I was elated to ride in the desert, an environment I've never experienced before:
Desert video
The wide open vistas gave a feel that was quite unlike being surrounded by forest or hemmed in by mountain valleys. A number of Europeans have said that this desert stretch of the Great Divide between Cuba and Grants is their favourite. I guess much of the appeal is that it is something new. A further draw is that this felt like a real wilderness; I hardly saw anybody in the two days I crossed the desert. This is a wild, unforgiving environment not suited to human habitation.
This sign is not joking, if there is intense, prolonged rainfall the track turns into a sludgy soup of sand and mud that soon clogs up your mudguards. As I found when I tried to ride through a couple of spots! You have to get off your bike and wheel it round off track where you face the menace of spikes from the drought-adapted plants like the cacti below.
With this in mind, I was a little worried when I saw and heard a thunderous storm during the night from the direction in which I intended to travel. These cyclists were right under it and said it was terrifying but without a tremendous volume of water. I cycled on ahead of them and had no problems, the hot sun had baked the surface hard and dry so it was rideable. Nevertheless, other problems included having to drop through deep, sandy arroyos and, from just before midday, ferocious headwinds. By the law of averages I deserve them for I had wonderful tailwinds in Wyoming. But give me a hard mountain climb over wind any day, at least then you can see your adversary!
The main day crossing the desert was really tough for the aforementioned reasons and, because of the incredible views, I had to keep stopping to take photos. Fatigue was yet another issue. On this day I completed 64 miles, the previous day 84 miles. Why do I do it to myself?!? Still, riding is a personal thing and I know that covering the ground is one of my key motivators.
If I was a plant living in the desert I'd keep low to the ground (to avoid wind) and have spikes (to avoid moisture loss) too. By the morning of my ride out of the desert I had about three gulps of water left in my bottle. All rivers and creeks, even up in the pine mountains, are bone dry right now. Careful water management is so important.
A selfie, for there were few other folk around to take my photo. I did pass a few hunters looking out for elk ad the bow hunting (not gun) season starts today. The elk are hunted both for sport and for their meat.
The wide open vistas gave a feel that was quite unlike being surrounded by forest or hemmed in by mountain valleys. A number of Europeans have said that this desert stretch of the Great Divide between Cuba and Grants is their favourite. I guess much of the appeal is that it is something new. A further draw is that this felt like a real wilderness; I hardly saw anybody in the two days I crossed the desert. This is a wild, unforgiving environment not suited to human habitation.
With this in mind, I was a little worried when I saw and heard a thunderous storm during the night from the direction in which I intended to travel. These cyclists were right under it and said it was terrifying but without a tremendous volume of water. I cycled on ahead of them and had no problems, the hot sun had baked the surface hard and dry so it was rideable. Nevertheless, other problems included having to drop through deep, sandy arroyos and, from just before midday, ferocious headwinds. By the law of averages I deserve them for I had wonderful tailwinds in Wyoming. But give me a hard mountain climb over wind any day, at least then you can see your adversary!
The main day crossing the desert was really tough for the aforementioned reasons and, because of the incredible views, I had to keep stopping to take photos. Fatigue was yet another issue. On this day I completed 64 miles, the previous day 84 miles. Why do I do it to myself?!? Still, riding is a personal thing and I know that covering the ground is one of my key motivators.
If I was a plant living in the desert I'd keep low to the ground (to avoid wind) and have spikes (to avoid moisture loss) too. By the morning of my ride out of the desert I had about three gulps of water left in my bottle. All rivers and creeks, even up in the pine mountains, are bone dry right now. Careful water management is so important.
A selfie, for there were few other folk around to take my photo. I did pass a few hunters looking out for elk ad the bow hunting (not gun) season starts today. The elk are hunted both for sport and for their meat.
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