Riding the Chalk Bluffs Road

We had planned to do a road ride on a supremely uninteresting stretch of road out by the Bishop airport.  However, Weatherbug and Wunderground were both indicating that high winds were coming.  Being the chicken that I am, I did not want to be out in the middle of nowhere and have the winds wicking up.  So, instead we did another supremely uninteresting mountain bike ride out by the Chalk Bluffs.  It’s actually better than the Buttermilks, because you don’t climb for several miles before reaching the trailhead.
There were a fair number of people out fishing in the Owens River.  It’s catch and release only.  This water is headed south to satisfy the rapacious demands of Los Angeles.

The Chalk Bluff.



This is pyroclastic flow.  A gazillion years ago, there was violent volcanic activity in the area.  150 cubic miles of lava was ejected.  This makes the Mount St. Helen’s explosion look like a baby burp.



A raven in a tree.  He was very vocal.



It actually wasn’t a terrible ride.  Heading out we had a very stiff head wind, so between that, washboards and sand there was a lot of resistance.  We had to work!  Coming back, we were about two miles an hour faster with the wind behind us.  It was a good day to practice riding in sand.

I started writing this about an hour ago.  I’m using Microsoft Live Writer for the first time in case the force of the internet is weak in Europe.  It would be good to be able to write posts offline and then do burst transmissions when wifi is available.  Anyway - during this timeframe, the temperature has dropped 15 degrees, the mountains are obscured by dust, and the Class A in front of us has had his awning ripped off.  He was home!  And he left his awning out in this wind.  WTH?!?

Poor awning......