Oh I crave the blue sky and distant horizon..
Thanks Adam! Yeah we usually do have blue skies and forever views. But we sure could use some of that rain, you guys get!

Oh I crave the blue sky and distant horizon..
Great pics and story. I’m envious of your ability to be riding in January. Thanks for sharing.Riding to an Arizona volcano,
When most people think of American volcanos, they think of Hawaii or maybe the Cascade mountains of Washington state or Oregon, but did you know Arizona has literally thousands of old volcanos? Including three volcanic fields that are considered still active! Like this young cinder cone volcano in Northern Arizona , Sunset Crater volcano is only 900 years old and considered still active.
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My bike warming up in the morning sun,
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Today I will be riding to the closest volcano to my home, about 45 miles South of me , the Arlington volcano. It’s what is known as a shield volcano, characterized by a low flat appearance, due to the fact that they were formed by very fluid lava flows that tended to spread over large areas. They were not explosive, shooting rocks and cinders for miles.
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Here it is, dead ahead. It rises less than 600 feet above the surrounding landscape, but spreads for miles. The funny thing is, I’ve ridden over this thing 50 times and never realized it was an old volcano….until recently.
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I am now riding on a road that goes right over the top of the old lava field. This satellite photo shows where I’m at ( the blue dot ) and I’m looking toward the peak and down the road.
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Here is an aerial shot of the volcanos vent, looking out toward farmland in the distance,
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Now , here I’m riding along the edge of the lava field, you can see the thickness of it, and there is a house built right on the edge of it.
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This volcano is part of the Sentinal Plain volcanic field , this is just one volcano out of hundreds in a 600 square kilometer field. This 3D photo shows you how these lava flows look as they spread over the surrounding landscape,
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Right across the road from the edge of the lava flow are large fields of alfalfa being grown for the many cattle farms in this area. Also spotted a herd of goats that escaped their pen and were making a run for an alfalfa field.
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And finally, I’m on another road that is climbing back on top of the volcanic field, you can see how steep it is and how much above ground level it is,
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And you can see how the road is cut through that black basalt lava rock.
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And with that, I turned and headed for home, but not without stopping for lunch first!About 90 miles today and a very nice ride!
Later, Bob
Great pics and story. I’m envious of your ability to be riding in January. Thanks for sharing.
Love your Arizona volcanoes! The top picture reminds me of the volcanoes of Lanzarote - they are quite young, some emerged in the eighteenth century.
We live on a volcano, but unfortunately we caught the version without that beautiful blue sky in January
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Great ride out Bob. Volcano stuff fascinates me; and I have been to Pompeii which was awesome. I also rode over the French volcanic area of Auvergne and the Massif Central on my CB750 K6 (Tony on his Z900); This volcanic area covers over 15% of France.Riding to an Arizona volcano,
When most people think of American volcanos, they think of Hawaii or maybe the Cascade mountains of Washington state or Oregon, but did you know Arizona has literally thousands of old volcanos? Including three volcanic fields that are considered still active! Like this young cinder cone volcano in Northern Arizona , Sunset Crater volcano is only 900 years old and considered still active.
View attachment 342636
My bike warming up in the morning sun,
View attachment 342615
Today I will be riding to the closest volcano to my home, about 45 miles South of me , the Arlington volcano. It last erupted approximately three million years ago. It’s what is known as a shield volcano, characterized by a low flat appearance, due to the fact that they were formed by very fluid lava flows that tended to spread over large areas. They were not explosive, shooting rocks and cinders for miles.
View attachment 342616View attachment 342617
Here it is, dead ahead. It rises less than 600 feet above the surrounding landscape, but spreads for miles. The funny thing is, I’ve ridden over this thing 50 times and never realized it was an old volcano….until recently.
View attachment 342618View attachment 342619View attachment 342620
I am now riding on a road that goes right over the top of the old lava field. This satellite photo shows where I’m at ( the blue dot ) and I’m looking toward the peak and down the road.
View attachment 342621View attachment 342622View attachment 342623
Here is an aerial shot of the volcanos vent, looking out toward farmland in the distance,
View attachment 342632
Now , here I’m riding along the edge of the lava field, you can see the thickness of it, and there is a house built right on the edge of it.
View attachment 342624View attachment 342625View attachment 342626
This volcano is part of the Sentinal Plain volcanic field , this is just one volcano out of hundreds in a 600 square kilometer field. This 3D photo shows you how these lava flows look as they spread over the surrounding landscape,
View attachment 342628
Right across the road from the edge of the lava flow are large fields of alfalfa being grown for the many cattle farms in this area. Also spotted a herd of goats that escaped their pen and were making a run for an alfalfa field.
View attachment 342627View attachment 342629
And finally, I’m on another road that is climbing back on top of the volcanic field, you can see how steep it is and how much above ground level it is,
View attachment 342630View attachment 342638View attachment 342637
And you can see how the road is cut through that black basalt lava rock.
View attachment 342631
And with that, I turned and headed for home, but not without stopping for lunch first!About 90 miles today and a very nice ride!
Later, Bob
...and it gets worse...
Lots of jealousy here...Sun was out today, has been for a couple weeks now, but of course, I've been sick for most of it. Couldnt resist taking a new toy out for a very brisk ride this afternoon. Cant wait for Spring/Summer to get here.
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Sun was out today, has been for a couple weeks now, but of course, I've been sick for most of it. Couldnt resist taking a new toy out for a very brisk ride this afternoon. Cant wait for Spring/Summer to get here.
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January in Wisconsin.
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About 80 miles, it was really quite comfortable, could have rode 200 with no problem.
Had to test the pannier repairs, honest honey.
Looked over the other side it needs hot Polypropylene love too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_du_Sac_DamWhat’s the location there? Kinda looks like a power plant?
Fantastic countryside; I bet the roads are just as good.Part of the Prairie du sac dam impoundment (Lake Wisconsin) in the distance.
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