Miles: 121 Miles (Route was only 117 but I made a wrong turn)
Ride Time: 7 hours 17 minutes
Avg. Speed: 16.7 Mph
Total Climbing: 4184 feet
Work: 4206 kJ
We had our first time change in Tuba City so we are now on Mountain Time. Since the day was going to be long, 100 miles plus, I wanted to get an early start. Also we would be riding through Monument Valley which I wanted to stop and take photos.
So by 6:45 I was on the rode. I rode with Stephanie, one of our guides, out of Tuba City to our lunch stop at mile 53.
We had a gradual incline out which I set a mild pace. The landscape was mostly small shrubs and mountain grass. We were passing through the Navajo Nation Reservation and it was hard to see how the people could make a living here. We climbed to about 6,700 feet when we had lunch.
Lunch was near a gas station were a pack of abandon dogs lived and were eyeing our lunch. Tara was so kind by buying a bag of dog food to feed them. Once feed they were content and let us eat in peace.
After lunch it was a short ride into Kayenta where we turned left on Highway 163. The landscape changed complete from the shrubs to rock and boulder outcroppings. Before you knew it we riding into Utah and Monument Valley and taking in the sights of these huge mountains with their shear cliffs. Monument Valley has been used in 100s of movies like Stagecoach and Forrest Gump and it was a thrill to ride through it.
By this time I had pulled ahead of the others in our group and used the time to think about why I ride. I believe my main reason is that riding makes all the worries and stress of life disappear and it puts me in a trance that all I have to do is turn the crank. My mantra is a cadence of 90.
The road out of Monument Valley to Mexican Hat was all down hill for the most part with the final decent having an angle of 10%.
Dinner was at the Swingin’ Steak and as its name implies; the restaurant cooked the steaks on a grill that swung back and forth over an open fire. The T-bone I had was the best and was the perfect end to a beautiful day of riding. Like yesterday, life is good.
Today’s photos at Flickr.
All Photo sets at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhanke/collections/72157607429548840/
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