white spot on his forehead really stood out. So I called to him, "White Star, my young friend! I'll see you again soon!"
I can see the road that winds in to Antelope House Pull-Out a few miles from the hwy as I ride back up.
After Antelope, I'll have eight miles of steady climbing until Mummy and Massacre Cave.
This is the spot where you can see Black Rock from Hwy 64, to the East - click the image to make it bigger.
I'm looking forward to getting home, and starting up the coffee maker, mes amis!
On the way back, I have two short, but tough climbs before the contour of the land levels out for a few miles. After I get up this one, I'm about two miles from the first pull-out, which means the work is about done.
This is my landmark for the first Pull-out when I come down from Tsaile. This is a pretty place, and I'm glad they chose it right where the Mummy Cave Pull-out begins.
Still have to climb have of this 11 miles, but I'll get some tailwind and downhill!
The Home Stretch! The College is about six miles from here - Tsaile Peak is another seven miles from Tsaile. I sure have covered some ground today, and I'm happy to be riding and back with my blog!
Thanks for coming along for the ride! Cheers! Bruce
2 comments:
Beautiful country there. What kind of camera do you use, just curious? Not missing anything in Tucson, the heat has been simply brutal the last few days.
Dan T.
Hi Dan - hey the blog was dark for about a week, but back up! Glad you stopped by... My camera is an old Kodak Easy Share, and on its last leg. I've dropped it many times on the road. The auto-focus is not quite working so a lot of my photos are not turning out. It's big so you can hold onto it, and not real expensive so if lost or broken when dropped it's not a big loss. My iPhone takes great photos, but being slim and without a wrist strap, it's hard to shoot with one hand. Take Care! Bruce
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