Cycling through the magical southwest USA
This is a newsletter from Family on Bikes. The family of four is currently cycling the Pan American Highway from Alaska to Argentina as the 11-year-old twin boys attempt to break the world record as the youngest cyclists to bike the entire Pan Am. See a slide show of cycling this area here.
October 17, 2008
There’s a silver lining in every cloud. And we’ve seen that lining shining through clearly this week!
The bad news is that John and Daryl were hit by a car last week. They had just picked up the bike from an Albuquerque bike store and were on their way back to where we were staying, when a driver made an improper left turn – and plowed into them.
The good news is that Daryl escaped completely unharmed, and John’s injuries were fairly minor. He was limping a couple days, and still has a few aches and pains – but nothing major. And, while we feared the worst for the bike, it turned out to only have relatively minor damage as well. We are now waiting for the replacement parts to be shipped in so we can rebuild the bike.
But that’s where that whole silver lining part of the story comes in. As word of our plight got out in Albuquerque, people started coming out of the woodwork in droves to help us out. Each time I checked my email I had another three or four messages from local people offering assistance – a place to stay… a car for a few days… a ride to the park to play with other homeschooled kids… The response has been nothing short of incredible – and we are more grateful than words can express.
We are now staying with a wonderful family, and Davy & Daryl are having a blast playing with their twin boys, Forest and Sky. A local cyclist offered us the use of his car, so we can now get around to do the shopping we need to do before we head south of the border. In short – life is good!
Although we haven’t cycled all that many miles since I last wrote to you from Price, Utah, we’ve had our shares of adventures in that time. John’s rims made it down to Moab just fine – although they did discover a ¼” crack right down the middle of one of them when they took it off the bike!
We spent a day cycling through Canyonlands National Park – absolutely breathtakingly beautiful!! John cycled a 100-mile dirt road down in the canyon years ago, and has been talking about the area ever since – and now I understand why he was so enthralled. The canyon is enormous, and so varied it’s truly a magnificent place. In many ways, it resembles the Grand Canyon, and yet there are so many more facets to it that are unique and special. All four of us would have liked to have more time there, but there was no way we could swing it – there is no campground in the park so we had to take off.
Another day we headed up to Arches National Park – one of my favorite places on earth. In Moab we finally met up with Anna and Alister (www.fuegoproject.com) who are also cycling from Alaska to Argentina. Although they left Prudhoe Bay only three days after us, this was the first time we managed to meet. The six of us took off for Arches and had a blast exploring all the fascinating stone formations – and chatting about our adventures.
From Moab we continued south through the Navajo Nation, where we met many wonderful people who told us stories about the Navajo ways. I was thrilled to be back where I lived so many years ago, and was thrilled that John and the boys could see why I have so many fond memories from my days on the reservation. We pedaled past bright red sandstone formations that were just as remarkable as I remembered them to be. I almost felt like we had been transported to some other planet – the area is so unlike anything else we had cycled through.
But then Mother Nature decided to throw a wrench into our plans. We awoke one morning while camping at Canyon de Chelly to the strongest, most ferocious winds we had seen yet, and quickly made the decision to hang tight – there was no way we could ride in that wind. As the four of us huddled together in our tent, the wind whipped red sand around driving it under our rain fly and through the mesh on our tent. Within minutes, our sleeping bags and gear were covered with a thick layer of sand – and it was growing deeper by the minute.
Fifteen hours later we were ready to go to sleep, so we emptied the tent and swept out pile after pile of sand before laying out the sleeping bags again. Our faces were covered with red dust and our hair was filled with fine, gritty gunk. Fortunately, the boys didn’t mind in the least – but John and I were desperate for a shower!
In time we slowly made our way to Gallup where we stayed with a pastor a local church – he entertained us for hours with stories of his wild adventures! And then on to Albuquerque.
It’s been a good ride, but we are certainly antsy to get out of here and down to warmer temperatures. This week has been unseasonably warm here in Albuquerque, and we hope this weather will hold. We’ll get back on the road as quickly as we possibly can and hope for the best!
Thanks for joining us on our adventure!
Nancy, John, Davy, Daryl
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Read our other newsletters here:
Ready for takeoff: June 6, 2008
Dalton Highway in Alaska: June 28, 2008
Alaska Highway: August 3, 2008
Crossing into mainland USA: September 10, 2008
In Montana, Wyoming, and Utah: October 17, 2008
Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico: November 19, 2008
Northern Mexico: January 25, 2009
Yucatan Peninsula: March 14, 2009
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