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Day 30. Cameron, AZ to Grand Canyon National Park, AZYesterday: Day 29. Marble Canyon, AZ to Cameron, AZTomorrow: Day 31. Tusayan, AZ (the Grand Canyon)
8 September, 2003 -- Day 30.
The Tale of the Invisible, Unpredictable BitchThe wind, that is. The road from Cameron to Grand Canyon National Park is a long steady climb for about 40 miles to the park's entrance. No big deal. Never really too terribly steap according to my topo maps, I thought a relatively early start should get me to the park in time to do some sight-seeing before enjoying a nice dinner and celebratory drinks in the hotel that night. Little did I realize that just making it to the hotel before sunset was a much more realistic goal. For the last week or so, I have been wrestling a little with slow leaks in each of my tires. They have not been too terrible, so I had decided all along to not worry about changing or patching the tubes... I thought I would try to make it to Phoenix where I will get a brand new set of tires and a nice maintenance job done to SLED. In the first 10 miles of today's ride, the front tire decided to finally say byebye. Okay, no biggie. Changing tubes on the rig is not very fun, as you have to remove all of the panniers before you can get the wheel off... I make a quick change of the tube and get rolling before long... but when standing alongside the road in the midst of an empty Navajo Reservation (ever since the Navajo Bridge, I had been riding through this reservation), I started to notice an occasional strong burst of wind. I hit the road again and not a mile later, the front tire goes flat again. F, i say. So i refill it to see if maybe it was a minor valve issue and BZZZZT, wrong. Within another half-mile, it is flat again. Sooo, I take the panniers off again, the wheel, the tire, the tube, then spend a bit more time checking the tube for any punctures (i could not find one where the first tube's hole was). Sure enough, I found TWO small wires protruding through the tire. Okay, fix it all up, use a new tube (I still have 3 unused tubes left in my gear), and hit the road .... but hmm, that wind sure seemed stronger than it did a few minutes ago. Then I began the ascent. Then the wind came. But this was no ordinary breeze. These gusts were perhaps the most powerful I have ever felt. Ever. Ever. The damned thing is that each gust would come from a different direction. The wind was just whipping around. I would be slowly pedaling up this mountain, just trying to keep a steady rhythm before hearing the gust approach me. Yes, I could hear it in the brush on the road ahead of me. Here it comes, I say. F, I say. I had to clip-out of my pedals at least a half-dozen times just to keep my balance and keep the bike upright. I was nearly blown into a guardrail more than once. I managed to keep the rubber down the whole time, but many close calls indeed I had. This was a bitch. And her name was the wind. I was climbing up the hill at 2mph at times. Oh look, now I am going 3mph! Then I look at my odometer and notice that on the day I had ridden only 15 miles. I have a feeling that Mother Nature is going to win today, I mumble to myself. I have 45 more miles to go to my hotel. Then came some road construction. Fresh gravel for me to climb into the wind. I say to myself "Well hey at least I am going UPHILL" as a form of negative reinforcement (I would try anything at this point). Finally I make it to a Navajo Trading Post, where a number of tourists were stopped. Some gathered around and we all talked about the winds and the road ahead of me. I half-way listened as deep inside of my mind I was already convinced that I was going to hitch a ride with the next pickup truck that went by. I had had it. I have no shame. I can't ride any longer today. Oh look, that guy's hat just flew off and oh my god it is lonnnng gone. The wind takes no prisoners. The tourists left. I sat there, ate an energy bar, sipped on some Gatorade and just thought. Several sedans drove by. An SUV, an RV. No pickup truck yet. I put my head down in my hands and just sat there. Then I clipped-in and started pedaling. There was no decision made to keep riding... at least not a conscious one. I just started pedaling. I ride -- that is what I do. It is time to ride. I guess it got better from that point onward. The road flattened somewhat and I became more shielded from the wind. But she was still there. That bitch. Oh shit my back tire is flat. I pump it up. No tube change; I am going to fight this one I say. Finally there is the park's entrance. I made it. When I left San Francisco, my goal was to ride to the Grand Canyon. Here I am. I made it. Oh shit my back tire is flat again. Pump it up and go. Just inside this entrance to the park is the "Desert View" area of the park, where I could stop, actually see the Grand Canyon for the first time (see the snapshots), and grab some food. As I rolled down toward the cafe, numerous tourists asked me where I came from. SanFran I say. Holy Shit they say. YES! some say. THAT ROCKS, they say to each other. I park SLED, I walk to the viewing area, and all of a sudden the day's pains are behind me. I made it. When I finally rolled away from Desert View, I still had almost 30 miles to get to my hotel. My day was far from over, but I had made it. (Oh yeah, as I was exiting Desert View, I ran into two Danish guys on their bikes who were doing a two-week tour from Denver to Phoenix before returning home to Denmark...great stuff!) Along the 23-mile stretch from Desert View to the other end of the park, I encountered another two-mile stretch of gravel and one-lane traffic. I encountered many more uphills, and yep, you guessed it: the bitch would not leave me alone. The climbs finally peaked at around 7600 feet and more than once on the ascent I yelled the F-word. The day was wearing on me. I just wanted a bed. From there, it was mostly downhill (oops, my back tire is flat again, pump it up and go) to the park exit and the 2 miles to the neighboring town of Tusayan, where I am staying for the next two nights. I showered, ate some food, had a gin & tonic, then passed out for about 12 hours. I made it. I most likely will not do any hiking at the Grand Canyon tomorrow, but instead rest-up and save the indepth exploration of the canyon for another time. Maybe watch an IMAX movie (and watch me hurl...IMAX and i don't always get along too well) and maybe take a plane or helicopter tour of the canyon, weather and visibility permitting (thunderstorms are in the forecast...).
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