October 14, 2021
Up, up and away
Kanab loop, take 1
MAN, it was COLD this morning - 32 degrees!! I was sure glad the furnace was working.
It took most of the morning for it to warm up into the 50's even with the sun shining. It was also windy, which wouldn't make it pleasant for a ride, but by noon we decided to go ahead and do something.
I had found a possible route that would take us on a paved road that went up Johnson Canyon where there was supposed to red cliffs, pictographs and an old movie set where segments of Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel were filmed. That sounded interesting to both of us.
Even though I had put on lots of warm layers, the windchill when we stepped out of the trailer took my breath away. I almost said, forget this! And Don just wore his usual shorts, sandals and short sleeve shirt!
Once we got on the bike, we turned east onto Highway 89 where the wind was at our backs. That felt much better but the conditions on the road were not good.
There was continuous traffic and the 3 ft. shoulder had a rumble strip in the middle it, making it totally unusable. Oh, and the pavement was also rough chip seal. Don had to ride to the left of the white line in the driving lane which was stressful for both of us. At least we had good flashing rear lights.
We had ridden this road from Page to Kanab a few years ago but didn't remember there being this much traffic with a rumble strip. Maybe all of the growth in the area had caused an increase in traffic? And maybe the state had repaved the road, as well? Who knows.
Or as Don pointed out, when we're touring, we tend to just put up with whatever road conditions are thrown at us because we have no choice. In doing day rides, we're a little pickier.
We would have had to ride about 6 miles of 89 to reach our turnoff to the canyon, but ended up only going a couple of miles before returning to the campground. It just wasn't safe riding and Don wanted to be able to enjoy the stunning scenery, not constantly watch traffic.
There was a access road that took us off the highway which was nice, but not when we had a flat tire on our front tire. Don had it fixed quickly and said it was likely due to all of the debris on 89.
By the time we reached the trailer, Don stated that he was done riding for the day. But he offered to get my bike ready for me to do a single ride. I was up for that so I put on a couple of more layers on my chest since I would be riding into the wind for the first part of the ride. My legs tend to stay warm when pedaling, but not my chest.
He also kindly looked up a route for me and wrote down the turns on a piece of paper.
I hopped onto my bike and turned west onto the access road next to us. The wind was nasty, but I was determined to get in at least 20 miles today! We had ridden 6 miles on the tandem, so I only needed to do another 14 on my own.
In a couple of miles, I reached the highway going south to Fredonia. Don had said I needed to cross this road and then turn left onto a neighborhood road that would take me up into the homes to the west of town.
For whatever reason, I missed my turn and ended up riding north into town on the busy road. When I reached a side road, I stopped and called Don to see where I went wrong.
He said I should have turned right onto the highway, then made the first left in just a short distance. Grumble, grumble..........I hadn't heard him say that!
Well, there was nothing to do but turn around where I soon found the correct street. Despite this being a dead end road, it had more traffic than I expected. But it was a pleasant ride as I wound my ride up and up and up the side of mountain past all the nice properties.
There were many new homes being built so I easily found a porta pot for a pee break. I could see why everyone was living up here as the higher I went, the better the views of the valley below.
Some of the climbs were moderate, but I did find a couple of really steep ones. I was able to ride up all of them except for one, only because my knee hit my MP3 player and knocked it off the bar, causing me to wobble around when I tried to reattach it while riding. I nearly fell off the bike!
So I just stopped to fix it and since it was so steep at this point, I knew I couldn't get restarted very easily. Walking up to the top took me to the high point of this ride. It was so pretty up here! Plus the mountain blocked the wind, making it feel much warmer.
The road now took me gradually downhill and to avoid other climbs, I took some side roads to check out more homes. Things were going well, until I ran into a newly chip sealed road that had a lot of loose gravel on it.
I turned onto other roads in an effort to avoid this hazard, but ultimately had to ride it for a short distance. It wasn't great, but at least I wasn't trying to climb on this road as I would have been spinning out!
Coming down to the bottom of the hill I entered a community of cheaper older trailers, modular homes and trashy properties. It was quite a change and I was thankful that the dogs I rode by were all behind fences!
I made all of the remaining turns correctly and soon was back onto the access road to the campground. By 4 pm I rolled up to our site. I was a little tired, but happy I had forced myself to get out and with the mileage we did on the tandem plus what I rode I on my own, I had completed 23 miles! And they weren't flat miles, either! It sure felt great to step into a warm Tango since the wind was still blowing.
Don made a microwave dinner, since it was too cold outside to grill and we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.
I sure hope it warms up so we can do a tandem ride tomorrow or Saturday. Sunday we move again - heading to Hurricane for a week which at least will be at a lower elevation and much warmer.
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Today's ride: 23 miles (37 km)
Total: 546 miles (879 km)
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