Day 44: Near Virden, NM to Fort Thomas, AZ

Daily Miles: 74.5 Total Miles: 2351.7

Today I was smiling! 6 states down!

Today was a great day! I was exhausted this morning and just could not wake up. Finally, around 7:45am I got out of bed and headed down to breakfast. Due to my slow start, and the drive back out to Virden, we didn't get on the road until almost 9:45am. Fortunately, however, conditions today were perfect. There was almost no wind, it wasn't freezing cold or too hot, and in less than 30 minutes, I had arrived at the New Mexico-Arizona state line, and we gained back an hour. Arizona is in the Mountain Time Zone, but since Day Light Savings time is not observed in the state, Arizona currently has the same time as the Pacific Time Zone. We stopped for a few pictures and then I rode on. I was making great time today, and had knocked out the 14 miles to Duncan in less than an hour.

The Arizona desert is prettier than the Texas desert

After Duncan, I started to climb through the desert mountains, climbing about 1200' on the day. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and I was loving every minute. After reaching the top of the mountains about 25 miles into the ride, I began a slow descent of over 2700' that would continue for the rest of the day. I reached Safford, 53 miles into the ride, by 1pm and Mary, Jay and I enjoyed the Pizza Hut buffet before I headed out again. I rode on to Fort Thomas, where I finished my ride and met up with Mary.

Riding through the desert mountains

I ended up finishing today's ride at a record pace of 14.4 MPH. It felt so good to go fast after spending so many days battling the wind. We drove back to Thatcher (slightly west of Safford) and on our way back spotted a GIGANTIC saguaro cactus. We had both been silently wishing to see one of these puppies and this big guy did not disappoint. We pulled a U-turn and went back to take pictures. It was planted in front of the Post Office in Pima, Arizona and stood taller than the flagpole.

Biggest. Cactus. Ever.

HUGE. After that we grabbed some good frozen yogurt out of a train car (this is becoming a trend on this trip), and then came back to the hotel to relax. We had a perfectly fine dinner at Denny's and I think I'm going to make Mary and Jay take me back there for breakfast tomorrow so that I can build my own pancakes. I should be facing some big climbs over the next two days before reaching the greater Tempe/Mesa/Phoenix/
Scottsdale/10-other-cities megatropolis, so wish us luck!