Applied Mineral Exploration
Discussion and research relevant to mineral
exploration. |
Home |
Rapid fluid inclusion data
for exploration (decrepitation) |
Newest Topics |
Viewpoints
|
Bicycles |
Its time for another conference - or is that a bikeride? This conference is in Tucson, Azrizona, USA and then the plan is to cycle across and through the rocky mountains to Denver, Only a short ride, but with some decent mountain climbs. And perhaps snow!
As usual i rode to the airport, leaving home at 9pm, packing the
bike and flying overnight to Sydney for a connection to Los
Angeles and then Tucson. Transporting the bike on airlines in
Australia is no problem, even on budget airline Jetstar. But i am
aware that bikes are a problem on airlines in the USA and can
attract expensive fees. So i planned to call it a "mobility aid"
in the USA. I had to transit Sydney to take my international
flight. I dislike Sydney airport for international connections and
this trip reinforced my dislike. I had to collect my bike and get
to the transfer bus, so i used a luggage cart, which is not free
in Sydney. The terminal transfer bus is also not free and even a
bit pricey. Eventually i arrived with my stuff at the
international terminal, where luggage carts are not available at
the bus stop. I slung my small bags on each shoulder, wore my
helmet and carried the bike as i tried to find the unsigned access
to the departure level and eventually to the United Airlines
checkin line. Here i was asked what was in my unusually shaped
luggage. I stated it was a bike, not thinking i would have to be
devious here. Then i was advised bikes as luggage cost $200 !!!! I
quickly changed my statement to a "mobility aid" but my deceit was
obvious and the checkin person went to get a supervisor. Then i
realised i was still wearing my bright yellow bike helmet, no
wonder my deceit was so obvious! Ooops!!! The supervisor arrived
and asked if the bike was disassembled and looked inside to check.
Seeing the jungle of parts in the bag she declared that
disassembled bikes are free, so there was no problem. Yet another
reason for me to love my folding bike, despite the half hour it
takes to pack and unpack it every time I fly.
After connecting through Los Angeles, i flew on to Tucson and
arrived in the early afternoon, assembled the bike and rode north
to meet Jeff and we rode together to his house where he had very
kindly allowed me to use his mobile home. On sunday i rode
downtown and met Jamie and Luke and joined them for a fun family
cycling event in South Tucson for several hours. I then tried to
get a prepaid cell-phone service which should merely have meant
buying a prepaid-SIM card for my phone. But after 2 hours of
fiddling around the guy had merely managed to wreck my existing
Australian phone connection because he damaged my existing
Australian SIM card. GRRRRRR!
The conference was sedate, but interesting enough. After 2 days
of sessions there was a "social/rest" day, so i decided to go for
a ride up the fabled Mt. Lemon, a truly masochistic challenge. It
was 40km across the suburbs to the start, then another 45km while
climbing about 5000 feet to the summit restaurant. I turned back
some 10 km short of the top as i was out of water, food and
energy. It was a long ride of about 150 km, an interesting
conference "rest" day. After 2 more conference days i spent some
time with Jeff and his family as they taught me about baseball as
we watched his son play. I was extremely grateful for Jeff and his
family's wonderful kindness and hospitality during the week.
Now it was time to depart to ride to Denver. Jeff and i rode together for about 40 km northwards to Oracle and shared a late breakfast before we parted and I continued north to Globe. Initially this was an easy downhill, but then became a long climb through many high hills. I had thought Arizona was mostly flat, but it is actually quite lumpy with many passes above 5000 feet altitude between valleys often at about 2500 feet. At 2000' altitude, cactus is dominant, but above 5000' the cactus is absent and the vegetation is mostly pine trees. After 160 km i reached Globe, rather weary and found a small motel.
Don't expect flat country in southern Arizona.
There are serious climbs en-route!
Next morning was cold ( just 6 C) and raining as i rode north.
And once again there were many climbs on this undulating route
with no flat road sections at all as the sun struggled in vain to
send down some warmth. After 60 km with much slow climbing i had
to cross the Salt river. This is a canyon rivaling the grand
canyon with a long descent to the bridge across the river and an
even longer ( it felt longer) climb back up the other side.
The Salt River Canyon crossing
But as i crested another high pass i saw a nasty storm ahead. As
there was no shelter anywhere I tried in vain to hitch a ride, but
then the storm arrived and i had little choice but to ride through
it. It was very cold and i had trouble riding straight due to my
shivering and my frozen brain. At times like this even i would
agree that cycle tourists are crazy. It was still another 60 km to
Show Low and there were no services where I could rest or warm up,
so I was very weary after my 160 km ride battling the topography,
the cold rain and isolation. At least i found a motel with a good
heating system and the owner cranked it up to 90 F, more than
enough even for me.
The unexpectedly serious mountains have slowed me down and i can
see my planned schedule was over optimistic. And i haven't even
started the big mountains in Colorado yet. How will i survive this
potentially foolhardy adventure?
