Lake Pleasant Tour

Well it has been a month since our last NYM bicycle tour. This time there would be some changes from previous tours. First of all for myself I would be testing out my new touring recumbent. Second was that Mark Luffman and I were going to ride from Cottonwood, AZ to Lake Pleasant instead of driving down to Scottsdale to Join the tour group. We thought it was just 83 miles, for our first day's fully loaded tour. I was carrying 54 lbs of gear, I am not sure how much Mark was carrying but I am sure it was comparable. Our plan was to leave Cottonwood at 7:00 AM 20 minutes before sunrise in order to have plenty of day light riding time to reach the lake. Sunset would be at 5:22 and that makes for a very short number of day light hours. The starting temperature was 37 degrees out. Mark showed up at my house about 7:05. My wife took a couple of pictures, we said our good byes, and Mark and I were off.

About a mile later I knew I was over dress and so we stopped at a station to make clothing adjustments. Mark discovered his light needed a battery and the station didn't carry the battery he needed. No problem WalMart is just a block away and in the direction we were headed. At 7:35 we were finally headed out of Cottonwood. Highway 260 is the road between Cottonwood and Camp Verde, AZ. It has just been repaved and widened in a few places. Unfortunately the shoulder was not repaved and is full of cracks, ruff spots and weeds. That means the only smooth place to ride was on the white line next to the high speed traffic for this 13 mile section. It is not what I would call a bicycle friendly road.

At the I-17 / 260 junction we stopped at a convenience Store to warm our feet and make further clothing adjustments. The next 8 miles will be our longest climb of the trip. This Copper Canyon hill is long and challenging on a light weight road bike, so needless to say it is a real workout on heavy fully loaded touring recumbent. A side note to this climb. My wife bought me a speaker set so I could listen to my music through my MP3 player. The night before our ride my daughter loaded an album of her music on to my player so I could have it to listen to. Just as I started the climb up Copper Canyon this beautiful female voice with beautiful instrumentation in the background began. I though it was wonderful until exploding in my ear ,was the voice of a screaming tortured soul, raping out the most hideous sound you ever heard. I kept thinking this song would end soon. But then it just seemed to start over again and again and again. The entire climb was spent listening to this rocker destroying his vocal cords in these nerve grating screams accompanied by a screeching electric guitar. As soon as I stopped at the top I remedied my players pain by forwarding on to my classic rock selection. I know both Mark and I were glad to reach the top. From there it is a fairly gradual descent with some rollies into Cortes Lakes. Four miles from from Cortes the road dept was striping the road and so all the traffic was diverted onto the shoulder. Of course that is where we were riding and so we had to share the shoulder with semi tractor trailers and lots of automobiles. It made for a very nervous three miles having those large trucks just inches from your left shoulder.

At Cortes Lakes the ride was about half over and so we stopped to eat lunch and take a break. We were actually about a half hour ahead of schedule. After lunch it is another small climb as we head south toward Sunset point. From there we descend down a 5 mile hill into Black Canyon City another good place to take a break and eat a snack. Mark and I got a separated on the climbs, so I had been waiting in Black Canyon City quite a while before Mark arrived. My legs felt a little anxious to get back on the road again so I told Mark I would ride on ahead slowly and wait for him on New River Rd.

A few minutes down the road and my phone rang. Mark called to tell me that when he went to get back on his bike he discover his rear tire was flat and that he would be later in catching up. I rode on to the New River Rd. and on down a mile or two till I found a good place to park the bike out of the stickers. It was good to be away from the noisy traffic of I-17. I took the time to take some pictures and walk around for a while.

Mark caught back up to me in about an hour. From there we headed out for the last leg of our journey. From our speedometers it looked like we only had about 12 miles to go. What we didn't know is that the entrance road into Lake pleasant has been changed. A newer road two miles further out, Hwy 74, is now how you get into the park, and there was a really long steep climb to get to this new park entrance. From the turn again we faced more climbs and more miles. Seven miles more than we had counted on. By the time I had reach the campground I had ridden 89.5 miles. Mark had 90.5 because he had a mile to ride to get to my house. Still we had managed to get to Lake Pleasant before dark. In fact I had time to set up my tent and get a shower before the sun went down. I felt great but was glad to be off the bike for the day. We made dinner and went to bed around eight.

