Day 48: Wittmann, AZ to Salome, AZ

Daily Miles: 77.8 Total Miles: 2611.3

The desert is a lonely place...

Today we got back on track! We woke up early, had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and headed back to Wittmann. I was on the road before 9am and immediately got into a nice groove. I started climbing again right off the bat, but I was feeling strong and the wind was very mild (and at my back). I was making great time and quickly knocked out the first 23 miles (and 600' of climbing) to Wickenburg. As I was entering town and traffic started to pick up, I spotted a Dunkin Donuts, and had to pull in. This was probably the first DD I've seen on my route on this trip so far, and, even at 10am it was so hot that I couldn't pass up an iced coffee. Mary met me there and we both had a snack before I pressed on. The riding through Wickenburg was pretty hectic because there was no shoulder, lots of traffic due to an event in town today, and a very odd roundabout where two highways met.

Climbing out of Wickenburg

I made it through and then climbed another 600' over the next 10 miles before starting an extremely gradual descent for the rest of the day. After Wickenburg today's ride was through an extremely empty, desolate desert with mountains in the distance. My only companions were the cacti and tons of little lizards running along the shoulder. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the road was generally in excellent condition, and with my newly adjusted derailleur (the thing that moves the chain from gear to gear), I was riding very smoothly. I met up with Mary again ~55 miles into the ride and she had brought me an ice cold Coke and a Subway sandwich.  That may have been the best Coke of my life.

The mountains in the distance

I headed out again to knock out the final 22 miles of the day on to Salome and Mary drove on to check in to our gem of a hotel and the only game in town, Sheffler's. Now, Sheffler's is not the worst hotel we've stayed in on this trip, it does offer access to a green pool and 20 year old trampoline after all, but it's giving the others a run for their money. Highlights so far include: no hot water. At all. I took a cold shower while Mary went outside to tell the "maintenance man" who was actually a 13 year old boy, and he went to "turn the boiler on" but the water stayed cold. Then Mary went to inquire about the Internet, and they made her pay them $3 for the password, which was 200+ characters long, and by the way, the Internet doesn't actually work. So now we are at the local hot spot, Buckaroo's, having dinner and updating the blog. Buckaroo's, by the way, is delicious, and their Internet works great. Mary talked with Jay today and he made it back home alive and well. Tomorrow we'll be crossing in to California and starting our final push to the Pacific!

Day 47: Tempe, AZ to Wittmann, AZ

Daily Miles: 46.1 Total Miles: 2533.5

Starting my ride along the river in Tempe

Today was a long, hot day full of urban riding. We packed up early and grabbed a good sit-down breakfast before Mary and Jay headed on to the airport in Tuscon. At 9am, they dropped me off at the Starbucks where I ended my ride yesterday, and my friend Eben met me there for coffee. We chatted until around 10am and then I headed out. I started out riding right by the river, and there were a few confusing/unmarked turns in the first mile before I really got underway. The ride was nice at first, but even at 10am it was already really hot. I also couldn't ever really get a good pace going because there were tons of traffic lights, and then the road I was on randomly ended every mile or so and I had to cross over pedestrian bridges or walkways to get back on track. After the first 14 miles I got onto the Canal Bike Trail.

Canal Bike Trail

The conditions were pretty nice, but the route frequently dipped into dark, very narrow tunnels  to cross under the streets. It was a little nerve-wracking, but I fairly quickly made it back onto the main roads. And immediately got lost. Or, not really lost, just off the ACA route. The directions called for walking the bike through crosswalks, riding in a ditch, and making like 7 turns all to get onto Cholla St. So as I got off the bike path I asked a pedestrian where Cholla St. was and she said it was the next light. I rode my bike up the sidewalk to get there because I was on the opposite side of the road and there was a ton of traffic. When I got onto Cholla, I thought I was all set. Until Cholla ended at a river that I had no way to cross. All of those turns were to get onto the other side of the river, but by then I was way off track and saw no way to get over there. I took a look at the map and saw that I could just go about 2 miles north and get onto Thunderbird Road, which I would need to get on later anyway. I made my way up there and Thunderbird ended up being an extremely busy strip mall road for miles and miles. I had to ride like 5 miles on the sidewalk, and it was a mess.

