Spanish Valley

March 25, 2021

It’s cold, overcast and windy today. Rachael decides to take a pass on my plan to bike south uphill and into the wind through Spanish Valley, the only direction from Moab we haven’t explored so far in our stay here. She’d rather take a scenic walk instead. Winds are supposed to strengthen throughout the day, so she’s hot to trot before they worsen. I point out though that not only is it cold, windy and overcast, it’s dark too - it’s only 6:30, and daybreak is still an hour off. She grumbles about hating being out in the wind, but eventually relents and cools it in the apartment until it’s light out.

Ten miles later she’s back, bragging about her 4 mph average that she maintained and expressing surprise that I’m still loafing around. I’ve been waiting for the day to warm up as much as it’s going to, but finally when she turns on the telly and starts flipping through channels I take the hint and hit the road.

The route south begins with that path along Mill Creek that we followed at the start of a hike last week. Things look a bit different now - a few fruit trees are starting to bloom, as well as the forsythia. As I pass the community garden someone is working the soil and two bright new scarecrows are on guard. It looks like we’ll be leaving town just as spring is about to break out. We’ve been doing this for the last month, leaving one place after another just as spring is about to break out.

These just started showing up in the last few days. For a month now we’ve been working our way north and up-elevation, staying just a step ahead of spring.

Such classy scarecrows! Somehow this just seems to fit with the spirit of this place.

Spanish Valley is a loosely defined space, the flattish area south of town that’s hemmed in by red sandstone cliffs on the west and Mill Creek Rim to the east. It’s a transitional zone, with suburban sprawl gradually intermixing with agricultural and small ranch activities. I bike past newish ranchitos one minute, and clusters of horses and cows sheltering from the elements the next.

This must have been the route of the Old Spanish Trail 150 years ago, but now it’s the corridor for US 91 with its four lanes of fast-moving traffic rushing south toward Monticello and beyond. Fortunately though there’s quiet Spanish Valley Drive as an alternative. It’s a fine cycling route, but cold today as I bike south, gradually climbing into the wind.

At one point I look up the road and see a large tumbleweed drunkenly reeling its way down the center line in my direction before staggering off onto the shoulder and getting tangled up with another. Then, looking ahead I see a large dust cloud suddenly blow across the road in a gust of wind, and then a whole stampede of tumbleweeds charges across the road and piles up against a fence.

Along Spanish Valley, hemmed in in the east by Mill Creek Ridge. We were up there on top last week.

More interesting than the fresh new subdivisions going in just up the road.

I was sorry I didn’t have the camera out for a video when this group careened across the road in front of me and piled up here.

About ten miles south of town Spanish Valley Drive bends east toward the mountains, is rebranded as the La Sal Loop Road, and gradually steepens. This is really a fine cycling road - if you stick with it long enough it works its way through the lower slopes of the La Sal mountains before dropping north through Castle Valley to the Colorado. The complete loop, returning back to Moab on Route 128, is roughly 63 miles with 5,500’ of climbing.

Maybe I could still do that ride? If we come back to Moab before we get much older I think I’d like to give it a try. Not today though - I wonder if the road is even open up there at the top this early in the season. My plans today are much more modest. I wanted to bike south enough to gain a closer view of the mountains and get enough exercise to earn a dinner, but not really much more than that. Biking uphill into a cold headwind loses its appeal pretty quickly; and when I round a bend, see some switchbacks ahead and the first snowflakes precipitating out of the sky I decide it’s time to turn back.

Heading southeast into the mountains on La Sal Loop Road. I was hoping for a better look at the mountains than this, but actually this is an improvement. A few miles back they were all hidden behind the clouds.

Even in today’s conditions this is a great cycling road. Very few cars are about, but I do pass two other cyclists.

It’s barely starting to snow, but that feels like all the signal I need to turn back before conditions worsen.

The ride home is interesting. As soon as I turn around I’m blown down the road. Between a strong tailwind and gravity I don’t need to turn the pedals for nearly ten miles, racing downhill at 20-25 mph, my work limited to keeping an eye out for the stray pothole or tumbling tumbleweed that might bring me to an unpleasant stop. That, and trying to hold in as much warmth as I can. Without generating any heat by my exertions, I’m cooling down fast. I can feel the heat stripping off with the wind, and by the time I make it back to the room I’m ready for a hot shower. I haven’t got the shakes yet, but I’m glad I turned back when I did.

Heart

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Ride stats today: 28 miles, 2,000’; for the tour: 3,690 miles, 160,400’; for the year: 57 riding days, 2,415 miles, 103,400’, and 3 flat tires

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 3,690 miles (5,938 km)

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