One can never say thank you too many times! So before we get started telling you about today’s unplanned rest day; we, and on behalf of our friends and family, would like to say THANK YOU AGAIN Bob and Susie for what we can only describe as saving us from a potentially very dangerous situation. We have added a photo to the gallery, sent to us today by Bob and Susie, which accurately depicted our situation 11 miles from our hotel.
In life we come across many idioms “Once bitten twice shy”: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me”: “Better the devil you know”: “Never eat yellow snow” (to all those literal genii out there, some of the above examples are technically not idioms). Following yesterday’s experiences, we find ourselves taking heed of “Once bitten twice shy” and have now decided to adopt more of a risk-based approach to completing ‘The Epic Journey’. No longer will the Grand Canyon stage be an option! The results of our risk analysis show it’s very likely we’ll face more snow. By removing the Grand Canyon loop we now have some extra time to play with and we’re discussing the possibility of adding a Yellowstone National Park loop when we reach the Northern Tier. So rather than face the perils of massive snowfall and freezing temperatures, we’re going to cycle into a Super Volcano and a bunch of steaming old geezers instead.
… sorry where were we? Ah, today’s blog …that's right!
Had a long lie-in today and woke up slightly concerned as to why we still couldn’t feel our fingers. Listening to our less adventurous but more sensible side, we called down to the hotel reception and booked ourselves in for another night, in the hope that our bodies would have recovered enough before attempting tomorrow’s 90-mile ride into Clifton, Arizona. This was a good call, as we managed to do 4 loads of washing (could have done 2, but Anthony has OCD …don’t mix gloves with shoe covers etc. etc.), make some urgent changes to hotel bookings and IT Support aka Badge managed to fix the photo gallery.
We did take a short 6-mile round trip to the local bike store to get some essentials and nearly bought a Helmet Cam, but Anthony’s OCD kicked in again and refused to buy the Helmet Cam because it didn’t record in 1080p format (High Definition). Anthony did manage to buy some new cycle sunglasses, replacing the ones he lost during yesterday’s tumble in the snowy jungle.
Before clocking off for the night, we would like to mention Russ and Laura once more; the couple we met in Van Horn, Texas who are cycling around the USA in the other direction. These guys are embarking on a crazy project and have posted a very nice photo of us on their website. They regularly record Ustreams and conduct radio and newspaper interviews whenever they can …check out their recording.
So, it’s with warm fingers that we wave goodnight, god bless and good morning.
Us x
When you guys mentioned your route I did wonder about getting all the way up to the S Rim at this time of year, probably a wise decision to skip it, some big remote areas up there.
ReplyDeleteAnd you will have several ‘potential’ snow/elevation sections between Silver City and Superior AZ but I am sure you already know that. Anyway, with in reason, this time of year, even with a bit of mid to high elevation snow, with an early start & hence a bit of ‘extra’ time to go slow on the slick stuff, and if your hands and feet are/stay comfortably warm you can pretty much force your way through anything on your upcoming route, despite what mother nature might dish up.
Yellowstone is a truly spectacular area but there will be lot and lots of RV’s. You might also look into heading up north to Banff Canada, it to is a spectacular area, not sure about the RV’s up there though.
LUCK on the next few days!!!!