Pretty trees along the road

After about 28 miles I pulled off at a Starbucks to get a drink, eat a snack, and get out of the sun. I checked my phone for restaurants and there were tons for the next 12 miles to Surprise and then zero until Wickenburg (~70 miles into the ride). I called Mary, who had already dropped Jay off in Tuscon and was on her was back, and told her that I would meet her somewhere in Surprise for lunch. I headed back out, rode Thunderbird to Route 60 and eventually a well-paved bike lane/shoulder appeared and I could get off the sidewalk. I was still having trouble getting into a good rhythm because there were still stop lights every quarter mile. I made it to a Greek restaurant in Surprise, 38 miles into the ride, and was not feeling so hot. Well, I was actually feeling extremely hot, like overheated. Mary showed up and we ate a delicious gyro lunch. It was already 4pm when I headed back out to finish the last 22 miles to Morristown, and as soon as I started I knew I wasn't going to make it. It was like 94 degrees, I was starting to climb, and a light headwind was blowing. I made it another 8 miles before I called Mary and told her to come and get me. We made it back to a hotel in Sun City, ordered delivery pizza, and tomorrow we're going to give it another go. It looks like the highs for the next 5 days are 98, 102, 103, 101, and 98. Tomorrow I'm going to try to a get much earlier start to see if I can beat the heat.

Day 46: Miami, AZ to Tempe, AZ

Daily Miles: 72.4 Total Miles: 2487.4

Crazy plant on ascent to Top of the World

Another day down! This morning I finally got my pancake breakfast, and although not quite up to Denny's standards, it was worth the wait. Since we had to take the additional time for a sit down breakfast and then drive back to Miami, I got a pretty late start today. Around 9:30am I was back at my starting point and gearing up to go when the German couple we met miles ago, Cornelius and Marita, rolled up. I hadn't seen them for days, and so we spent a good 10-15 minutes catching up before I finally set out. The day immediately started with a BIG 1200' climb over 7.5 miles to Top of the World, AZ. It was a long, rough haul. But once I got to the top, I enjoyed a quick break with Mary and Jay before starting the big 2200' descent into Superior. I can say, without a doubt, that today was the most beautiful ride of my trip.

Descending into Superior

The descent into Superior was incredible. I couldn't stop to take pictures, but Mary got a lot of great ones. There were huge rock columns on all sides and the view really was breathtaking. I couldn't stop looking around, even though I was rolling along around 30 MPH for several miles. I loved it!  I knew that I would have to ride through a shoulder-less tunnel followed by an equally treacherous bridge before entering Superior, and was feeling a little nervous. Fortunately, as I approached the tunnel, I spotted Cornelius and Marita. They had pulled over to turn on their safety lights, so I slid in right behind them and we went through the tunnel and over the bridge together. It was nice riding with them for a bit, and since they had big lights and huge packs on their bikes, I felt much safer. I left them behind in Superior ~17 miles in to today's ride, and quickly met up with Mary and Jay for a snack before pressing on another 25 miles to Gold Canyon for lunch.

Approaching the tunnel...

I had another, smaller climb over Gonzales Pass as I left Superior and then it was slightly downhill for the rest of the day. Outside of Superior an incredibly well-maintained, huge shoulder appeared, and I rode it all the way in to town. There was a little bit of a headwind today, but it wasn't too bad, and actually, since it was around 95 degrees this afternoon, the wind was somewhat cooling. I met up with Mary and Jay at a Subway, ate a quick lunch, and then set out in the heat to finish the last ~30 miles of the day. The rest of the ride was all through urban Apache Junction/Mesa/Tempe. Going in I was nervous after the extremely stressful ride I had through El Paso, but I have to give this area an A+++ for cycling conditions. The ACA map took me though great, lightly trafficked streets, and almost all of them had dedicated bike lanes. It was great! It was also cool seeing some of the residential areas. Most houses didn't have grass, just rocks or cacti in their yards.

...and then crossing the bridge

Very different from home. I made it to Arizona State University (ASU), and crossed the river, ending today's ride and meeting up with Mary. Luckily, we were right across the street from a frozen yogurt place and less than 2 miles from a bike shop. We grabbed fro-yo and then quickly took my bike in to deal with a few small issues (chain slipping and breaks). The store was packed, but they managed to squeeze us in, and hopefully everything will be running smoothly tomorrow. After grabbing a quick shower, I met up with my friend Eben from Peace Corps and we had a great sushi dinner in Scottsdale. It was so good getting to catch up with him and so so so good to eat sushi. I'm going to meet him again tomorrow morning in Phoenix for coffee about 10 miles into my ride. Mary and Jay took it easy tonight and did some laundry. Tomorrow morning I'm heading out solo and Mary is driving Jay to Tuscon so that he can catch his flight home. It's been fun having him join our trip, and we're going to miss him!

