Chinle - Kayenta, AZ - The cat named Chevy won't stop this tour, and neither can COVID

June 15, 2020

Chinle - Kayenta, AZ

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2,329 elevation gain

Today was so tough, I had to take a nap before writing this page. I don't think that has ever happened. I had a good day, overall. I was out the door at 6 AM to get as far down the road as I could before the wind started. Jacinto said the first 15 miles to Many Farms is directly north. Starting later in the day will give a wind boost getting those miles in, and then he will deal with the side wind the rest of the day.

Even without a tailwind, I covered the 15 miles in exactly an hour. I amused myself by thinking about how nice 67 similar miles would be. I would get to town in four hours! The elevation profile shows three distinct climbs and a final climb to town. ridewithgps shows it being 2,9xx feet of climbing, but they had a couple of errors at rock cut outs where the gradient was falsely steep. Bridges and tunnels also give false grades. Like the tunnel at Old Mule Pass. I was SO happy that was an error.

I made the left at Many Farms and sighed. Yep, here's a climb. But it wasn't bad at all. Look at me go! What a nice day. The air was crisp (58 degrees). I had a nice shoulder on the road. There was significant traffic going into Chinle, even at this hour of the morning. Little traffic on my side of the road. When I made the turn, I was all alone again. One climb down. Yay for me. I checked the profile for the next turn. Excellent. If I can get 33 miles in, then I will be on the downside for getting to town. Do you play those mental games? I watch mile markers also. I like reeling them in. It makes me feel as if I'm progressing with the day.

Every once in awhile I'd notice a swirl of air, but it would die down again. There's lots of red dirt out here. I really didn't want to get caught in a sand storm. The wind was supposed to be 16-18 mph today, but 26-28 mph tomorrow, so we rode today. I was initially doubtful about my legs, but they are in the groove. You know what's really in the groove, is my head. Those constant rollers that we had yesterday really play with my mind. All of that climbing and descending and not getting anywhere. Today is my kind of day - climbing, yes, but a big climb with a top. I can say, "I've arrived! Hurray for me!" and go swooping downhill.

At mile 35 I could see a big climb in front of me. OK, let me fasten my seatbelt and get this one done. There was a native man walking towards me down the road. He stopped at a stop sign. We said hello and I stopped. Socially distanced. He had the usual questions. I noted that there was a big climb up ahead. He replied,"You have big legs. They are probably strong and you can make it up the hill without pushing." I guess that was a compliment? He was headed to Kayenta, but no one had stopped to give him a ride. I said that the light traffic was good for me, not so good for him. Off I went, to show what my big, strong legs could do!

The climb wasn't near as bad as it looked, perhaps 5%. It had a big cut out at the top, or it would have been worse. Got that one done. Now for some downhill. I had a headwind here and had to modulate my speed. I was happy that the wind was mostly not a factor for me for the entire time on Road 59. Ridewithgps had routed me on a more direct route going into Kayenta. I used the satellite view to confirm my suspicion that it was a dirt track. Yep. It made me think of the guys riding the Wild West Route right now. All of that soft sand is a no go for me. My helmet off to them. They have a great journal, BTW.

After I crossed the ridge at mile 35, I was over in the red rock area with plenty of scenery. Between looking around and watching the miles tick away, my day was going quite well. I was hopeful I would hit those last nine miles to town before the wind really picked up. I was out of luck on that one. My speed dropped to a crawl. I stopped several times for a drink, a bite to eat, anything to avoid pedaling into the wind. Almost all of Highway 180 from the turn into Kayenta had fresh oil. Luckily, it was just oil and not chip seal. The little rocks used for chip seal in Colorado are very good at giving me flat tires. Traffic on 180 was heavier, but not heavy enough for me. I wanted a convoy of semis going my direction to block the wind and pull me along. A double FedEx truck with a string of about 20 cars behind it gave me a nice respite.

I could see town in the distance. It wasn't getting any closer. Is this what the pioneers felt like as they crawled towards a water hole? I was going a mere 5 mph on what seemed to be level terrain. We haven't had any trouble with vehicles the entire trip, everyone waits patiently and goes way around. But I sure had a yahoo today. A car was coming towards me and a giant motorhome pulling a car pulls out to pass. Right towards me. I hate it when cars do that. It's unnerving first of all, to see a car barreling towards me so close. Second, their slip stream is fierce. I quick got my foot down and it was a good thing. With the strong wind and that being such a big vehicle . . . . heck. I was more than ready for town. 1.5 miles to go. You can't imagine how far away that seemed.

