10:00 am, Grand Canyon: I didn't get a wink of sleep last night and I can only attribute it to the cup of real coffee I had yesterday after three days of brown water.

Having been up all night, there was no issue about waking up for my ride this morning. I was on the road by 6:00. It turned out to be another riding debacle.

Heading out of Grand Canyon Village, I knew the road to Desert View would be on my left. If I had checked the map before I left, I would have confirmed that the left turn would be almost immediately after Mather's Point. I ended up riding 5 miles before I realized something was wrong when I came to the Park Entrance Station!

Mind you, it was pretty darned cold, dare I say freezing, dare I compare this morn with a witch's teat? Oh yea! Can I get a hell yea? Anyway, at the time I was pissed at having missed the turn off. That shot my ride right then and there. That missed turned just added 10 miles to the ride.

I wondered how I could have missed the turn, how could it not be clearly marked? I was peeved. I rode back at half-pace, found the turn to Desert View and headed up it anyway. I figured I'd go as far as I could until 7:30 and then turn around, but the cold was starting to get to me. I was counting on the rising sun to take care of it. After about five miles, I couldn't move my fingers anymore. I don't even have winter riding clothes. This was getting bad, I turned around to head back and that's when I really started struggling.

My watch read 39 degrees, with the little heat coming off my arm. Several times I stopped to put my hands against the dark trunks of trees that the sun was shining on, but the angle of the sun made it too weak to be of warmth. There was a gust, too, and at one point, I stopped at an overlook and huddled behind a wall against the wind. I stayed there for 20 minutes, huddled up, trying to get warm enough to make a mad dash back. It worked, so it couldn't have been that bad. When I got back on my bike I was able to make it all the way back without another stop.

Huddled in the cold behind that wall, listening to the wind gusting over the trees reminded me of wandering lost in Sabino Canyon. I don't care how miserable it would be to die in the desert. It would be infinitely more preferable to dying on a frozen tundra.

When I made the turn for Grand Canyon Village, I looked back and saw that the left turn for Desert View was very clearly marked.

After-thought: Missing that left turn turned out to be a life saver. If I had made the left turn, I would have been much farther up the road to Desert View when I realized I couldn't go on. I had ridden 15 miles when I realized I couldn't go on. Because of that 10 mile diversion, I was only 5 miles up the road when I had to turn around. I don't want to think what it would have been like if I was 15 miles out. My unconscious mind rulez!