Hi Folks!
I'm writing from Williams, AZ!
Yesterday was quite a day. We camped in the Grand Canyon, then spent the day visiting places over there. After the sunset, we then rode 60 miles to the city of Williams. We thought the way would be easy and take at most 6 hours to complete, but it turns out we were *very* wrong. We ended up arriving 6:00am with a freezing cold temperature.
After being awake for 29 hours straight and gone through an insanely hard-to-ride road we finally checked in a hotel and had some rest. I slept the whole afternoon. My uncle went out to cut his hair and buy some things he needed.
Tonight we went for a short walk on the city's main street and are now preparing the videos of previous days and writing the pending summaries.
Tomorrow our plan is to wake up early and ride to Seligman, still in Arizona.
That's it for now folks! Stay tuned for more updates tonight!
quinta-feira, 24 de maio de 2012
Day 40 – 05/12/2012 – Santa Rosa, NM
Due to our easy ride on the previous day and the forecast for East winds, we thought this would be an easy day. We went out of the hotel and looked for a place to properly inflate our tires. After fixing that, we headed to the Tucumcari dinosaur museum.
The museum was nice, with many complete fossils of a number of large dinosaurs. The clerk let us put of bicycles inside, so we could enjoy it with peace of mind. We spent a whole hour there, took pictures and had a great time. Then we left and started our ride towards Santa Rosa, just 60 miles away.
We rode about 10 miles and saw several stones surrounding the road that resembled the ones with fossils at the museum. Yeah, you guessed right. We parked our bicycles and started looking around in the hope to find a fossil ourselves. We spent about fifty minutes there and my uncles found a stone with a leaf carved in it. I found no fossils but took a few small stones that were very unusual.
We moved on and progressed the next 20 miles relatively fast. We stopped at a place called Newrick where we found an old gas station. We eat the bananas, bread and juice we had, and kept riding.
A few miles later, though, we saw a big thunderstorm on the horizon. We made several stops to film and photograph the powerful clouds and strong rain. As moved forward, the lightening intensified and the gusts increased their speeds. We then moved far enough to be side by side with the giant storm, and it was pouring right ahead where we needed to pass by. As we moved forward the rain drops stared to fall on us. We stopped to put out rain coats.
Three minutes, that’s all it took. As soon as we finished, the gusts increased tremendously making hard to hold the bicycles up straight. The sky was totally dark, so we decided to protect ourselves behind a bush. We waited for about five minutes and it didn’t get any better… it was actually getting worst as the core of the storm blew through the road. We couldn’t even see the end of it, so we decided to move on and try to escape before night.
As we rode under those conditions the rain intensified and so did the winds. We were moving slowly trying to stay in the shoulder space. With the temperature dropping quickly our hands were freeing cold making it harder to hold the bicycles on track.
We moved forward this way for about forty five minutes, and it was practically night already. Then I saw a small step in the shoulder and shouted “be careful!” to my uncle, but it was too late. As soon as I finished speaking I heard the noise… he had fallen down. I turned around and helped him up. His knee was bleeding and he had bruises on both hands and on one shoulder. His bicycle’s fork was twisted and his front panniers on the floor. I clicked them back on the front racks and forced the fork back into straight position, and we kept moving forward.
We had still ten miles before arriving in Santa Rosa. The rain diminished but the temperatures remained down. We rode those miles slowly until we finally reached the city. There was a Subway open, so we decided to go eat there. My uncle parked his bicycle outside the store and placed some bandages on his knee to stop the bleeding. We then entered the store, eat and prepared to go to a hotel. That’s when I saw my front tire was flat.
We had no choice but to walk the bicycle up to a hotel. Thankfully, there was one close by so we decided to stay there. I fixed my tire with a patched tube I had in my backpack while my uncle took shower and arranged for a better bandage on his knee.
We ended up sleeping midnight thirty and due to the long stretch we had to cover in the next day we put the alarm for seven hours later. Besides all the hardships nature had reserved us that day we knew that was a day we would never forget, and that’s what we came here for... so I guess we can say this day was a success!
The museum was nice, with many complete fossils of a number of large dinosaurs. The clerk let us put of bicycles inside, so we could enjoy it with peace of mind. We spent a whole hour there, took pictures and had a great time. Then we left and started our ride towards Santa Rosa, just 60 miles away.
We rode about 10 miles and saw several stones surrounding the road that resembled the ones with fossils at the museum. Yeah, you guessed right. We parked our bicycles and started looking around in the hope to find a fossil ourselves. We spent about fifty minutes there and my uncles found a stone with a leaf carved in it. I found no fossils but took a few small stones that were very unusual.
We moved on and progressed the next 20 miles relatively fast. We stopped at a place called Newrick where we found an old gas station. We eat the bananas, bread and juice we had, and kept riding.
