Today was a fast 440km run from Bryce Canyon to Salt lake city. The first 100km was through more beautiful twisty roads before we got onto the Interstate highway and then it was a quick and uneventful run to the city.
Days ride…
I have checked the fat girl into BMW for new tyres and brakes as we are here for 2 nights. The Michelin Anakee 2’s that I put on in Bogota, Colombia have performed exceptionally with nearly 14000km on them so I am going with the same tyre until Fairbanks, Alaska.
Today was another day where we elected the long loop rather than the direct route in order to get to do one of the 20 most scenic drives through the US. The 440km ride from Moab to Bryce Canyon continued to divulge more of this country’s awesome beauty… as well as a $115 speeding fine for doing 78mph in a 60 zone!!
Days ride…
It is not uncommon to go from plains to desert to forest, 1000m to 3000m, 35C to 10C and back, all within the space of 5 hours and 400km. The US is truly a world within one country and we are loving the unfolding discovery that everyday has to offer.
We are spending the night at Bryce Canyon and tomorrow we head for Salt Lake city where we are going to spend two nights.
The straight line ride of today could have been 190km, however, we chose the 430km scenic loop from Cortez to Durango to Ridgeway to Moab, next to Archers national park and it was worth the extra 240km!
Days Ride…
Elevation of the ride today…
The ride took us from the plain lands of Cortez into forests and then three mountain ranges with altitudes over 3000m including a ride through the “Switzerland” of America. The day overall was fantastic and even the occasional rainstorm that we got caught in didn’t “dampen” the day!!
So today was a super interesting ride!!!!…
Our 520km ride today…
What was supposed to be an ordinary 521km ride to Cortez, a town at the start of one of the “20 most scenic drives” that I made reference to a few days ago, turned out to be one of the MOST beautiful rides I have ever had in my life, and there have been many on this trip alone!
Heading North out of Sedona…
Notwithstanding the ride north out of Sedona to being magnificent, we decided to head off the US160 and onto the US163 which takes you through the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal park in Utah which was breathtaking! Many of the scenes from this area are recognisable from the many movies in which they have appeared but witnessing it first hand on a day like today was truly special. The clouds in the area reflect the red earth on their undersides and the contrast of the deep blue of the sky against the red of the ground and outcrops makes for a very dramatic scene.
The road heading into Monument Valley…note the red/pink colour of the underside of the clouds!!
Side of the road stop for a break and pics…
Panoramic view of the area…
The hand of God, the “V” for victory…or just flipping the bird??
Looonnnngggg roads through this enormously vast and beautiful country….
The area after Monument Valley takes you past a town called “Mexican hat” which is named after an odd rock formation for which it is named after!!
Mexican Hat Rock!!!
Rock formation called “The Twins” just outside a town called Bluff!!
We got into Cortez at about 5pm (including a time zone change), got the bike washed, tweaked and ready for the run tomorrow followed by dinner at Blondies which is the local hangout for all the Good ol boys of Cortez!! Burgers, fries, beers, a couple of games of pool and live country rock including Stetsons, boots and many heads of dead animals on the walls made for an authentic experience which we both loved!!
No riding again today (except for around the immediate surrounds) because we are staying in Sedona for a 3rd night. Truly beautiful place to visit, explore and soak in the “good vibes”!!
….And MORE red rocks of Sedona!!!
We spent the day exploring Sedona. It turns out this place is super spiritual and to quote one of the people we met, it attracts a lot of “crystal crunchers” because there are apparently some very powerful vortexes in the area due to the earths many meridians that supposedly run directly over this area.
Town centre of Sedona with beautiful surrounding landscape…
Not being the kind of people to shun an opportunity to try out something new we contracted the help of a local guide/shaman called Rahelio to take us on a “mystic walk” through the hills and vortexes of Sedona followed by an American Indian “sweat lodge” which was something akin to a huge sauna but for the chanting, prayers and funky herbs being burned in there which definitely made for a pleasant experience!!
Beautiful views of the surrounding landscape during our walk..
Dinner after was at a local Pizza place which only serves organic and gluten free pizza as much of this town is very health and natural conscious! We have decided that we are loving the place so much that we are extending our stay here for one additional night in order to explore it a little further tomorrow.
