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| Just not that colorful apparently... |
Left Mexican Hat, UT this morning with a beautiful sunrise over Valley of the Gods and a view of the Mexican Hat formation. Some serious climbs this morning and man, my legs are just tired... Some beautiful sandstone bluffs in (where else?) Bluff, UT and some quieter roads, which was nice until the wind picked up. The wind is both god and devil in a single day sometimes - we bucked a head/crosswind for about 15 miles that was so strong it was kicking up dust devils and you felt like the air was sucked out of your mouth when you breathed. So that was just patently awful until we made a 90 degree turn and had the wind at our backs (for the most part) for the last 30 miles. We had the option to go an extra 12 miles (into the wind 6 and back) to see the 4 corners - but like most, I decided 6 minutes more into the wind would be too much, let alone 6 miles... Three flats today - one thorn, one wire, one UFO (unidentified flat origin). I'm getting better at changing them, but it's not a skill I really wish to perfect. One in our group had 5 flats today - so I guess I"m lucky. Saw a tarantula crossing the road today - did not get in close for a picture though also did not ask why he was crossing.
105 miles and over a mile of climbing today up to Cortez, CO. Cortez is very close to Mesa Verde, 4 corners, shiprock, and other famous landmarks - it's also an agricultural center (the town was founded to provide housing to the workers building an irrigation system from the river). Nice to see trees with real leaves again and water flowing in the rivers rather than dry washes. Unfortunately we won't get to Mesa Verde though we'll pass close headed for Durango, CO tomorrow - a shorter day, but a vigorous climb ahead!
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| Mexican Hat - (apparently didn't want to call the town Sombrero?) |
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| Valley of the Gods |
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| With gusts to 41mph as ironic bonus - nowhere to hide out here from the wind |
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| Cortez hay farm (and random teepee) |
What kind of tires are you all using that you have this many flats? Bontrager R3?
ReplyDeleteEd - AW3 - even the guides say this is unusual - but that a more protective tire wouldn't make much difference with the wires and thorns - we're hoping as we move east things will get better - the record for an individual on a XC trip with Trek is 14 - we already have one gentleman with 10...
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