2017 09-29 Silver City to Mimbres (23 miles or 51 miles)

Toady we have a choice in how to cycle from Silver City to Mimbres.  Take the main route and cycle 23 miles or choose the Gila Cliff Dwelling alternate route and cycle 51 miles.  The group was split, with most of the group choosing the longer route and the oldest riders choosing the shorter route.  Tomorrow we start at Mimbres at an elevation of 5971 feet and cross the continental divide at Emery pass at 8228 feet, a significant climb, especially when the ups and downs are factored in. So why not save your legs?

The forecast for today called for a significant chance of rain.  The rain never came, but the sky was overcast for most of the morning.  Those taking the shorter option cycled with an overcast sky most of their ride.  Those taking the longer option had a break in the cloud cover.  Of course, crossing the continental divide twice on the longer ride means those riders are still cycling while the older (maybe wiser) cyclists have their tents set up, are showered and are now relaxing.  Oh, how sweet life is. 

Some opting for the 51 mile route are just now starting to arrive and are claiming the best ride of the trip.  Perhaps it was, but they do have a look of “I’m glad it is over” on their faces. Except for Chris, who has his usual smiley happy face on.

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2017 0926, 27 and 28

2017 09-28 Silver City (0 miles)

Today is a layover day.  Over and out.

2017 09-27 Lordsburg to Silver City (47 miles)

Today started out a little warmer than yesterday.  Our ride is fairly short,  only 47 miles but we must climb over 4300 feet to reach Silver City.  The rain did not come last night, but the sky in the direction we are heading looks ominous.  After finishing breakfast and packing all our gear, we headed out of town to get back onto our bike route, as Lordsburg  is about three miles off route.  We soon found that to a day of climbing we get to add another challenge, the wind.  Yes, as if gaining elevation all day was not enough, we get to add a head wind.  Actually it was not a direct head wind, but close enough.  The miles seemed to go by ever so slowly. It took over 6 hours to go the first 25 miles.  And yet no rain, only the ever present threat we could see ahead in the direction of our destination.  We finally reached the continental divide marker, a land mark point in a cyclist’s day of a long climb.  Almost everyone stopped to have their picture taken next to the sign, a badge of achievement.

It wasn’t long after the milestone stop that the third in today’s challenges was to materialize, the rain.  Yes, nice cold rain.  Of course it came right around the time we started a well deserved long downhill.  Rain in your eyes, chilled to the bone, and for those with rim brakes, reduced stopping ability.  Did I mention how much fun we had today?  

The plan was that we would camp out in Silver City for tonight and also for tomorrow night, as Silver City is our second layover stop.  Some in the group opted to spend their money for a hotel, and before you knew it, we all opted for the comfort of a motel. Our leader then cancelled the camp ground reservations and paid for our stay in the hotel.  Sweet!   Staying in a tent after a day of rain was not appealing, and to spend a layover day in one was, well unthinkable. 

Seven of us ate dinner at the very nice Adobe Springs Café, only a few blocks away from the Motel 6 we are “camping” at.  The food was excellent and the portions very generous.

It may be of interest to note that we have cycled 780 miles since the start and we have climbed a total of a little over 46,000 feet. 

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2017 09-26 Duncan to Lordsburg (37 miles)

Today was a great riding day!  Light traffic, almost non-existent, smooth road, wide shoulders, courteous drivers, no real climbs and the mileage is short.  Fantastic! 

After leaving the park we cycled only 6 miles before crossing from Arizona into New Mexico, another milestone. The scenery changed from cactus to some kind of small bush (name unknown).  There were no services along the route, but the pleasant scenery and cooler temperatures made the time go by quickly.  It warmed to a comfortable biking temperature early in the ride, and was very pleasant for the remainder of the day. In contrast, last evening turned out to be cold.  One rider has a thermometer on his bike that read 39 degrees at 6:30 AM.  Getting out of the warmth of ones sleeping bag was not easy today, and putting on cold cycling clothing was not pleasant. 

                                                                                                     

Tonight we are staying at a KOA campground and are scheduled to set up our tents in a group tenting area.  The forecast is for rain sometime during the night.  Adjacent to the group tent area are three cabins, each having space for four people.  The price for the cabins was less than two dollars per person more than that of the tent spots.  A no brainer, as we all opted to sleep high and dry in the cabins.   It is no fun to pack up a wet tent.

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2017 09-24 and 09-25

2017 09-25 Safford to Duncan (41 miles)

We leave Safford today as a group, something that does not happen too often.  From the camp ground, the entire group road a few blocks to the local IGA market and waited for tonight’s cook team to shop. Duncan has limited stores and supplies so the groceries we need for tomorrows breakfast and lunch must be purchased here in Safford and carried to Duncan.  This requires a group effort with each person helping to carry a small part of the purchased goods.  Fortunately we will eat at a restaurant tonight, which greatly reduces the amount of supplies we must all carry.

