Day13, Thatcher, AZ to Duncan, AZ

42 degrees and windy.

It's hard to get out of bed with such luxurious accommodations. 

Obviously this is before I got myself all made up. 

 The wind came up when we arrived yesterday and blew hard most of the night. Since we went to bed after dinner we had plenty of sleep by 6:00 am. Hitting the road after 8:00 am, we rode the 4 miles to the next town, Safford, for breakfast at Denny's.

 The sun was shy today and we rode into a stiff, 45 degree headwind all the way to the next town and our destination, Duncan. I wasn't really warm enough on the 43 mile ride and the hills served to heat me up a little, even with Jim pulling me. 

The Simpson Hotel in Duncan offers a warmshowers opportunity. We got to occupy a little old trailer with a mattress and a cot. 

Duncan is busy now since the copper and gold mining is experiencing a resurgence. Still a lot of buildings are abandoned. 

 

We ate a late lunch at this bakery. 

They were sold out of most food by the time we got there. 

We went off the Adventure Cycling Association route today. We wanted to avoid the major climbing and the weather that goes with it. The route through Silver City, NM tops out at 8228 feet! We are staying on hwy 70 until we hit I-10 and take that to Las Cruces, NM. 

Day 12, Globe AZ to Thatcher, AZ

Below freezing this morning. Jim had a water bottle in his tent that had some ice in it. It's weird because I had a water bottle on my bike with no ice in it. We had no shower last night but it was opened up early this morning and Jim took a shower. I figured it's too late for me since I was just getting right back on the bike again, and sweating. We left at 8:15 and it hadn't warmed much yet but I dressed for the heat that was coming, which meant I was COLD going down the first hill. We headed out of town without stopping, taking hwy 70 east. We knew it was a long day and didn't want to waste any time. It was reported to us that the route was flat but I think he meant there was little net change in elevation over a long distance. It was definitely not flat with rolling hills for over 20 miles. 

We rode for an hour and a half until we came upon an "Apache Burger" which was on the Apache reservation of course. I had a spam, egg, and cheese burrito which was okay.

We pushed on and it did flatten out for the most part though the light wind was against us. We stopped again at the Mt. Turnbull apache market for more road fuel. We made it to Pima for a drink and had less than 6 miles to the RV Park in Thatcher. Before we got there I got a rear flat from cause unknown. It could've been from the flat proof liner like the front flat I got earlier in the trip as I didn't find anything in the tire to cause a flat. 

The Red Lamp RV Park was another prime example of a really poorly run business. We had to pitch our tents in a trashy bare dirt lot with the ambience of a desert ghetto. Not what I wanted after pushing hard two days in a row. At least the Mexican restaurant across the street was good. 

76 miles today. 

Day 11, Mesa, AZ to Globe, AZ

After a great breakfast with Bill & Gerri we hit the road. 

Bill rode with us for about an hour showing us the best way out of town and then riding up Highway 70 with us for a while.

 We had an easy climb to Florence Junction and then a more serious climb up to Gonzales Pass at 2652 ft. The scenery was really pretty as we entered the Tonto National Forest. 

 We had a small down hill after the pass but more climbing was in store. We climbed up to Superior and got some drinks while I girded myself for the road ahead to tilt skyward, and it did. It was incredibly beautiful but really steep with lots of traffic including semis. We did alright for a couple of miles until we hit a construction area just before a tunnel. The construction took out the passing lane so that it was too narrow for the big trucks to pass us. Both of us got a truck stuck following us a few feet away until it opened up again. 

We took a breather on the uphill side of the tunnel before continuing. Climbing steeply again I was down to less than 5 mph, the sweat pouring off me. Eventually the passing lane ended which meant it was leveling out. We passed a sign saying "7 % grade downhill next 12 miles". That was a total lie. The downhill was 2 miles max and then back to a grinding uphill. We hadn't even crested the 4660 ft pass yet when we had another downhill to lose some hard fought elevation. 

We did summit and headed down to Miami, AZ but that was wasn't the fun it should've been. There was no shoulder and no passing lane and once again semi trucks couldn't safely get around us and had to follow us for awhile. 

We got almost to Miami (and out of downhill) when Jim's chain got wrapped around his crank arm twice. I think it took us about a half hour to un-knot the chain and push off for Globe. 

We got a few things at Safeway, shopping with my riding clothes covered with dried salt rings, and went three miles through Globe to the community center where we can camp for free but without showers. 

65 tough miles today. Wishing for break tomorrow but not seeing one. 

Day 10, Sun City, AZ to Mesa, AZ

Our hosts sent off in style with a big breakfast that lasted us until 2:00 pm. 