Day Two: Mark and I had now joined with the rest of the NYM tour group, Tom, Alex, Bill and Dana, Maggie and Bob, Geni, Greg, Jane and Paul and of course Heather who all had ridden from Scottsdale the day before. We all now had a day to enjoy the lake how ever we wanted to. I decided to join Bob and Maggie, Geni and Heather who had all decided to do a hike. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the trail but it was about 2 miles long and was an out and back. Bob Formhals' and myself decided to ride our bikes out to the trail head while the others took the motor home there. Mark was still tired from the day before and so he opted to go with a different group that were going to do a lesser hike. After our hike Bob and I decided to ride around the park a bit more. We rode down the marina and then on to the visitors center. By the time we were done we had hiked up and down four miles of hills and rode 13 miles of rolling hills. Not bad for a day off. During the night we were visited by wild burros that roam the Arizona deserts. In the middle of a sound sleep I was abruptly woken by the sounds of bleating burro. Quite a shock when one is not expecting such a ghastly sound. Several of them seemed to carry on for quite a while.




Day Three: I got up early and broke camp. Took some really nice pictures of the sunrise over Lake Pleasant. I packed my gear up and stowed it in Marks vehicle that his wife Tina had driven down the night before. Today’s ride would be from Lake pleasant back to Scottsdale. A total of 52 miles. The route was flat and most of it was on bike paths along the canals and through some very pretty areas of the city. It was a very nice way to end our weekend of riding. My total miles for the weekend were a 155. From Scottsdale we loaded up the bikes on top of Bob and Maggie's little car and drove back to the lake to get the motor home. A couple more hours and I was home again. What a great weekend.




My hat is off again to “Mom” who always does an excellent job of planning these tours. Thanks Tom.

Pictures:

Utah Tour

Just spent 9 days cycling and hiking in Utah. This was a change from our annual Colorado summer tour. Utah delivered as the climbs were every bit as challenging and spectacular as its' neighbor. This years riders included Bob F. Bob A. and Dr. Bob. The rest of us had common names like Kevin, Mark, Trina, Vince and Dennis. We also were accompanied by a van and motor home that carried some of the wives, Tina, Denise, Maggie and Sharon. We started our tour on the 5th of June in Panguitch, Utah. The first days ride would take us to Bryce Canyon National Park for a two night stay. Along the way we rode through red canyon a spectacular red rock formation area that would be a prelude to what Bryce has to offer on a grander scale. The ride up Red Canyon was on a very picaresque bicycle path that was a blast to ride. It is always nice to not have to deal with automotive traffic on narrow winding roads.

Once in Bryce we all set up camp and then decided to take a hike into Bryce Canyon. The path was good but the decent was steep and in little of no time we found ourselves staring up at the magnificent hoodoos. The weather was a little warm and shade was always welcome. It was surprising to still see spots of snow still left from last winter.

On our second day in Bryce, Bob A., Bob F., and I all decided to ride south to the end of Bryce. It was a very nice ride but had more climbing than any of us had imagined. By the time we had gotten back to camp we were very hot and tired but were glad we had done the ride. The rest of the crew decided to take the day and ride the shuttles and take short walks with their wives.

The third day was a ride from Bryce to the small town of Escalante, Utah. This stop was logistically appropriate. The ride was 48 miles and the last 20 was all down hill. What a blast. Escalante was hot and dusty and a bit breezy. Most of us hid out in the laundry room of the RV park where we stayed till evening.

