Cycling from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon _ Cycling to Argentina 12

After eight months on the bikes riding south from Alaska we found ourselves in Las Vegas. We stayed with a lovely family for a week to edit a video and replace some gear. The time on our US visas was running out fast but we knew we couldn't leave before seeing the Grand Canyon. So before heading south we set our sights east to see it for ourselves. But we still had a lot of desert to cover between here and there and as usual not everything would go to plan. Bye! Bye guys! Thank you! So we are now headed east out of Vegas. We've plotted out a route on some questionable little roads so we'll see if they turn out to be rideable or not. But yeah I'm very excited to get back out into the desert. What do you think about this? I think wow! And on that articulate note we crossed into Arizona, our sixth and final state of our time in the USA. Adios highway! This is our beautiful spot by Lake Mead. I thought this would be a good time to introduce you to our new home. It's our new tent that we picked up in Vegas from a company called Slingfin and we're very happy to have working zips again so we can both climb in our own separate doors and even if these zips eventually break there's two spare zips at the ready so hopefully this tent will last quite a bit longer. Also our bums are really hurting because trying out a change of saddle we went with these Brooks leather ones that everyone seems to rave about but they are rock hard. Apparently it takes a little while to break them in. You okay? Look at that! Cute man! Oh not too bad! Not too bad! No it's all right. We made our way back up the wash to the main road and set our sights on Temple Bar. It's named Temple Bar after that which apparently looks like a temple. Cheers! I was not expecting this place to have a store so I think we might just hang out in this shade forever. That night we stayed at the campground there and the next morning filled up all of our bottles for a super remote two-day route towards a gas station that was pretty much in the middle of this morning because there's some very beautiful ones. I'll try and put the names on the screen. These little ones. Joshua trees. Not sure if they count as cacti but they're very spiky. Those ones are the spikiest. Then we have these big red barrel ones as well that have a few flowers popping out of the top. You've got to watch where you walk because there'll just be cactus pots all over the floor. There's a lot of spikes in there. This gas station is what we've been looking forward to for quite a few miles. From here the plan was to head northeast to a place called Grand Canyon West but we weren't going to see the canyon just yet as to be honest we didn't want to pay the $100 entrance fee so the plan was to follow Buckingham Road along the rim. At Grand Canyon West we were told that the road we wanted to take was closed so we poured out all of our water and prepared to go back. Then we were told that it was a public road and that we could in fact ride it so we filled back up with water and then when we went to ride the road the cops came and told us that it was definitely closed and that riding it would be trespassing so we poured out all of our water again and set off for 30 miles back to the gas station. So we're back at the same gas station that we were at two days ago because our plan got foiled so we've had to backtrack all the way back and next up we're going to try that way and head to route 66. Look at this digital nomad squatting with a laptop outside a gas station in the middle of nowhere. This is our new road. Should take us to route 66. Takes around a day. Looking great. I love this tent. Super strong in winds like this. Glorious. If you've never heard of route 66 it's probably the most celebrated highway in all of the United States and it is absolutely lined with quirky roadside attractions, diners and classic cars. It goes all the way from Los Angeles to Chicago and to drive or even cycle the entire thing is something on a lot of people's bucket lists so if we were going to have to cycle on any highway route 66 was a fine choice. I owe it all to you. I owe it all to you. I do. I owe it all to you. We came here to eat famous hot dogs in Seligman and I asked for a small Dr Pepper. What is that? No, no, but then they gave me the real one. In this episode we venture over to Washington's Olympic Pavilion. We're currently filling our waters at the back of a grocery store. We're off for another three day section through the desert to get to Grand Canyon Village. What's that? Yeah, very heavy. Heavy as f***. Oh, you bleeped it yourself. We managed to stitch together a route on the map that would lead us directly up to the Grand Canyon but as usual we weren't too sure if it would actually be possible as there's a lot of private land around here but we were going to give it our best shot. All of the different roads we were hoping to take are all firmly gated up with padlocks and no trespassing signs. We found an entrance to all the land back here. It's all state trust land but we got a permit for that so hopefully we'll be able to find our way through. We found our way to a nice secluded campsite and the next day Victoria woke up with a pretty heavy fever. So we decided to stay put in the tent and let her recover for the day. With only a few weeks left on our visas we had two options. Turn back to Seligman, rest up and wait it out and then head south from there or push on through it to see the Grand Canyon. We didn't have enough time to do both. The next day she was feeling just about strong enough to get back on the bike and decided that a few days of suffering would be worth it to see the Grand Canyon. So we transferred as much weight as we could from her bike to mine and slowly but surely continued on north. So the road we thought was a road has turned into a fence. We're going to try and squeeze the bikes under the fence because we know we're allowed back there because someone's just put a fence up. We are badasses. I don't have much footage of these few days as Victoria was suffering. This was a real battle for her. We didn't have any medication other than a small supply of ibuprofen and yet here she is way out in the wilderness pushing on and crushing miles. These are the kind of situations where you really find out what you're made of. On day three since she first got sick Victoria was finally starting to feel like herself again. And just in time for our final approach towards the Grand Canyon. I'm a little bit runny and I have tears in my eyes. But whatever, the fever is gone. For now we found some beautiful trails. And super out of nowhere, with no people. This way, this way, this way. Well done. It's breathtaking, I'm honest. Yeah, it's quite big. That's crazy. What do you think of the Grand Canyon? Man, it's my baby. It's a huge baby. It's beautiful. I love it. I love it. I will never get tired of this place. Yeah. No one could get tired of this place. So Keith and Renee, who watch our videos, have very kindly offered to put us up in a hotel for a couple nights. Right here in Grand Canyon Village. And I don't think we've ever needed a hotel more. And they're definitely not cheap here. So thank you very much Keith and Renee. Hey guys, thanks for watching the video. Do you have anything to say after the video? Don't do that.