After my cold arrival in Show Low i was behind schedule so i
asked some pickup truck drivers at the gas station for a lift
northwards next morning. But this was unsuccessful so i modified
my planned route and rode north to Snowflake and Holbrook.
Holbrook is on the main interstate highway I40, a route i had
tried to avoid. I would then have to ride about 75km on this busy
highway where bikes are permitted to ride on the shoulder.
The ride to Holbrook had only gentle climbs and crossed vast arid
plains. At one point i noticed a car traveling slowly behind me
and as it came alongside me the driver leaned across the car and
held a bottle of water out of the passenger side window for me.
How thoughtful, even if the driving manoeuvre was a little
erratic. Random acts of kindness do happen! In Holbrook the
tourist advice service provided information about accommodation
options on my route. I subsequently discovered that only half the
information was correct and i was fortunate that i did not rely on
their mis-information. Riding on the shoulder of the main
interstate highway had both benefits and problems. The shoulder
was wide and safe despite the fast and frequent traffic, but it
was carpeted with an astonishing quantity of shreds of blown up
car tyres. The tiny steel wires in car tyres are a serious
puncture hazard for cyclists and caused 3 punctures, a major
annoyance. At least there were no significant hills as i crossed
vast open arid areas. At Chambers I found a lone motel beside the
highway, meant for tired long-distance motorists, for the night.
Here a lady was amazed by my cycling out in such a remote area and
we shared stories over dinner. She was a veterinary doctor and had
worked for the local native tribes to service their herds and
horses. There is a major problem in this region because the soil
and grasses are deficient in phosphorus, causing bone issues in
the animals.
Continuing north, i was now crossing Navajo indian reservation
lands and there were very few services. The only village en-route,
Ganado, had only a gas station store which serviced the natives,
not tourists. This despite the tourist service having told me
there were several motels here!! At a road junction i saw a person
selling something from his car, so i stopped to investigate, and
have a rest. The person was a navajo native and we chatted while i
ate a snow cone. He lived in one of the small farm houses which
dotted the route and had some horses but no job or income. But
despite the remote location he had "mains" water supply,
electricity and internet.
In Chinle, about 10 km further on, most of the population was
native, but there were schools and community services and a major
hospital. Although there were some motels in town, these were
fully booked and i was fortunate to be staying with a kind cycling
host, Colin, who worked at the hospital. There is an extensive
canyon here which is the reason the town exists and it is a
tourist attraction. To continue my journey i had to reach Cortez,
about 220 km away in one day as there was no closer accommodation.
Colin arranged for his schoolteacher friends to give me a ride for
30 km to the school at "Many Farms" where they worked, a small but
very important head start to my long day of cycling. But it was a
great sunny day with gentle winds as i rode along various
impressive canyons, a very scenic day. I reached Cortez in
Colorado about 5 pm after 191 km of cycling, pleasantly weary
after my great cycling day.
Next day was just a short 90 km ride to the cycling mecca of
Durango. Over breakfast i spoke with a part-native guy and learned
about the workings of the native reservations, which are
essentially independent nations within the USA. The ride to
Durango took me by surprise as there was a bigger than expected
pass to climb, but then a fun descent. I found a Nepalese/Tibetan
restaurant for lunch where i met Rita who told me about the recent
earthquake in Nepal and the local support for education of
Nepalese girls. The restaurant owner, Jamou, was one of the first
girls to attend school in Nepal, and only because she hid from her
parents and went hungry in order to attend school. I was impressed
and left a small donation for their charitable works. Later i met
Caroline and Douglas, local cyclists who kindly accommodated me
for the night and provided information about my challenging ride
next day.
My plan was to ride to Montrose, some 156 km away, challenging
enough, but there were also 3 high passes to cross and some 7000
feet of climbing. After long climbs over 2 passes i reached the
old mining town of Silverton, now dressed up as a tourist town.
But it was not yet tourist season and almost nothing was open. I
was not yet half way but it was 3pm so i hurriedly ate a bowl of
chilli and rode onwards to the highest pass, Red mountain pass.
The cold mountains near Silverton
Snowflakes drifted around my face as i climbed the pass and my
fingers were numb with the cold. There was a long and very steep
descent from the crest, with many seriously sharp double-hairpin
switchbacks. There was little traffic so i used all of both sides
of the road to negotiate these bends, barely able to slow down as
my fingers were too numb to operate the brakes properly. I sped
downwards, hoping to escape the high altitude cold and although i
did not need to pedal, i did so in an effort to keep warm. At
Ouray, another old mining town now overdressed for tourists, i
stopped for coffee to warm up, but i was still cold, so at 6 pm i
continued my journey towards Montrose, 60 km further away. At
least it would not be dark until 8 pm because of summer-time. It
was a fast, exhilarating ride to Montrose, mostly downhill or flat
and took just 2 hours as i pedaled furiously to keep warm. Surely
i had earned a good rest tonight.