Day four would be our most challenging day. We found our selves leaving Escalante early. Today's ride would only be 45 miles but we would gain 7000 ft in elevation. On top of that a couple of places had short 17% climbs over what is know as the Hogback. After the first climbs of the day we stopped in the town of Boulder, Utah and ate lunch. The weather was still very warm as we rode out of Boulder and began the longest of our ascents up to 9600 ft. The heat seem to make it almost suffocating at times but Bob F. Kevin, Vince and myself were determine to climb to the summit and on to Pleasant Creek campground completely under our own power. The rest all hitched rides some where along the way with the van or motor home. During the climb I noticed a small water fall near the road so I took a few minutes to indulge in a quick shower. It was snow melt but with the heat it felt great. I felt revived and the rest of the ride to the top went much easier. Kevin was not far behind me and so we decided to ride on into the campground together. Vince was the king of the mountain for the day as he passed over the summit way ahead of Kevin and I. Pleasant Creek Campground was just that. A very nice place in the cool pines.

I could have been happy staying on in Pleasant Creek but our agenda called for an easy nearly all down hill ride to Capitol Reef National Park. Total miles were only 29 so we arrive very early and spent sometime roaming around the Visitors Center. After that we rode on down to the campground and set up our tents. I picked a very shady location as I could tell that our decent had landed us back in the heat.

We would spend Two days at Capitol Reef riding and hiking. For me the high light was the Cohab Trail. Bob F. and I got up early and hit the trail. The first part was a steep climb but soon we entered in to a canyon that was a wonderland of rock formations eroded by water, wind. and time. During our hike we found a small cave with a pond in the middle. A favorite spot for the local varmints I am sure.
From there Bob and I hike on over to Hickman's Bridge; a 133 foot tall natural Arch. Soon the heat was upon us and so we slowly made our way back to the campground, were I spent the rest of the day fighting off gnats and biting flies. According to the ranger they had a bumper crop of the pests this year.

Kevin and I got up at 3:30 AM the following morning and packed up, by 5 we were on the road headed to Loa, Utah. The weather report was for severe head winds and rain. We both decided to try and beat the storm. For the most part we did, although we did experience a little head wind on the climb out of Capitol Reef. Loa had not been our original destination for day 7, it had been Fish Lake but Fish Lake was up at 9000 feet and was probably receiving snow. Loa had an inviting motel with a nice little Italian restaurant. Kevin and I arrived in Loa at 7:30 AM with very cold feet and hands. Loa its self had been a climb. We were now at 7200 feet elevation. First on the agenda was to find a coffee shop or cafe. Well with a short ride down main street we found just such a place. Kevin and I both took comfort in a second breakfast and I don't know how many cups of coffee.

Slowly through the day the other riders began to wonder into town. We directed them strait to the cafe. This was also Kevins 40th birthday so that evening we all join together in the Italian restaurant for a nice meal and to sing happy birthday. Shortly after the festivities the power went out. The storm had arrive only a few hours late. A bunch of us sat in the lobby telling ghost stories. The power remained off till after midnight. The next day would be a later start because rain was on the menu for the whole day and the first 9 mile were still climbing to even higher elevations.

We awoke to gray skies, it was sprinkling and cold. It is always good to have a climb when it is cold because it really warm you up. Vince and I took the lead after a couple of miles into the climb. Vince is an amazing climber but I was really feeling good and so we both began to challenge each other and really poor on the coal. This kind of climb was in my favor because it would almost level off for a short distance and then would begin climbing again. The recumbent I ride can really pick up speed on these lesser grade section and soon I had built up a sizable lead. Vince doesn't like to be beat and he was really working hard to try and catch me. Finally the summit and I had gotten there first. Vince was not far behind me and so we both stopped to catch our breath. The rest of the ride was suppose to be down hill and the next few mile were just that. The only problem was that we were riding in thick fog on wet rainy roads. I decided that this was no place to play around and so I proceeded with lots of caution. Not Vince, no he shot around be doing over 40 mph down a steep decent. I guess he wasn't going to let a recumbent beat him again. Only thing is that down hill is were a recumbent can just fly. They have so much less wind drag. As soon as the fog broke I bolted and in nothing flat I was passing Vince. I slowed up so he could catch up and so we could make a turn off of hyw 24 and make our way over to hwy 62 by way of a short cut. The slope turned up again as we dropped into the high prairie. Vince and I had both seen the elevation charts on this section and they looked down hill, but we now had a small head wind and the ride felt anything but down hill. Vince had really burned himself out on the climb and our horsing around. Soon he was really dragging along. I suggested that he pull in behind me and draft and so he did. I rode the rest of the way to our evening stay at Otter Creek letting Vince draft me. Vince only has 21 years on me. He still rides amazingly well. I hope to be doing that well when I am 75. All the rest of the riders were still miles behind us or they had jump into a vehicle to miss the rain and cold.

