Cycling Coast to Coast

The last week a half has been very eventful, and also lacking in internet.  After Portales, we biked to Roswell, where we had a day off, and then a hard full week of riding (the longest stretch on the trip) before arriving in Flagstaff, AZ.

Unfortunately, I had to miss a few days of riding early in the week due to the Plague.  There’s been some sort of stomach bug going around, and at the height of the Plague, about a third of the trip was sick.  Symptoms usually included stomach upset, and some combination of vomitting and diarrhea.  A couple people were so sick, and so dehydrated, that they ended up having to go to the hospital to get IVs.

New Mexico and Arizona have been absolutely beautiful.  This is my first time in the Southwest, and words really can’t describe the landscape. 

We were originally supposed to have a build day in Flagstaff, but that fell through, so instead we had a day off.  Riding in, it was amazing how quickly the landscape changed from desert to pine forests, as Flagstaff is at about 7,000 feet above sea level, nestled in the mountains.  The day we arrived was the first Friday of the month, which happened to be Flagstaff’s First Friday Artwalk.  I had a lot of fun walking around downtown and visiting the various art galleries and little shops.  I even went dress shopping (!), and bought a cute dress at a store called Rainbow’s End, to wear in Las Vegas.  The day before Flagstaff, in Winslow, the leaders surprised us by letting us know that when we get to Las Vegas, we’ll be staying in a casino hotel on the Strip!  Everyone went nuts, and then quickly started making plans about how to get “normal” clothing for Vegas, since nothing we own on the trip is really appropriate for going out.

While in Flagstaff, we also got to visit Roden Crater.  Sophie’s dad, James Turrell, is a famous artist known of working with light and space.  Roden Crater is his work-in-progress masterpiece.  It’s kind of hard to explain, but Roden Crater is an extinct volcanic crater, and he is working to construct a series of tunnels and rooms within the crater with open spaces that allow the viewer to see the sky and observe certain celestrial events.  It was beautiful, and I would definitely like to return once the crater is open to the public in 2012.

After Flagstaff, we had one day of riding to the Grand Canyon, and then a day off.  We stayed up to see sunset at the Bright Angel Trailhead, and then the next morning, we woke up early to see sunrise at Mather Point.  Devon, Jess and I hiked part of the Bright Angel Trail in the morning.  Jess and I only hiked to the 1.5 mile resthouse before turning around, but Devon went all the way to Plateau Point, a 12-mile round trip hike. 

It’s hard to believe we only have 10 days left of the trip.  We’ll be in Santa Barbara in only 9 days.