Day 45: Ft. Thomas, AZ to Miami, AZ

Daily Miles: 63.3 Total Miles: 2415.0

Cactus patch

Today was another good one! We were up and packed early, so that we would have time to go to Denny's and build our own pancakes. I am not going to lie, I was so excited, and as we were driving I even told Mary and Jay exactly what I was going to order. Well, I should have known that disappointment awaited me. As we were pulling in to Denny's this lady flagged us down and said, "There was a fire at Denny's last night, we're not open right now." :-( I could almost taste those whole wheat blueberry pancakes topped with fresh strawberries. Oh well. We double-backed to the hotel, ate the continental breakfast there, and then headed on to Fort Thomas. Even with the delay, I was on the road by 9am.

Thorny bush. You do not want to ride into one of these

I started out and again was making great time. I spent almost the whole day riding through the San Carlos Apache Reservation, and once again I found the desert landscape really beautiful. After the first 13 miles I met up with Mary and Jay before they embarked on an off-road adventure through the back roads of the Apache Reservation. I headed on the main road, and started climbing. The ride was nice and passed through more desert, but the shoulder conditions varied from completely destroyed to somewhat ride-able. For today's entire ride, and really all through Arizona so far, there were joints in the shoulder that cause a tremendous jolt when I ride over them. And they're spaced so that I ride over roughly 2 every second.

This hill never ended!

It makes for a rough ride, so when traffic isn't too bad, I spend most of my time riding in the road. There were a few spots where the joints are smoothed out and don't cause a jolt, but today there was also another nuisance to contend with, thorny bushes. They are everywhere along the sides of Arizona roads. Today, many of these bushes were grown over onto the shoulder, and I got blasted quite a few times in the right arm and leg. Once, while rolling downhill at about 25MPH, I got hit right in the face by a branch. Not fun. Mary and Jay went on the ACA San Carlos Alternate Route and they said it was one wild ride. The 40-mile route was basically dirt paved with huge rocks. They said it was an extremely rough ride, but it featured great views of the San Carlos Lake and the Coolidge Dam. Their pictures were really great, and even though they came back dusty and tired, I think they're glad they took the scenic route.

The San Carlos Lake

I met back up with them ~35 miles into my ride in Peridot, AZ. This was the heart of Apache Nation, and although there weren't any restaurants, we stopped in the local grocery store and ate sandwiches, pasta salad, and other snacks from there for lunch. I was averaging nearly 16 MPH for those first 35 miles, but my pace slowed significantly as I immediately began a 900' climb in the blazing sun out of Peridot. It was pretty rough, but the grade wasn't too bad, and before I knew it I had reached the 48 mile mark was briefly descending to our hotel, the Best Western at the Apache Gold Casino.

Big Jay checking out the Coolidge Dam

Needless to say Mary and Jay are out enjoying the casino right now. I quickly met up with mom and dad at the hotel to fill up my water bottles and then set out to finish the last 15 miles of the day to Miami. Once again I started to climb, putting in a final 600' before reaching Globe. I ended up climbing nearly 2900' today. As I arrived in Globe I was greeted with an extreme amount of traffic, no shoulder, and a lot of stress. Globe seemed to stretch on forever, then blend in to Claypool, before finally, about 8 miles later, reaching Miami. The entire area seems to be dominated by a copper mine, and I guess a lot of the traffic was due to that. I made it though, and then Mary and I headed back to the hotel. We're here now and Mary and Jay are enjoying the facilities and I'm relaxing and looking forward to meeting up with them for dinner in a bit. Tomorrow we'll head over one big pass and one smaller pass before descending into Tempe.

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!

Day 43: Oak Grove, NM to near Virden, NM

Daily Miles: 51.6 Total Miles: 2277.2

Please note gloves, socks, and grimace

It's good to be back on the road! I was anxious to get going this morning (and foolishly hoping to get some miles in before the wind picked up), so I was up and getting ready by 6:30am. It was around 28 degrees when I got up, so I slowed it down a little, bundled up a lot (including wearing a pair of pink Ralph Lauren gloves that Mary found in the trunk on top of my normal cycling gloves), and took my time packing and eating breakfast. By the time we drove back out to Oak Grove and I got on my bike it was 8:30am, still a respectable starting time for us. It was soooooooo COLD. Like 30 degrees. And already extremely windy. And I started my day with a climb to the Continental Divide. My feet very quickly went numb, and then very quickly went from numb to hurting very badly. It took me just over an hour to ride the 10 miles to the Continental Divide and when I got there I was miserable.