What was supposed to be a 7am departure for our 570km ride in order to avoid some of the heat of the day, turned into an 8:30am fall out of bed with a thick head and much cursing! Damn you Vegas!!
Our 570km ride today…
Grand Canyon with the Colorado river down below…
We finally got out of the hotel at about 10am at which point it was already 35C and this was doing nothing to help the 672 myprodols and 12L of coffee consumed this morning! On the plus side, although its a 200km ride to the grand canyon from Vegas, when we got to the new glass floored skywalk that literally hangs over the canyon, we were blown away by how beautiful the place was and this eased some of the lethargy from the previous night!
Grand Canyon skywalk has a glass floor so you feel like you are walking on air as you walk out over the drop of the canyon!!
We finally got going towards Sedona, Arizona, (some 380km away and our destination for the night) by about 2pm and got caught in a bit of a rainstorm as we headed into the more mountainous areas which was a welcome relief from the heat of the last few days.
One of the ways that we have planned our route through the US was to purchase a map of the “20 most scenic drives” and have attempted to incorporate as many of them as possible on our route north to Canada. The 2nd of these 20 routes was the short drive from Flagstaff to Sedona (the first being the pacific coastal highway up to San Francisco on the 4th of July) and we were blown away by the vistas! The area is red rock Arizona desert meets green mountain forest, the combination of which makes for a sight like neither of us had ever seen before and has resulted in us deciding to spend 2 nights here rather than just the one that we were originally planning!!!
Because of the heat of riding through Death Valley yesterday, we decided not to venture out of our hotel suite the entire day! We sat around in our bathrobes watching TV, catching up on email, eating room service and sleeping, until nightfall, when Vegas comes alive!!
The Bellagio Hotel where we are staying has these massive musical fountains playing out front which draws huge crowds!
After an incredible meal at Le Cirque, we got to see the David Copperfield show which was fantastic and although we were planning an early night after that because we were “supposed” to leave at 7am to head for the grand canyon tomorrow, a slight detour for a nightcap at “Hyde”, the nightclub in The Bellagio, turned into an all night party and saw us only getting to be at 3:30am!!
For those that want to have a “romantic” wedding, this is the place, it even comes with fake guests these days!!
Jax on the strip….
We left Lone Pine at 7am; it was already 30C!!
The road headed straight into the centre of death valley which is the lowest point in the US at 75m below sea level, in addition, the heat is always hectic but the area is currently experiencing a record heat wave with temperatures as high as last recorded a hundred years ago and by 09h30 we were riding through temperatures of 46C which felt like the inside of a pizza oven!!! At these temperatures, riding with a visor open is so uncomfortable because it literally feels like the skin on your face is roasting!! In addition, the metal of the bike heats up to such a degree that even holding the handle grips is uncomfortably hot notwithstanding the rubber of the grips and the gloves I am wearing!! The water in the bladder becomes as hot as freshly boiled water and your eyes dry out so its no wonder that hotels advise people NOT to drive through death valley at this time of the year!! …ah well! Box checked!!
The heat aside, the ride through the area was one of the most beautiful we have witnessed thus far! Notwithstanding the starkness, dryness and heat, the views were majestic and made me realise that no one place on earth holds title to “the most beautiful” because even a place like death valley has the ability to take one’s breath away!
We are spending the next two nights at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada and found an incredible deal on Booking.com for the penthouse suite so we are living the high life!!
Days ride…
The profile of our ride showing the section through death valley below sea level..
A seldom seen but equally impressive view of Vegas by day!!
We had a long 571km run today so we left SF early because part of the ride was to cross the Yosemite national park which was mountainous and twisty although unbelievably beautiful.
The ride took us to an altitude of over 3000m through forests and lakes and then back down the other side to the edge of death valley where the temperatures skyrocketed to 40C. We are spending the evening at a motel in Lone Pine which is famous for having had many of the historic cowboy movies from the 50’s and 60’s filmed here but its an early night tonight because we want to be on the road by 7am tomorrow to avoid the heat in death valley which is currently experiencing a record heat wave!!
Our 571km ride…