The ride was easy enough, and the last 9 miles where down hill into Duncan.  The group arrived into Duncan at close to the same time, all eleven stopped at the same restaurant, and ate a mid afternoon lunch.  Finding the same place to eat in such a small town is not that difficult a thing to do, and bikes parked outside a restaurant seem to lure subsequent riders who need to join in the festivities.  The place had good food and it was a relaxing place to spend some time.  No one was in a hurry to rush off to the community park where we will spend the night. It is a clean park but the thought of spending several hours just waiting for dinner did not seem appealing.

After setting up their tents, some went to the local library which has WiFi access and a place to site and write.  Others stayed in the park.  Dinner tonight is at a local pizza shop, only a block from the park.  Go two blocks in either direction and your out of town.   And as for showers, there are none in the community park.  The local school has offered to allow us the use of there showers at 6 o'clock tonight. 

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2017 09-24 Globe to Safford (78 miles)

Tom and Patrick get to cook for the group in Sanfford tonight .  Cooking is not a favorite part of the group shared responsibilities and the long days ride we face today, with the possible late arrival into Safford, just make the cooks that much more anxious.

Patrick has become the second unfortunate sole in the group to be forced to end the ride early.  It seems an old injury he suffered many years ago has flared up and resulted in a torn meniscus.  Any cyclist knows the importance of healthy knees, especially with the extreme pressure placed on the knee joint during strenuous hill climbing.   We have done a lot of climbing lately and it is not going to be any easier in the days ahead.  We wish Patrick well and a safe journey back home.  We will miss his always pleasant personalty. 

Tom is now faced with a little more of a challenge, but someone will step in to take Patrick’s place.  Tom left Globe at 4:45 AM this morning with Joe as a riding partner, and hopes to get to Safford in ample time to shop and prepare a meal for eleven hungry cyclists.  The first twenty miles of their ride required the use of headlamps, as it was still to dark to see the road without them. 

The ride to Safford was relatively easy and uneventful.  Ample stopping places along the route made it possible to replenish ones energy with something cool and refreshing to drink, something other than the warm water we carry.  This part of Arizona does not present a lot of picture taking opportunities. 

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2017 09-23 Tonto Basin to Globe

What a difference a day makes.  Today was fantastic!  It was a 51 mile day and the first 25 miles where relatively easy.  Short climbs followed by nice descents.  A real pleasant ride with little to no traffic, and a stark contrast to yesterdays high speed, constant noise, nerve racking traffic.  Much of this first section was along the picturesque Theodore Roosevelt Lake, formed by the damming up of the Salt River.  Riding along side water has a very soothing and relaxing effect. The ride was just delightful and filled with breathtaking vistas of the river and valley it flows through.

No day goes by in this part of the country without a climb, and today was no exception.  But again, without the added stress of traffic, the 10 miles of steep climbing seemed much easier than yesterdays. Interestingly, some in the group found it to be more difficult today.  All things are a matter of taste and preferences.

The last five miles where spent riding into and through Globe as our hotel, a very nice Motel six, is located on the outskirts at the other end of town.  This short stretch proved to be a little difficult, ibut only because of  the heavy traffic and narrow shoulders.  This Motel six is a great little hotel.  Clean, the staff pleasant and the rooms extra large.  We could ride our bikes in circles around in these rooms if we felt like sitting on the bike seat anymore. 

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Today's Map

Map of trip to date

2017 09-20, 21, and 22

2017 09-22 Usery Mountain Recreation Area to Tonto Basin

Today was a 67 mile day with no services for the first 50 miles.  The section had an elevation gain of 3000 feet.  There where a few occasional downhills.  The downhills resulted in a total amount of climbing in excess of 4000 feet, for when you go down you must climb to the same elevation again.  A significant portion of today's ride was on route 87, a two lane divided highway busy with a lot of motor homes and trucks.  This high speed traffic results in a lot of tire noise, and this noise, for some, is very fatiguing.  It frays ones nerves, resulting in significant tension.

We are definitely in cactus country.  The cactus plants where more plentiful during today's ride than in past days.

Some sad news to report tonight.  One of our brothers, Terry, had to drop out of the tour.  He has been having pain in his eyes for the past few days and this morning returned to Tempe to be seen by an eye doctor.  It turns out he has sun burn of his eyes and must remain in doors, in the dark and wearing sun glasses for the next 10 days.  He was a great rider and a good guy and we will miss him.  Sorry to see you leave the group Terry!

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017 09-21 Tempe to Usery Mountain Recreation Area

Today is a 27 mile day, and because it is so short a riding day, our leader, Ken, recommended a late departure from the hotel.  Most of us finally left around 8 AM after our group breakfast and a map meeting.   Today may be the exception in the old saying “it is not the destination but the journey that matters” s today it was the destination.  The first 20 miles of our ride was just getting out of the “city”; city streets, city stop lights, city traffic, very boring.  After turning north from our initial easterly exit from the city, the scenery changed to more of what we have become accustomed to riding through, desert scenery.  With the harsh late morning sun, there was no picture taking opportunities.  