A few miles later, though, we saw a big thunderstorm on the horizon. We made several stops to film and photograph the powerful clouds and strong rain. As moved forward, the lightening intensified and the gusts increased their speeds. We then moved far enough to be side by side with the giant storm, and it was pouring right ahead where we needed to pass by. As we moved forward the rain drops stared to fall on us. We stopped to put out rain coats.
Three minutes, that’s all it took. As soon as we finished, the gusts increased tremendously making hard to hold the bicycles up straight. The sky was totally dark, so we decided to protect ourselves behind a bush. We waited for about five minutes and it didn’t get any better… it was actually getting worst as the core of the storm blew through the road. We couldn’t even see the end of it, so we decided to move on and try to escape before night.
We moved forward this way for about forty five minutes, and it was practically night already. Then I saw a small step in the shoulder and shouted “be careful!” to my uncle, but it was too late. As soon as I finished speaking I heard the noise… he had fallen down. I turned around and helped him up. His knee was bleeding and he had bruises on both hands and on one shoulder. His bicycle’s fork was twisted and his front panniers on the floor. I clicked them back on the front racks and forced the fork back into straight position, and we kept moving forward.
We had still ten miles before arriving in Santa Rosa. The rain diminished but the temperatures remained down. We rode those miles slowly until we finally reached the city. There was a Subway open, so we decided to go eat there. My uncle parked his bicycle outside the store and placed some bandages on his knee to stop the bleeding. We then entered the store, eat and prepared to go to a hotel. That’s when I saw my front tire was flat.
We had no choice but to walk the bicycle up to a hotel. Thankfully, there was one close by so we decided to stay there. I fixed my tire with a patched tube I had in my backpack while my uncle took shower and arranged for a better bandage on his knee.
quarta-feira, 23 de maio de 2012
At the rim!!!
We're now at the Grand Canyon's south rim!
Unfortunately no picture or movie can extend Grand Canyon's beauty beyond itself, but we will try anyways. =)
Unfortunately no picture or movie can extend Grand Canyon's beauty beyond itself, but we will try anyways. =)
At the IMAX
We'll now watch an IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon on the recently opened National Geographic visitor center!
Day 39 – 05/11/2012 – Tucumcari, NM
The day started easy with winds blowing towards West. We covered the first 26 miles very quickly maintaining a speed of 13.5 mph in average, but with many stretches of 20+ mph. While on the road a pack of Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders passed by us, greeting us one by one. Then we arrived to the midpoint of Route 66 which is located on a small city called Adrian. This city has just 169 residents, the smallest we have passed through so far.
Within that city most of the stores and gas stations were closed. The only place opened serving coffee and food was a nice café. We decided to stop by and eat something before moving on. For our surprise, all motorcycle riders were in the café as well, along with many other tourists. It was completely full, so we took the last available table. There was just one waitress for the entire place, and getting coffee and lunch ended up taking an hour and a half, but the food was good and having some time to talk and rest was nice too.
Once we were back on the road the miles passed by easily with the help of the wind pushing us forward. We soon arrived at a ghost city called Glen Rio located right in the border of Texas and New Mexico. We stopped to take pictures at the state line sign and, one mile further, stopped at a rest area to eat and drink something. We had chocolate milk, bananas and bread with us so we were able to put a small meal together. The New Mexico visitor center was nice with many guides and maps available for free, along with good coffee also free.
After eating and seeing the place we were back on the road. We still have forty more miles to go, but they were passing by really easily. Then, I had a flat tire. I was just too tired to fix that old tire and decided to put the new one on the rear of my bike. This new tires are puncture proof, so we should not have to worry about it anymore. We stopped by a gas station to inflate my new tire properly but the compressor was broken. A few feet away we found a tire shop, but they didn’t have a proper gauge or equipment to put the correct pressure for this tire which is 95 psi. They put the maximum they could - 60 psi - and we moved on.
A few miles later, my uncle had a flat tire too. He still wanted to use his old tire so, while he fixed his, I exchanged my front tire for the new one as well.
When we arrived in Tucumcari, our planned destination, we stopped to get food at a local supermarket. As many other cities we have seen on Route 66, this city was full of closed business and ghost buildings. A few places were opened and we found a cheap hotel on the West side of the town.
In the hotel room my uncle decided to put his new tires as well. We then prepared a nice dinner, showered and went to sleep early to prepare for the next day.
Within that city most of the stores and gas stations were closed. The only place opened serving coffee and food was a nice café. We decided to stop by and eat something before moving on. For our surprise, all motorcycle riders were in the café as well, along with many other tourists. It was completely full, so we took the last available table. There was just one waitress for the entire place, and getting coffee and lunch ended up taking an hour and a half, but the food was good and having some time to talk and rest was nice too.
