WELL I FINALLY MADE IT TO ROUTE 66 - VIA MOMUMENT VALLEY AND THE GRAND CANYON!!
BOB FILMED ME AS I TOOK OFF DOWN ROUTE 66
The series of signs on the right side of the road are part of a sequence erected many years ago by a shaving cream company - Burma Shave
The signs read -
Cattle Crossing
Means Go Slow
That Old Bull
Is Some Cow's Beau
When we leave Blanding we make our way to Monument Valley - Balnding is only a few miles fro a place known as the "Four Corners". The only place in the US where four states physically join up - Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Along the way
We cross the Utah - Arizona State Line
UTAH was revelation - an amazing experience - Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, The Arches and the Navajo reservation. The people, the food, fellow travellers and now that I am comfortable on the bike I can really enjoy the rides.
Some fantastic rides - the bike views will have to wait for the DVD version of this blog!!
We arrive in Monument Valley - the scene of so many Cowboy movies and especially John Wayne epics. It also featured in the opening sequence of "Mission Impossible 2" with Tom Cruise climbing the rock.
Short pan of the valley
We overnight in Tuba City and arrive at the Grand Canyon the following day! - it was just awesomely huge !!!
My first reaction on arrival
Bob finally tells me the truth about my bike skills at the beginning of this trip.
We move on to Williams a famous spot on Route 66 - which we will tak back West tomorrow towards Death Valley in California
We stay in an old fachioned B and B much different from the standard best Western motel - no hot tub no pool - but nice none the less
ROUTE 66
Some photos from Williams
The "Mother Road" is derived from the mining term "mother load" meaning a rich vein of gold.
I always thought that Indian reservations were somewhat like refugee camps - small in size an densely populated. Not so.
The Navajo Nation is 28,000 square miles , (almost the same size as Ireland) occupying portions of Northeastern Arizona, Southeastern Utah, and Northwestern New Mexico. It is the largest land area given to Native American jurisdiction within the United States. It has a population of 300,00. They are self governed, raise taxes and have their own police and courts services.
For Navajo Nation citizen rights you require a blood quantum of one-quarter for a person to be eligible for enrollment as a member, the equivalent of one grandparent - to receive a Certificate of Indian Blood (CIB). In 2004, the Navajo Nation Council voted down a proposal to reduce the blood quantum to one-eighth, which would have effectively doubled the number of individuals qualified to be enrolled Navajo tribal members.
When we travelled through the Navajo Nation, Bob was a fountain of knowledge - as usual! he seems to have a photographic memory. I met this guy Joey - a navajo native in a place called Mexican Hat - he showed me his tatooed back which has an imprint of two AK47's.
He gave a fabulous interview on video - which I accidentally deleted! It was about his troubled childhood and how badly the Indians were treated in history - from Genocide by the US Calvary led by Kit Carson to the more recent (1970's) forced sterliisation of Navajo Indian Women.
So we have to rely on Bob for some more details.
The living arrangements and conditions are also interesting. The HOGAN is the traditional Navajo dwelling. seen here below.
Bob and I look across a small portion of the Navajo reservation.
We went in search of a genuine Navajo "Kiva" - an underground ceremonial meeting place for the tribe leaders - Navajos believed that the human race emerged from a hole in the ground. We found one in Blanding and I went underground to see what was there.
THESE ARE THE NATURAL DYES USED BY THE INDIANS WHEN MAKING COLOURFUL RUGS
for more short videos on Indian Culture, Crafts and Art including the wonderful art of Sandpainting
I am going to do this post slightly out of sequence
Starting with an amusing encounter with 2 nice people in the information centre in Blanding - very much a Mormon Town - this is Utah - but many Navajo Indians around too. Anyway we went in to get information about a hotel and found out how this town acquired its name in very unusual circumstances!
We knew before we left Green River that we were going to have our first bit of bad weather in the two weeks since I arrived - but I was not prepared for ewhat hit us on the road!
When the sun came out we headed on to another National Park called The Arches just before Moab City. This place featured some amazing rock formations.