Now i seemed to be within reach of Denver for my return flight
schedule. But there were still 6 days of adventures and many more
mountains to climb. The fun was not over yet!!!
I enjoyed a late, relaxed start from Montrose next morning as it
was just 100 km to Gunnison. After several modest climbs i was
cruising comfortably when my rear tyre exploded. This problem was
the result of tyre damage caused by a nail while riding in Tucson.
I was lucky this failure had not occurred on one of the fast
downhills where i had reached speeds of 70 kph! Fortunately i had
a spare tyre which i installed and continued my journey. I would
simply buy another tyre for use as a spare at the next town,
Gunnison. Just before Gunnison i caught up with another touring
cyclist, Jean-Pierre, and we stopped to talk. He was french and
was cycling from San Francisco to Quebec, camping en-route, so he
had a heavy load and was traveling much slower than me. We shared
a coffee together in town as i communicated with Jarral, a local
cyclist with whom we later shared a pizza supper and who kindly
offered accommodation to both me and Jean-Pierre for the night.
A contrast in touring: my light travel load
versus Jean-Pierre's full touring load.
After a great breakfast of crepes, i set off to cross the major
Monarch pass. A tailwind helped me to the base of the climb, but
then it took 2.5 hours to reach the summit at 11300 feet altitude,
which was still covered with snow. There was a ski-resort
restaurant at the summit so i warmed up with a bowl of chilli
before an exciting, fast and long descent to Salida.
I found 3 bike shops in Salida, but none of them had the size of tyre i needed. I also found a cosy hostel for the night and here i relaxed and exchanged stories with 3 of the other guests. Matt and Sarah were there from Denver, riding their motorcycles, and they very kindly invited me to stay with them when i reached Denver in 3 days time. Next morning it was cool but sunny as i set off toward Fairplay, the 5th highest altitude township (9900 ft, 3025m) in the USA. However afternoon storms were forecast and as i rode along a vast open valley these storms threatened me. Despite riding hard and non-stop to try and outpace them, i was pelted with hailstones and occasional cold raindrops. I was very cold when i reached Fairplay after 95 km, the last 60 of which were without stopping. At a coffee shop where i tried to warm up, my fingers were so numb i could not unclip the buckle on my helmet. Eventually i thawed out enough to find a nearby bed and breakfast hotel where they lit the fire in the lounge for me as i relaxed.
Overnight it snowed and i reconsidered my plans to ride in such cold weather again as my cycling attire did not include warm or rainproof clothing, a consequence of minimising my traveling weight. I found out that there was a bus service to Denver and decided to escape the forecast bad weather by taking the bus. The sky in Denver was overcast, but not raining when i arrived in the late morning. But as i rode south through the extensive suburbs it began to rain. I was trying to reach the headquarters of the "Society of Economic Geologists", of which i am a member, and which is located in far SW Denver. Despite a long stop to avoid the heaviest rain shower, i was extremely wet and cold when i arrived there. At least they made me very welcome despite my unusual lycra cycling attire and wetness. I then proceeded to meet Matt and Sarah, another cold wet journey. Despite the weather, suburbs and traffic i still rode about 70 km. I was very glad of Matt's hospitality to warm up and dry out at his house, even though i had arrived a day earlier than planned.
I now had a spare day in Denver and although overcast it was not
wet, so i rode downtown and visited several bicycle stores before
cleaning my bike in preparation for my flight back to Australia
next day. There are a number of good bicycle paths in Denver and
most motorists were considerate, making Denver a reasonably
bike-friendly city. Although my flight back to Darwin next day was
not until late afternoon, i rode off to the airport early to avoid
any afternoon rain as the sky was still overcast and threatening.
It was a 50 km ride through the suburbs to the airport. Although
the last 15 km is on a busy freeway it was quite safe riding on
the wide shoulder where bikes are permitted. Just take care at the
interchanges! Now i had to find a quiet corner to pack up my bike.
The only spot was opposite the checkin counters, which concerned
me as i was expecting a problem with bicycle baggage on the
airline. I planned to call my baggage a "mobility aid" and did not
want to be observed. But i was too obvious and as i completed the
packing a United airlines person came and spoke to me. She had
been watching and expressed her surprise and interest at just how
compact my bicycle packed into its carry bag. And she continued on
to say that it would avoid having to pay an excess fee for bicycle
luggage! I did not have to be devious at all and had no problem
checking my folded bike in as standard luggage.
I had many issues with the weather during this trip. Late april was a good time to ride in southern Arizona at low altitude, as the temperatures were not yet excessive. But as I traveled north and/or to higher altitudes, cold wintery conditions were still common in early May. June is a better time to travel in these areas.
My USA cycle tour was relatively short at just 14 cycling days and 2000 km. but was packed with surprises. I had not expected such rugged topography in southern Arizona, or the low temperatures, rainstorms or snow on the high altitude passes. But the most memorable aspect was the great kindness and hospitality extended by so many people i met along the way and for which i was very grateful.