Uraling in the South Valley Park

It was time for Fiona, my '99 Bural Patrol to get some much needed exercise.

She'd not really been ridden for the whole time I was in NM/AZ you see; but today that was remedied.

We rode out of the neighborhood and stopped for an hour or so near the junction of Santa Fe Road and C-470.  There was some work to do at the Cyxtera Data Center there so I wouldn't have to do it on Monday.

After the task was complete, we rode onto Deer Creek Canyon Road which one accesses via Wadsworth Blvd exit off of the C-470 highway.

First a stop at the neighborhood which surrounds Deer Creek Canyon Park for the usual view of nearby rock formations:

We then started heading west back on Deer Creek Canyon Rd but didn't get very far into the canyon itself; ran out of gas you see at 169 km on the trip meter.

I usually start looking for gas around 160 and usually only required 4 gallons so I thought I had the range, but nope.  Luckily, had about a gallon of gas in the spare gas can and I headed back towards Santa Fe boulevard and the nearest gas station.

Topped off this time, we went back towards Deer Creek Canyon and rode it all the way to the end where it junctons with Turkey Creek Road.  We reversed course and rode back towards South Valley Park to check out its many scenic rock formations:

As we exited back towards the metro area, I stopped to take a picture of the power line towers....they reminded of the Free French Cross and the way one pair was painted light blue somehow caught my eye.

As you can see, no snow on the roads; even in the twistier bits of road in the canyon.  The shady areas of the canyon were perhaps 2-3 degrees cooler and you can feel it in your fingertips in spite of heavy gloves.

Took the back way, via Waterton Canyon road back to Santa Fe Road aka US85.  I then took County Line road eastward back to my home neighborhoods.  It was a pretty windy day for a ride with temperatures starting just below freezing and soaring to almost 37°F (2.7°C) under sunny conditions.