But the thunderstorm struck again
We overnight in Moab City
Where Bob gives me my first introduction to Indian Culture, Crafts and Art. - more on that later.
We find a shop here to replace my lost motorcycle gloves and the guy in the shop advises us to retrace our steps the next day for a lovely ride through another National Park - Canyonlands.
Video of Canyonlands.
We proceed to Blanding - the town that was really tricked into changing its name to that of the wife of a Philanthropist. (see video above)
Tomorrow - some really interesting stuff on the Navajo Tribe and Reservation
We plan the 167 mile trip to Green River where Bob knows a good hotel where we plan to stay 2 days and relax around the pool - its still about 80 degrees here at midday.
We have a lovely trip over the mountains. See this 15" view from side of road.
The trip itself is a scary as we have to pass along a road with steep drops on both sides.
Most places that we stop are places that have water and you can see them in the distance by the fact that trees are growing there.
Water is becoming a big issue as Bob explains
We arrive in Green River to a lovely hotel with outside hot tub and pool. We spend two nights here and tak a break from the road. We are getting very fond of these hot tubs and most days end out ride at about 4p.m. and head for the hot tub.
You coudn't ask for a better travelling companion than Bob Hansford - he has a terrific knowledge of American Culture, History, Politics and life in general - and I suppose the fact that we share so many values and outlooks helps. (Bob studied Antropology, Philosophy, Religon and Science!!). and as you can see from the many videos he delivers his stories with great lucidity and humour.
We leave our slightly down market cabin in Bryce Canyon - another nice day
So along the road he is a fountain of knowledge about Mormons ( we are in Utah), Indians and Geology to mention just a few. We leave Bryse Canyon and head towards our next stop Escalante - we are now in Indian Country - mostly associated with the Navajo Tribe. (pronounced NA -VA -HO)
Everywhere we go there are different coloured sandstone formations.
Bob explains the Geology of the area.
Escalante is where Butch Cassidy and the "Hole in the Wall Gang" used to hang out.
Here are 2 unedited bike views of the ride to Escalante - you might want to skip them as they are both about 8 minutes long) - (have to wait for access to good broadband to edit videos on YouTube)
This is the cafe and Store where I did the blog
We stayed in the Prosector Inn Motel.
We had dinner in the Restaurant next door and the guy who ran the restaurant was very friendly. In fact everybody in restaurants, motels, gas stations, shops, national parks, fellow travellers have all been most friendly and generous. I spoke to the restaurant guy at breakfast the next day and he told me he had moved here from Las Vegas which is suffering from an economic slump - ever since the Indian Reservations won a legal battle enabling them to run Casinos in reservations -even in States which outlaw gambling.
THE BIKE
I have had a few queries about the bike which I am riding - which Bob located for me before my arrival.
The bike is a Honda VTX 1300cc. It is six years old, in pristine condition and only had 4000 miles on it - up to the beginning of this trip. It has two cylinders, is water cooled and weighs over 700 pounds when the tank is full! This helps in windy conditions as the bike is not easily blown off course. So it is important not to let it fall. It is very easy to handle - but you must not be careless which I was a few days ago. I just got my right leg down in time and forced it back upright. The effort was so much that my leg went into cramp. My left leg was now keeping the bike upright - so I couldn't use it to put the stand down. Bob had to help me. We're not sure if the two of us could lift it back up, if it fell.But it is easy to manouvre once you park it on a slope - pointing in the right direction.
It does 0 to 60mph. in 5.3 seconds! But of course I don't do that. But my speeds have inproved so that we can now go on Highways where the cruising speed is 70 mph - it has taken me 10 days of practice and over 1,000 miles to reach this stage. Otherwise these supersize trucks would run up your backside - not nice.
But it's a great bike, lots of power, smooth and low to the ground - especially important for me with my short legs - I can put both feet on the ground when stopping and starting. Easy to ride, good rear view mirrors, good brakes. You are supposed to use both brakes front and back together. The front is far mor effective but the back adds balance to the braking. Bob was noticing I was not using the back one and advised me that I would eventually get into trouble if I had to brake suddenly and only used the front brake. So I have been working in curing this bad habit.