Otter Creek would be our last night and because of the rain we rented an old house for the night. It was functional and keep the rain off our heads and our gear stayed dry. I was a happy guy. Not everyone was so happy. The beds all creaked terribly and their was a lot of people trying to live in a small space with only one bathroom. To stop some of the noise a few mattresses found there way to the floor, everything worked out.

The next days ride would be our last; we just had 44 miles to ride back to Panguitch. The first 10 miles were a gentle decent but the rest of the ride would be a gentle ascent. The weather was still a bit unpredictable and cool but for the most part was dry. I had started riding with the group and had planned on doing so but in little of no time they began to spread out. After a few miles miles I came upon Dr. Bob who had left earlier than the rest of the group. I rode with him for a while but then he stopped to take a break and I still felt fine so I just keep on riding.
Before I knew it I could see Panguitch off in the distance. A few minutes more and I was riding down the main street of town. All I had to do now was wait for the motor home to arrive so I could load up my bike. After all the others arrived in Panguitch we all said our good byes and headed for home. With in minutes I was asleep and content. It had been a great ride and a great trip.

318 cycling miles. For more pictures follow this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Denrnr/20100614UtahTour#

Kevin, Bob"s and Dennis's

Zion Grand Canyon Bicycle Tour 2009

The great adventure is over but I will never forget the great times I had bicycle touring with Bob Formhals, and Kevin Dix as we explored northern Arizona and southern Utah by bicycle. In my mind there is no better way to travel than from the seat of a bicycle. You can experience everything on a human scale. You can smell the flowers, feel the wind and hear the birds sing. Riding a bicycle with all your gear gives you a sense of independence and a feeling of self reliance on a tour that no other mode of transportation can provide. You provide the power and the bicycle will take you to some amazing places.
Our tour began on June 13, 2009. We had arrived in Page AZ the day before by way of Bob and Maggie Formhals's motor-home. Once we arrived in Page, AZ we began to set up camp and check over our gear. We discovered that Kevin's recumbent needed a washer spacer to accommodate the the Bob trailers skewer. That meant a quick ride into town to a hardware store. While we were installing the washers Bob noticed that Kevin's rear wheel had a loose cone bearing. We located a bicycle store that was really close to the hardware store and by all luck they were able to not only adjust the cone but were able to replace it because it was badly galled. After our little venture at the bicycle shop Maggie suggested that we all take a ride down to see Glen Canyon dam and the Visitor's center. We all enjoyed getting to stretch our legs and to see the dam holding back Lake Powell.

The morning of June 13, 2009. Day 1. The air was surprisingly cool for June in Arizona. As Bob, Kevin and I headed out of Page west across the desert we all experienced the euphoria attached to the beginning of any new bicycle tour. Soon we were seeing the last views of Lake Powell backed by the red and white stone cliffs. Continuing west we stopped at the Grand Stair Case information center in Big Water, UT where we enjoyed seeing several dinosaur fossils that were newly discovered species and have only recently been found in the region.
From there we continued on until we reached the trail head to the Toadstools. The Toadstools are rock formations that resemble mushrooms. Some were very large and others were fairly small. The hike took us about three quarters of a mile down a path that wandered through some very barren country. The sand in places was white and difficult to walk through. It looked like a landscape out of a science fiction movie of some foreign world.
After returning to the bikes we rode on a short distance to the two mile dirt road that would lead us to our camp ground at White House Trail Head. This is not the worst dirt road I have been on but between the washboard and the loose rocky surface there were plenty of times I needed to get off my bike and walk. At other times the road would turn to loose sand and again walking and pushing my bike was the only way to move forward. Even though the road was less than desirable the campsite was great. We also had a great time running and hiking around on the rocks. Our first day was 36 miles