We're back in the desert

I had to jump in the car and I stayed there well over an hour warming up my feet and everything else. I decided to put a pair of hiking socks on over my cycling socks before heading back out. We quickly took a few pictures and I'm pretty positive that I am the most pathetic-looking person to ever cross the Continental Divide... in history. As in, I'm sure the people who went across during the Oregon Trail days, in covered wagons, with full-blown dysentery, still looked perkier than I did this morning. But I made it, and I headed back out and things were considerably better.

On the road again

It had warmed up somewhat, and the hiking socks really helped keep me warm. I only had to ride on another ~7 miles of up and down hills before reaching the 14 mile, 2000' descent into Lordsburg. The descent would have been much more fun if there wasn't a 21 MPH sidewind, but it was a pretty easy ride. Once in Lordsburg, I met up with Mary and Jay and we went to grab lunch at Kranberry's Restaurant, the same place we ate dinner at last night and the same place we're eating dinner at tonight. It's a local spot in a town with less than 5 restaurants, but it's actually really good.

Celebrating with the Big Guy

After lunch, I was feeling warmer and better and decided to press on, heading northwest on US 70, now directly into the 20+MPH headwind. I was definitely feeling better after 3 days off, because I did actually enjoy the ride. I put in another 20 miles through the desert, stopping short of the Arizona state line, and then drove back to Lordsburg with Mary and Jay. We're staying in the same hotel as last night (which has an indoor hot tub!), and it's very nice. We're heading out to Kranberry's again now, and we're really looking forward to tomorrow! We should have minimal winds (possibly even a slight tailwind), and we're crossing into Arizona (the second to last state of the trip)!

Day 42: Gila Cliff Dwellings (Inclement Weather Day)

Gila Wilderness

We're baaaaaack! More or less. I didn't actually ride my bike today, but I am back from Dallas and was ready to ride. We stayed in El Paso again last night and had planned on waking up, driving back to Oak Grove, and then riding on the ~30 miles to Lordsburg before once again getting into the long rides tomorrow. However, as soon as we woke up this morning, things were not looking good. I checked the weather forecast for Silver City and Lordsburg and they both were calling for 35-45 MPH winds.

Mary and me at the Gila Cliff Dwellings

Headwinds, to be specific, although I think in 40+MPH winds the direction doesn't really matter that much. It would be almost impossible to maintain control of a bike regardless. We decided to drive back to Silver City and then on an additional ~40 miles to check out the Gila Cliff Dwellings, with the hope that when we got back to Oak Grove around 5pm the winds would have calmed significantly, and I could knock out some of the 30 miles. The drive to Silver City featured unbelievable dust storms due to all of the wind, and a few times we almost completely lost visibility.

Exiting the cave in style

When we got to the hotel tonight we learned that they closed down the Interstate for 2 hours this afternoon because the dust storms were so intense. We got to Silver City around noon, had a quick lunch, and then drove on the very curvy, scenic road to Gila. The ride was really pretty, but I dozed off a little and when I woke up I was confused to see snow falling. By the time we made it to the Visitor's Center, it was really snowing. Mary and I braved the 1.25 mile hike in the freezing weather and it was definitely worth it. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and the 700+ year old cave dwellings were really well-preserved and impressive. We really enjoyed the hike and even both made our way down the intimidating ladder exit.

Snow? In southern New Mexico?

It was cool seeing the dwellings in the snow, because it really gave us an appreciation for what the inhabitants there endured (and a realization of how unlikely it is that we would have survived life back then). After the hike we drove back to Silver City and the snow started to really fall, and was actually sticking! We were afraid we weren't going to make it back, but as we lost altitude the roads stayed clear. Upon reaching Silver City I checked the weather again: 35 degrees, 22 degree wind chill, and 38 MPH headwinds. Needless to say, I decided not to ride. We drove on to Lordsburg where we're staying tonight. Now we're getting ready for bed and hoping that the weather vastly improves tomorrow.