Also Bob had a windscreen fitted before I arrived - absolutely essential doing over 50 mph on a long journey. It has 2 very sturdy and handsome side saddles which carry all my stuff. One for clothes- the other for everything else. So that's it 95 out of a hundred for meeting my needs as a smaller person and a beginner.
The previous owner fitted new exhaust pipes or "Cobra Pipes" as they are called and a fancy air cooler. These are just for effect and when tuned make the bike noisy - not my preference. However one person did say to me that being noisy improves your safety as other road users notice your presence. Safety has been the number one concern for me all along and indeed most emails I have received have ended with the caring suggestion of "Stay Safe". Bob has been a good coach and protector - today he came back to me to tell me it was dangerous to ride behind a pick-up truck as the wind might throw objects back in my face. We have taken many longer routes to avoid the busy highways - yet he has also encouraged me to go with the flow and develop - because as we move back West, we inevitably have to take some Interstates.
The biggest danger is in the towns and cities. On the open road the threat is from animals -particularly deer (and some cattle and wild horses) which roam freely across the open countryside. On the way to Jackson City we both experienced deer jumping out in front of us - luckily not too near.
The bike is a great comfort to ride - no sore muscles after a day in the saddle - which is great. I was really worried about my back which was in very bad shape for a few weeks before I got here. However with twice daily exercises and a very good corset - I have had no pain at all. Fingers Crossed!
By the way in Utah and Arizona there is no law compelling you to wear a helmet - so most evenings after a few hours in the saddle with all the gear on - we wander out to a local eatery in the evening sun at 20 mph, just as in the photo above.
But safety is still the number one priority and we have a long way to go yet - so complacency must not set in. The concentration levels in scanning the horizon and speed levels must be kept finely tuned.
From Zion we make the short trip to another US National Park with more astonishing Rock Formations
In addition we Bob meets a fellow biker and camments on my greatest fault.
In this short clip of me driving towards the canyon you can see I am not wearing any gloves - at the time I was oblivious to the loss.
but Bob had something to say
Again some awesome views -
Bryce Canyon was another revelation of how over time nature creates incredible rock formations.
To get a better sense watch this short pan across the landscape - sound effects added at great expense.
Before we left Bryce - a very common occurence Bike Talk. All the time we are approached by Cruisers and Sporty's admiring our bikes - it is a sort of mutual admiration society. Anyway Doug and Bob are on the same soundtrack. Thats Doug below proudly standing in front of his new BMW. And have a listen to the BIKE TALK.
(Tip of the day - if you tap or click a photo it will enlarge & you can enlarge a video by clicking the icon on the bottom right hand corner)
We leave our typical motel in Cedar City and head off for Zion National Park. The derive through Cedar Valley has very unusual vegetation - Aspen Trees - unique to this area and most colourful at this time of the year.
This is a little video pan of the area
I met this funny guy ( a cyclist ) at a lookout point - this joke is for my Tuesday night drinking buddies in Greystones.
As we head along the road Bob points down into a huge valley "That's Zion National Park below"
The drive down is amazing - and very scary!
We decide to stay in a lovely hotel - sharing a what is effectively a luxury log cabin with the best ever views of landscapes.
The balcony of our cabin looks over the pool and jacussi - and what's that in the background?
Bob gets the bedroom - he's happy.
---- and I get the sofa bed
bur my views are great too
After a good nights sleep!
Now I must tell you about my back which i had an operation on last October - so boring back stories.
Well it began to trouble me a few week ago and I had serious doubts as to whether I could manage to manouvre a heavy bike -700 pounds. Luckily I had a week to relax and do my core pilates exercises twice a day before departure. And I bought a corset! Which I wear every day while on the long bike trips to give me extra support.
Down in Zion Canyon
Down in Zion Canyon 2
Finally my thoughts on the First Week - a private moment on the riverbed.