Right on the outside of town was a Church's Chicken. I could see the Hampton Inn sign further down on the right. Did I have what it took to ride to the motel? I did not. I needed some carbs, right now. I pulled into the fast food place behind a truck. Everything is to go here. I waited and waited for my order. I don't know what the truck ordered, but it took a long time. I took my meal and sat in the shade of the dumpster and drank the lemonade. I didn't even want the food. At least, not right now. I drank the entire lemonade and considered if I had what it took to ride the quarter mile to the motel. Maybe.

Yes, I did! A little sugar put some life back into me. Last year we stayed at the Monument Inn. That's the place we changed rooms in the middle of the night because the AC didn't work. The wi-fi didn't work either and it was expensive. This year we originally booked an airbnb with Oren to stay in a mobile home up the road. I canceled that and was glad I did. The motel was closer. This time we are trying the Hampton Inn. I put on my mask and went inside. There were big red and black signs everywhere about not entering without a mask. The clerk was an older man with a mask and gloves on. He noticed my address on the license. It turns out that he used to live in Rifle, they owned the Coulter Guest Ranch and sold it in 2006 and moved to Saguache. Saguache is one of my favorite places to bicycle! I would have enjoyed the conversation more if I hadn't been so dead tired. He told me to bring my bike right in, I don't want to leave it outside around here.

We have a nice, large room. The AC and wi-fi both work. It's also cheaper than the Monument Inn.

I kept checking on Jacinto with Strava. It was frozen. Strava seems to do that a lot in areas where there's no service. Then it doesn't pick the rider back up again. I had no idea where he was . . . I still wasn't hungry. I was dead tired. I milled around a little, not accomplishing much. I decided to shower. Wait? What's this with my shirt? I have red dirt ground in around the collar and down the front from the blowing dirt. That explains why my hand came away red when I wiped my lips. I couldn't figure out why, because I hadn't eaten anything red. The red came out of my shirt. I use a little bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap. Both Oren and Genny use it. We bought this bottle in Canada last year and I've refilled it for the trip.

I laid down on the floor with my butt up against the wall and my legs straight up the wall to drain the lactic acid out of my legs. I drank a Hammer Recovery drink. I still wasn't interested in the food. I didn't have enough mental capacity to write this journal, so I took a nap! Last night our upstairs neighbors were drinking (I think). They were up ALL night long laughing and talking loudly. I had anticipated a poor night's sleep worrying about the ride today, they didn't help any.

In the end, I had a good day today. Yesterday was the pits. Even with that giant downhill/tailwind combo.

Jacinto didn't get in until 4 PM. He had a flat tire just three miles from town and a fierce headwind. His yellow shirt is now orange with dirt. His shirt didn't come as clean as mine. He's gone walking for food. We ate at a Chinese restaurant last year. They didn't answer their phone, we suspect they are closed. Vegetables would be good. Next choice is a Subway salad. Jacinto's going to the grocery deli. I thought he might be too tired to go for food, but he showered and hurried out the door. Everything here seems to close at 6 PM. There's a nighttime curfew from 8 PM-5 AM for all of Navajo Nation.

Tomorrow we finally leave Arizona and are in Utah. Jacinto is hoping he can buy a beer. Actually, he's hinted broadly that we could take our day off here. The room is nice, and we have a variety of food nearby. But I've already changed the reservation for tomorrow at Mexican Hat. Tomorrow also has a strong tailwind that we want to take advantage of. Jacinto did suggest we didn't need a rest day in Mexican Hat, but I told him firmly that the only reason I powered through these three big days was promising myself a rest day in Mexican Hat. After that, we start climbing again.

Let's see what Jacinto brings back for dinner. I hope it's Chinese.

It was downhill to Many Farms, then I faced the first uphill.

I like the swirl patterns in these rocks. There were many in the area.

Mapping services have a hard time identifying cut outs in rocks (bridges also). This was identified as 14.4%. I didn't even look at what it really was. Maybe 5% on my Garmin?

The one big climb for the day. I stopped to talk with a native man waiting for a ride at the bottom of the climb. He told me that I had big legs, so maybe I would be able to climb to the top without pushing my bike. I guess that was a compliment?

I did a poor job of applying sunscreen yesterday and burned my ankle. Today I did a very good job with sunscreen, but I could still feel the heat from the sun. The bandana was my remedy.

Oren, does the San Rafael Swell go all the way over here? This turned out to be a disappointing photo. To me, it looks like a Stegosaurus' back plates.

Scenery right before the turn to Kayenta.

Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 736 miles (1,184 km)

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