It was a river-side riding day today, and there was no need to use that fossil-fuel-powered vehicle to get us to our ride today. We simply rode north from Moab, and turned south and west once we reached the Colorado River. We followed Route 279, also known as Potash Road, to its end at the Moab salt plant (or is it a potash plant?). What a contrast - a drop dead beautiful scenic area that ends in an industrial plan. Hmmm...
We had to stop to watch the human spiders on the rock walls along the road, climbing up sheer cliffs. Interesting that the person belaying the climber was often standing or sitting in the driving lane of the road. Sometimes they were off the road, but sometimes they needed to be in the road.
As we continued down the road we came to a section of wall that contained petroglyphs. You really had to look hard to see them; they were high on the wall, which makes me think that the bottom of the canyon was much higher at the time that the petroglyphs were created.
Back on the bikes, riding, riding... and oh, what's that? There's a calf resting along the side of the road. I wonder where its mother is? It was gone when we came back on our way back to Moab, so I guess it really was just resting, not injured. What a cutie!
And look - there's an arch along the side of the road. Beautiful.
Bruce and I definitely have a compatible riding style, but our body thermometers are really different! Bruce rode the entire day wearing his windbreaker, and I rode (almost) the entire day in a sleeveless jersey. I found the temperature difference between last years ride and this one very interesting. Last year it was very hot, and this year there were days with a touch of cool in the air. We're here a month earlier than I was last year, and I have to say that having cooler weather makes for better riding conditions.
Ah, the end of the road. Time to head back to Moab to swap bikes for hiking shoes (sandals for me), and time to get something cold to drink before heading back to Arches for some walking.
