Road Trippin’ over Turkey Day

Far be it to let a long holiday week go by and not head out of town. My wife, who often has an inordinate amount of sway in determining where we go (happy wife makes for happy life), has a penchant for seeking out interesting and fun destinations and this year was no different. This trip turned out to be a combination of destinations. First stop was Monument Valley that sits on the border  of Utah and Arizona. The Monument is actually on the Navajo Indian Reservation and is a Navajo Tribal Park and not a National Park or Monument. While I’m sure when this land was set aside it was considered by white folks as useless desert the scenery is incredibly spectacular. While you may have never actually been there, through the countless films shot here (from where Tom Hanks finally stopped running in Forrest Gump, to more John Wayne westerns than I can count) you’ve visited Monument Valley via film more times than you know. The Navajo are very protective of this area and consider it sacred and therefore most access is limited to a rough dirt road that winds 17 miles from one stunning vista to another. There is limited hiking as well but what trails there are will take your breathe away. Interestingly, the bulk of tourists visiting the Monument are from other countries and the mix of Chinese, German, French, Australian, and other voices is an interesting audio backdrop to one of the most recognizable icons of the American West.

We also did some hiking in the Mexican Hat and Gooseneck Bend areas and picked up a river map for the San Juan River which we’ll definitely plan on kayaking or rafting next summer. The Gooseneck Bend area is a spectacular set of meandering bends in which the river flows more than six miles but only makes two miles of western headway.

So where to head after such spectacular wonders of the world? Southern California of course. We were on our way to hobnob with the world’s most famous rodent in his home digs in Anaheim. The contrast from Monument Valley couldn’t have been more stark - hiking there meant you could go hours and not see another person- while in California I was quickly re-educated in the concept of urban density. You occasionally see Colorado vehicles displaying “Don’t Californicate Colorado” bumper stickers but it doesn’t really hit home how crowded southern California is (from its ubiquitous highways to its grocery stores to its amusement parks) until you experience it first hand. If that’s what “progress” has in store over the next couple of years for Colorado then fasten your seat belt. Of course it’s so crowded because it offers a wonderful climate, ocean beaches galore, and the chance to be mesmerized as a Disney cast member in an oversized plastic head hugs a little child and you find yourself believing in magic if just for a little while. One of my former coworkers used to work for Disney and she constantly held up their standards of customer service as tops in any industry. For the most part she was right,  but alas, it appeared that at least 6 out of 10 cast members were more involved in security and crowd control than in delivering the high standards of service Disney is famous for. What would Walt think about the world we live in today?

Did I mention that Disney knows a thing or two about throwing a parade and fireworks extravaganzas? This time of year the parade is Holiday (can I say Christmas?) focused. I was expecting a quick float or two trundling down Main Street but instead was treated to beautifully decked-out floats streaming by one after the other and here is where the Disney cast members really had a chance to shine.

Then at night, weather permitting, the Park hosts a fireworks display that takes your breathe away in much the same manner the magnificent vistas of Monument Valley do. Two of our three nights in the Park the fireworks were cancelled due to wind so expectations were sky high for Turkey Day eve to see if they would go forward and they didn’t disappoint.

Work Ethic

America prides itself on allowing anyone with ability to get ahead at least in part through hard work. Through the course of my career I realized success depended more on working smarter, not necessarily harder. Still, one must be willing to put in the requisite hours and sometimes hard effort to realize whatever goal we’re striving for.

Nowadays my hard work generally takes the form of turning pedals as I cycle down the road or trail. Bicycling is an unforgiving taskmaster that forces one to ride often, and sometimes hard, to develop some level of fitness. Of course what is hard is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the pedal turner.

Genetics also plays a large part in success and I could ride hard all day and would still routinely get passed by folks on their two wheeled steeds that make cycling hard look easy. Recently though I was reading “Adventure Cyclist” magazine and came across an article that took the concept of hard work to a whole other level. In this world of ultra endurance this and ultra endurance that there apparently are folks who aspire to something known as HAM’R, which stands for Highest Annual Mileage Record. What could be simpler? Just get on your bike and turn the pedals for as many miles as you can in 365 days. The record for HAM’R was broken this year by a young woman named Amanda Coker, a 24 year old from Florida.

Just for fun, wanna take a guess as to how many miles she rode? For some context, I ride anywhere from 4 to 6 thousand miles in a year. Some pro racing cyclists ride triple that amount. Some folks ride across the U.S. (approximately 3 to 4 thousand miles depending on the route) and you can even cycle the perimeter of the U.S.A. clocking 12,000 miles (the record holder - yes, they actually track these things - did it in 180 days). And yes, there is an official record to cycle around the world - 18,000 miles - currently held by a Scotsman who did it in 78 days while the female record holder took a more liesurely 144 days.

So, what number would you guess for Ms. Coker? Throw out all the numbers above, they’re not even remotely close. Over the course of 365 days Ms. Coker rolled a jaw dropping eighty six thousand five hundred and seventy three miles. And since she was so close, she kept at it to hit the big 100,000 mark in 423 days. To break the 365 day HAM’R record Amanda averaged 237 miles per day and her highest monthly total was over 8,000. Not bad for a young lady who suffered a traumatic brain injury when struck by a car while riding her bike in 2011. I won’t hazard a guess as to what she’s going to tackle next, but when it comes to work ethic she’s definitely got it. I can only empathize when she is called on to defend her record when someone inevitably tries to break it...