June 14, 2009 Day 2. Our ride would take us from White House Trail Head to Kanab, UT. The day started out fairly flat with surprisingly cool weather. We soon found ourselves climbing a fairly long grade. At the summit we stopped a point of interest. An old Hollywood western set named Pahreah that was a few miles off the the main road. Vandals have now burned down the once famous western town and movie set but the location and history remains. From the road side information pull out we once again headed west into a small head wind that would grow in intensity the closer we rode to Kanab. On the way into Kanab we meet Maggie riding out to meet us on her recumbent.
In Kanab we stayed in an RV park located on the main drag called the Hitching Post. It had a very nice grassy area for us to plant our tents right behind the motor-home. For dinner we all pitched in and made a feast of spaghetti, steamed broccoli, and potatoes. Really tasted good after our time spent on the bikes. Our mileage for the day was 45 miles .



June 15, 2009 Day 3 of our ride takes us from Kanab, UT to Zion National Park. We started out around 6:30 AM after breaking camp and a good breakfast. A mile out of town I was down right cold under a cloudy sky, so I put on my fleece jacket. That didn't last long as we began to climb as the sun was burning off the cloud cover. For 11 miles we ascended a thousand feet and in just 4 miles we descended a thousand feet to Mount Carmel, UT. We stopped at a corner shopping center and had a snack and a rest before we began another 1000 foot climb. As soon as we left Mount Carmel the climb began and it was steep and another 14 more miles of ascent. I was in my lowest gear in no time wishing I had one more easier gear. Along the way the scenery was juniper trees, and big yellow flowers and mountains of interesting rock formations. It was a breath taking ride. Before we knew it we were descending into Zion National Park. Shortly after entering the park we meet two other touring cyclists that had ridden from San Diego, CA, Lisa and Anthony were on their honeymoon. We stopped and talk a couple of minutes after three big horn sheep crossed the road in front of us. Can not miss a photo opportunity like that, but I did, my camera was set for video. After that all five of us rode further into Zion toward the Mount Carmel tunnel. On the way we rode through a smaller tunnel that bikes were allowed to ride through. We all had a blast riding the windy road through the amazing rock formations. At Mount Carmel tunnel we said good bye to Lisa and Anthony as they looked to hitch a ride in the back of a pickup truck. Bob, Kevin and I loaded up our bikes and gear in and on the motor-home and rode the rest of the way to Springdale, UT via the luxury of the rolling home. 33 miles for today's ride.


June 16, 2009 Day 4.
We all slept in a bit as we were going to take the day off from riding and do some hiking instead. After breakfast Bob, Kevin and I rode the shuttle up Zion canyon to the Narrows. The Narrows for you that have never been to Zion is a point at which the canyon walls close in to the point where many sections can only be passed by wading through the icy cold water of the Virgin river. As we entered the Narrows I was ah struck by the awesome beauty of this place. A mixture of rock cut by the forces of water and time, green ferns, mosses and trees all clinging to this rugged but spectacular place. The river bottom is rocky for the most part but occasionally the bottom was sandy and easier to walk on. One definitely needs good shoes with solid soles for such an adventure. In Springdale there are places to rent shoe specially designed for wading up the Narrows.




After exploring the Narrows for several miles we decided to stop and eat a snack. The combination of eating standing or sitting in wet clothes in the cool shaded canyon began to take its toll. We all became chilled and so we decided to turn around and head back. Once we got moving again it did not take to long to warm up, although walking in the chilled water was a constant draw on you body heat. I would have to say that the hike up the Narrows was the high light of my trip to Zion. I hope to once again visit this marvelous place and explore even deeper into its depths. I will know to take better shoes next time. My feet felt rather pummeled from the fact my shoe soles where to thin and soft.