Mexican Hat, UT - Kayenta, AZ - I've never been so ill prepared or so determined to tour

June 5, 2019

Mexican Hat, UT - Kayenta, AZ

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45 miles. 2,782 elevation gain. 1,200 elevation loss.

I slept terrible last night. Our room was hot. Oren was probably freezing with the AC in his room. I needed to pee all night long but didn’t want to go in the bathroom and wake Oren by accident. We were sleeping in this morning so we could have a good breakfast before the big climb. Sleeping in was wasted on me.

There was a group of motorcycle guys outside polishing their bikes. Oren and I agree they were probably planning on 7 AM breakfast also. Oren went right over at 6:57, but Jacinto and I figured there was no rush. The laugh was on us. Oren’s food was delivered as we sat down. We ordered but it took forever to get our food. I had told Oren I wanted to give my food a chance to digest before we started the giant climb. In the end I didn’t get much digesting time. It was a choice between that and riding in the heat.

My Garmin couldn’t find the location. I wait and waited and finally turned it off and back on. By then Oren was at the top of the climb. Just for your info, it was 169 feet of climbing in the first .40 miles. That is plenty! We had 500 feet of climbing in the first 2 miles. That is also a lung buster. I was happy to top off a little bit, although we would be gradually climbing until mile 15.

I was busy trying to get down the road and perhaps even catch Oren. I was on a little climb and looked when WOW! Look at that! Monument Valley right before me. This is one of those times that traveling at bicycle speed is the best way to go.

A sign said pull outs for the next 12 miles, so that must have been the distance of the valley. I do t know, I wasn’t watching the odometer, I was checking out the views!

I had been slightly concerned that drivers wouldn’t be paying attention through here and we might have safety concerns. Nope. We had no issues at all.

Oren politely waited for me and took my photo. He waited so long that his legs stiffened up. We had only 900 more feet of climbing spread out over 20 miles. It felt pretty downhill to me. Both of the guys say it was because we had a tailwind all day. Shhh. I didn't say that! How lucky is that? The wind almost always blows from the south through here.It was 76 degrees when we got to town. I’d say we are doing mighty fine in this sometimes unforgiving area.

I was following Oren and he never stopped. I did stop a few times for photos. We were supposed to have 41 miles today but ended up with 45. No matter how many miles I have getting to town, I’m always ready to be there and don’t appreciate bonus miles.

Oren was waiting for me at the intersection. Of course I was starving, so we went to Taco Bell for their cheap crunchy tacos. I had just ordered when Jacinto walked in. The lady accidentally gave me someone else’s order. I thought they gave me soft flour tacos instead of crunchy corn tacos. I got back in line to order more tacos and Jacinto started eating the soft ones. Oops. That was a mistake. They gave us the soft tacos for free. Jacinto was happy.

He and Oren are gone right now to the grocery. I’m supposed to be loading photos, but I can’t get a single one to load. I’ve typed this entire entry by text on the phone. Does this mean I no longer need to carry the computer ? I don’t know if my thumbs can stand that much texting.

I had the hot idea of loading photos direct to CG on Jacinto’s phone because when I send his photos to myself, they disappear into cyberspace. But I can’t get either phone to load photos. Maybe when we get to the motel. We are at the Monument Valley Inn. Our room is $182. For a basic room. You can tell we are entering tourist country. Jacinto already went by and they wouldn’t let him check in until 3 PM.

We have a spacious room. Nice, but not extra nice. We are definitely paying for the location. My computer won't hook up to the wi-fi, although both phones do. Jacinto says the large TV is HD, but they don't have HD service. That's the story of his life.

Now we are going to dinner to a Chinese restaurant that has mediocre reviews -but the sign says buffet and the guys are ready for veggies. BTW, they went to Safeway and made their selections. There were only two checkers and huge lines. They put their items back. I think we are going to try Safeway again after dinner.

I'm planning to get a very early start tomorrow. It's 71 miles and the wind is a wild card. The forecast is reasonably friendly.

We were so late that Jacinto was up for breakfast!

I came up over the rise and look what I saw!

Oren was a sport and waited to take my photo.

Traveling at bicycleSpeed gives plenty of angles for viewing.

We saw fields and fields of what Oren says is wild lavender. It did smell nice. One more thing best seen by bicycle.Bill says the yellow ones are desert dandelions - I should have seen far more of them since they are dandelions!The purple ones are Gypsum Phacelia - I had to follow Bill's link and read about the scent. It was pleasant and strong. I could find no quick mention of it being related to lavender, although it had a pretty scent. We saw fields and fields of these. I don't know if they are common, or if it's all of the rain this season.

Oren says this is a volcano center. We agree it probably has a name. It dominated the landscape at the end of the day.

Jacinto took all kinds of photos today. Does that say how scenic it was?

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 173 miles (278 km)

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