Jim and Don wrangled over the maps yesterday trying to find the best route through Phoenix from their house in Sun City. Jim and I wound up using the Google maps bicycle routing and it went perfectly until we could pick up the Adventure Cycling route along the canal bike path. 

It was dry so only served to route water when it rains. It was a beautiful way to get through a large portion of Phoenix. Later we rode along canals that were full of water used by the city water system. 

We got some help with routing from a couple of riders we saw earlier. The bike path went underneath almost all the cross roads in tunnels but one was tricky to find and they led us through it. 

We stopped at a bike cafe near the eastern edge of Phoenix for a Pepsi and the owner tried to figure out what was wrong with my Garmin GPS after it had locked up on me today. He got it working again but I lost all the data from previous rides. 

We worked our way past Arizona State U. and cycled through endless neighborhoods working our way to the Warm Showers host in Mesa. It's weird to spend all day and 55 miles riding through one (mostly) urban area. 

Our host, Bill, cycled out to meet us two miles away and then led us back to his home. Gerri fed us a wonderful dinner and we are grateful once again for good people who look after other cyclists. 

Day 9, Wickenburg, AZ to Sun City West, AZ

Up at 6:30 (dark, 35 degrees), broke camp and went across the road for a quick bite and coffee at McDonalds. We hit the road at 9:00 and had the easiest 40 mile ride possible, except maybe unloaded. Slight downhill, smooth shoulder pavement, and a tailwind gave us over 20 mph at times. 

We were headed to Jim's friends place who are hosting us tonight in Sun City. The short mileage (and fast speed average) gave us a chance to hit a bike shop and get a new tire for Jim. Once at Don and Alice's we had time to work on our bikes in comfort. 

We were treated like family with laundry, drinks, and a multi course meal that was delicious. 

Route planning consumed much of the evening as we figured out how to get through Phoenix. 

Day 8, Salome, AZ to Wickenburg, AZ

Up just before 7 in 35 degrees and dark. We had a good start on breaking camp even with boiling tea and coffee water on our camp stove when there was a loud pop a couple hundred yards away. I saw a shower of sparks shoot up in the air like a Roman candle and all the lights in the area went out. I don't know what caused it but it had little or no effect on us since we were using headlamps anyway. 

We hit the road at 8:06 in thin sun and made it 16 miles before we stopped to shed clothes. Even then It wasn't going to be as warm as yesterday with the high clouds. 

The route today (Hwy 60) is what I have imagined West Texas will be, low rugged hills on either side of us and a road, straight as an arrow, as far as you can see in either direction. We generally climbed today but it was so gradual it was hard to tell. Just before Wickenburg there were some hills and curves to break the monotony. 

We stopped at this 1937 memorial to a stagecoach massacre attributed to Apaches in 1871. Jim called the 2 listed RV parks and neither answered. Riding down into town we found the first one and were lucky the owner was there. RV parks are rarely nice for tenters but this one had a bar set really low by the previous two RV parks. 

We were happy to have grass to pitch our tents. Other issues became apparent but we don't sweat the small stuff. 

After cleaning up we walked across the street for pizza, beer, and Seahawks. The Hawks came from behind against the Fortyniners to secure a Super Bowl slot, yea!

56 miles today. On to Sun City West tomorrow to stay with friends of Jim's. 

Day 7, Quartzsite, AZ to Salome, AZ

Up at 7:00 am when the sky was just starting to lighten. Temp was about 45 but warmed rapidly after the sun popped up. After breaking camp we rode the short distance to the gas station for some chow and coffee (tea in Jim's case). 

We crossed I-10, rode the length of Quartzsite, and crossed over again to ride the shoulder of I-10 up to the pass by Guadalupe Mt. and then exited on Hwy 60. 

Classic southwest scenery with numerous saguaro, ocotillo cactus, and flat topped mesas. 

We ate an early lunch in Brenda, AZ at a roadside stand. We left and were truckin down the long, gentle downhill when Jim had a rear blowout. It was loud enough to scare me since I was drafting him. There was a hole in the sidewall about pencil diameter. The tube had a hole next to the stem but it wasn't adjacent to the hole in the tire. Weird! The tube wasn't patchable so we put another in after making a duct tape boot for the tire. A volunteer search and rescue guy stopped in case we needed help. 

We asked about staying at the KOA in Harcuvar but they wanted $30. Jim called one of the RV "resorts" in Salome and they wanted $5 apiece so went the three miles and got what we payed for. 

Yes, that is smelly garbage next to our camp. It's a good thing we have a high tolerance for lack of luxury. At least there's some grass for our tents. 

We couldn't go further than the 41 miles we did today because there is no place to stay between here and Wickenburg, AZ. A sixty mile day tomorrow will take us there.