Once we were back on the road the miles passed by easily with the help of the wind pushing us forward. We soon arrived at a ghost city called Glen Rio located right in the border of Texas and New Mexico. We stopped to take pictures at the state line sign and, one mile further, stopped at a rest area to eat and drink something. We had chocolate milk, bananas and bread with us so we were able to put a small meal together. The New Mexico visitor center was nice with many guides and maps available for free, along with good coffee also free.
After eating and seeing the place we were back on the road. We still have forty more miles to go, but they were passing by really easily. Then, I had a flat tire. I was just too tired to fix that old tire and decided to put the new one on the rear of my bike. This new tires are puncture proof, so we should not have to worry about it anymore. We stopped by a gas station to inflate my new tire properly but the compressor was broken. A few feet away we found a tire shop, but they didn’t have a proper gauge or equipment to put the correct pressure for this tire which is 95 psi. They put the maximum they could - 60 psi - and we moved on.
A few miles later, my uncle had a flat tire too. He still wanted to use his old tire so, while he fixed his, I exchanged my front tire for the new one as well.
When we arrived in Tucumcari, our planned destination, we stopped to get food at a local supermarket. As many other cities we have seen on Route 66, this city was full of closed business and ghost buildings. A few places were opened and we found a cheap hotel on the West side of the town.
In the hotel room my uncle decided to put his new tires as well. We then prepared a nice dinner, showered and went to sleep early to prepare for the next day.
Day 38 – 05/10/2012 – Vega, TX
This was a day we had planned to make a long distance, so we slept early and woke up early. We improvised some coffee with instantaneous coffee packs we had taken from the last hotel room.
By 9:30 we were going out of the room when my uncle noticed his back tire was flat.
We unassembled the bike and exchanged the tube, but by the time we were back on the road it was already 10:50 am. From that point on we had a smooth ride. We planned all our way in the I-40 Service Road, following the Old Route 66 Highway. We rode the first 17 miles and passed through a small city with several grain storages. From there we saw the sign point out that Vega city was 13 miles away, so we decided to have lunch there before moving on.
When we arrived in Vega the first thing we noticed was that the city, despite of its small population, had three hotels. We looked for a place to eat and found the only restaurant in town, a Dairy Queen. There, asked permission to put out bikes inside so we could watch our stuff. There was a table full of old friends having lunch, and they all stopped to look at us. One woman got offended by us wanting to watch our things and said “Hey, no one steals in this city.” I told her we go everywhere so we are just used to this kind of precaution, but she didn’t like it and looked other way. Honestly, I was just hungry and somewhat tired so I didn’t care much.
Before ordering we got to talk with one of the cashiers and she told us the city we wanted to stay in, Adrian, had no hotels or anywhere to stay. The next city with a place to sleep would be Tucumcari, in New Mexico. Unfortunately, that was too far for us… another 80 miles from where we were.
With no other option, we agreed to stay there and move to Tucumcari in the next day. We found a small supermarket and got things to eat, then headed to the cheapest hotel.
To our surprise the room was fine and very clean. We eat showered, washed clothes and went to sleep 9:30 pm in order to wake up 6:30 am the next day.
By 9:30 we were going out of the room when my uncle noticed his back tire was flat.
We unassembled the bike and exchanged the tube, but by the time we were back on the road it was already 10:50 am. From that point on we had a smooth ride. We planned all our way in the I-40 Service Road, following the Old Route 66 Highway. We rode the first 17 miles and passed through a small city with several grain storages. From there we saw the sign point out that Vega city was 13 miles away, so we decided to have lunch there before moving on.
When we arrived in Vega the first thing we noticed was that the city, despite of its small population, had three hotels. We looked for a place to eat and found the only restaurant in town, a Dairy Queen. There, asked permission to put out bikes inside so we could watch our stuff. There was a table full of old friends having lunch, and they all stopped to look at us. One woman got offended by us wanting to watch our things and said “Hey, no one steals in this city.” I told her we go everywhere so we are just used to this kind of precaution, but she didn’t like it and looked other way. Honestly, I was just hungry and somewhat tired so I didn’t care much.
Before ordering we got to talk with one of the cashiers and she told us the city we wanted to stay in, Adrian, had no hotels or anywhere to stay. The next city with a place to sleep would be Tucumcari, in New Mexico. Unfortunately, that was too far for us… another 80 miles from where we were.
With no other option, we agreed to stay there and move to Tucumcari in the next day. We found a small supermarket and got things to eat, then headed to the cheapest hotel.
To our surprise the room was fine and very clean. We eat showered, washed clothes and went to sleep 9:30 pm in order to wake up 6:30 am the next day.
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