Cowboys and Indians

Posted by Fin on 3 December 2009

30 miles north of Phoneix, Arizona we found ourselves holed up at a cowboy ranch not far from Lake Pleasant. We took a break from the bikes for a few days and hung out with a real cowboy and girl, Rusty and Betty Hastings who own over 30 horses on a large ranch in the mountains surrounded by huge saguaros cacti and prickley pear. It didnt take Alex and I long to mould into the lifestyle, hanging out during the day, tending to the odd horse or two and sipping whiskey round the camp fire under the stars at night.

2 comments. Tags: Fin, . Location: Phoenix, USA

The Grand Canyon

Posted by Fin on 2 December 2009

We spent a few freezing cold nights at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were lucky to get there as the road should have been covered in snow and closed this time of year. Snow lay scattered in many places but most had melted off the road. It was very cold sleeping at night (down to well below freezing) especially as my tent zip has broken and I've resorted to sleeping out on a tarp under the stars. When the sun came up....Wow! What a view. The video clip below is a hazy sunset where you get the idea...unlike vegas, not a tourist in sight. Wonderful.

1 comments. Tags: Fin, . Location: Tucson, USA

Where did all the water go?...Vegas

Posted by Fin on 28 November 2009

Alex was so disgusted with Vegas that he refused to blog about it. So thanks to Al for some of these photos. After a week in the desert, then running out of food and water, on the last day, cycling into Vegas was a fairly hideous experience. We were appalled at the greed, over consumption and yucky people walking the streets in Vegas. It appears this is the place people go to behave like millionaires for a weekend, before going back to reality to wherever they've come from.

4 comments. Tags: Fin, Las Vegas. Location: Las Vegas, USA

Death Valley

Posted by Alex on 26 November 2009

Having only my imagination to guide me, I entered Death Valley expecting along flat area with not much apart from sand, dirt and the odd stone. Just like so many times on this trip, our imagination was put to shame by the beauty of our surroundings. It is quite literally impossible to think up such amazing landscapes. Climbing up our first pass out of Owens Valley the vegetation changes markedly, leaving way to small bushes and the odd cactus. Dusk as casting a golden light on the interminable high plateau that we were climbing onto. Coming to the edge of the plateau, the view that offered itself to us in the evening light was indescribable, if only by the sheer magnitude of the spectacle before us.

7 comments. Tags: Alex, fin, death valley. Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA

Death Valley, Eastern California and Nevada

Posted by Fin on 19 November 2009

Cycling through the Death Valley was the highlight of the trip for me so far. I hadn't prepared myself for the beauty of the desert and thrill of freewheeling downhill on a 6% gradient from an elevation of 5500 feet to 285 feet below sea level (Badwater Basin - the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere).

6 comments. Tags: Fin, Alex, Death Valley. Location: Las Vegas, USA

Sierra Nevadas down towards the Mojave Desert

Posted by Fin on 18 November 2009

After 3 awesome days in Yosemite, we headed down over Tioga Pass on Highway 395 in Eastern California past Bishop towards the Mojave Desert and Death Valley on the border of Nevada. The contrast from pine forest and granite mountain ranges to sandy yellow desert within a matter of 24 hours was alarming, as we dropped thousands of feet into the sandy abyss. We camped rough on our first night in the desert to check out the stars. I woke with ice over the tarp and sleeping bag with Alex telling me his watch had recorded a temperature that night of -8.9 C......baltic! I was rather anxious about the Mojave Desert and Death Valley as there are few towns and therefore water sources are scarce. I also had no idea how large the passes were...cycling up 5000 feet only to drop down to sea level and having to ride back up to 5000 feet again was not in any of the online websites I had researched. So during the few days riding towards Death Valley I tried to savor the downhill stretches which lasted several days as we dropped from one of the highest points in the USA to the lowest...but as the good old saying says, ' what goes up down....must go up...!' (or is it the other way round?)

4 comments. Tags: Fin, . Location: Bishop, CA, USA

Video on top of North Dome, Yosemite National Park, California

Posted by Fin on 16 November 2009

We took three days off to hike and explore Yosemite National Park. It was incredible. November is a good time to go as there were very few tourists, but I guess we were lucky not to be snowed out that time of year. We camped in Yosemite Valley and did several day hikes; to Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in the US, Nevada and Vedal Falls and also the North Dome. We couldn't hike up Half Dome as the cables to get you to the top had been taken down for the season. If there is ONE thing you should do before you die..its see this place. Check out the video below and Alex's photos in the blog before as they are WAY better than mine.

2 comments. Tags: Fin, Alex, Yosemite. Location: Yosemite , USA

Yosemite Valley

Posted by Alex on 14 November 2009

There are no words that can describe the spectacle that is Yosemite... So here goes.

3 comments. Tags: Alex, Fin, Yosemite, California, Half Dome. Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA

Halloween in San Francisco

Posted by Fin on 13 November 2009

We cycled into San Fran intime for Critical Mass - a global event that I believe was started in San Fran to raise awareness of cyclists on the road. It happens every final Friday of the month and involves thousands of cyclists congregating at the bottom of Market Street and literally 'taking over the roads for an hour or so'. Shirley, who kindly put us up for our stay in San Fran told us about the Halloween Critical Mass several months before when we met her in the Yukon so we were keen to witness it with our own eyes.

1 comments. Tags: Fin, . Location: San Francisco, USA

Arriving into San Francisco!

Posted by Fin on 30 October 2009

Finally made it into San Francisco - the last few days were incredible - some of the most stunning coastal scenery I had ever seen, all enhanced by amazing weather and sunsets every night. Cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge (no fog just amazing sunset) was one of the highlights of the trip - superb!