Things seemed to change when we turned into the park entrance.  It had a magical feel to it, but its full potential would not be reviled until later, when the sun was setting and casting its magical glow on all the landscape.   A special treat was provided by a Harris Hawk which posed for several minutes atop a cactus plant, allowing ample time to capture pictures which would revile the true beauty of the bird.

Ken had mentioned early in the day that arrangements had been made to have dinner delivered to our camp site.  We all assumed that dinner was provided by request of Ken, but that assumption was wrong.  Gary and Debbie, owners of the Los Gringos Locos restaurant, have become interested in cycling and want to take a trip like ours someday.   Some how they heard about our passing through this area and contacted adventure cycling offering to serve us a free meal, compliments of there business.  What a treat.  They treaded us like royalty.  The food was delicious and they where the friendless people one could meet.   

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2017 09-20 Tempe layover day

Today is a layover day, a day of rest and recovery.  Everyone is off doing their own thing as no group activities are planned on these days.  The only thing that just about everybody will be doing is a little bike maintenance, especially to the chain and gears.  They tend to get dirty from road dirt and will not work smoothly if left unattended for too long.  Layover day seems to be the day with enough time to tackle this job.

2017 09-19 Wickenburg to Tempe, AZ

It was a 68 mile ride to Tempe, and was mostly downhill all the way into Phoenix.  The fast ride was good but the traffic noise was distracting.  Once into Phoenix and on the Arizona Canal Bike Path, things turned peaceful and very enjoyable.  The trail has many underpasses to get the biker safely past intersecting roads. The safety aspect of this is something which should be provided on more bike paths.  Not so obviously, one must be extremely careful while going through the underpasses.  Sun glasses on while entering makes it difficulty to see the obstacles.  What obstacles you say?  It seems these underpasses provide shade and a “safe comfortable” place for the homeless to sleep.  One homeless man was asleep along the edge of the path and near the wall, and we barley missed hitting him with our pedals.  Future underpasses where entered with much more caution.

The official Adventure Cycling route leaves the bike path and meanders through city streets to get into Tempe.  Some in the group choose to stay on the bike path for several more miles, and exiting it, had only a 6 mile ride on roads with good bike lanes before reaching the hotel.  This unofficial route section was not paved, but was very nicely packed stone and sand.  It was easy to ride and extended our time out of traffic.

We are staying at a Motel 6.  Not top of the line but nice.  The pool is right outside our rooms and a quick dip in the surprisingly cool water proved very refreshing.  We will be here for two nights as tomorrow is a layover day, a little time for R&R. 

Don’t expect much from this blog tomorrow. J

 Ken, Neil and Joe went to dinner with Mike and Lori.  Mike drove us in a air conditioned van to the Macyo Depot Cantina, a great Mexican restaurant.   After dinner we walked to Spanky’s for a delicious ice-cream cone.  Maybe we will have to ride tomorrow to work off all the calories we consumed tonight.

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2017 09-18 Salome to Wickenburg

The scenery is starting to get a little repetitive now so finding new things to be amazed over is getting more difficult.  Most of today’s pictures where taken either at the beginning or the end of the ride, and this is perhaps due to the harsh light during the time in-between.  Harsh bright sunlight makes for bad viewing and awful pictures.

 One interesting things along today’s ride was provided by fellow biker Chris as he caught up and passed me in one of the many desolate areas along route.  While passing by in this one little bit of nowhere Chris shouted out “Another beautiful day in down town Arizona”. 

There were several historic markers along the route just before and in Wickenburg.  The first was for the site of a massacre that occurred on the morning of November 18, 1871, where a stagecoach carrying seven men was attacked by a party of thirteen Yavapai tribe Indians from the Date Creek Reservation.   The stagecoach was heading West and most of the passengers had plans to ride to Los Angels.

The second historic maker of note was for the Jail Tree, in use from 1860 to 1890.  Prisoners would be shackled to the tree and there where no know escapes.  It is told that folks in the town where to busy mining for gold to take the time to build a real jail building.

Wickenburg, with a population of 7115, is the largest city on our tour so far.  It is the oldest town north of Tucson, and the 5th oldest in the state (established in 1863). In its heyday, Wickenburg was the third largest town in Arizona. In 1866 it missed becoming the territorial capital by 2 votes.

The KOA campground we are staying at, located just beyond the city, is very nice.  It has a nice grassy area for us to set up tents, a recreation room next to the tent area, and an office that sells cold water for a reasonable price.

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2017 09-17 Quartzsite to Salome

There was such a rush to introduce Paul yesterday that an important fact was omitted, we left sunny California in the morning, crossing over the Colorado River and entered Arizona.  One state down and only six more to go.  

Another interesting fact, the Yacht Club Motel is a real Yacht club, even though it is near no water, and has the largest membership of any yacht club in the world.  The club charges a really small yearly few to be a member and as a member you have  access into any other yacht club in the world, no matter how fancy or expensive. This is a brilliant move by the owner, making membership money and having to provide hardly any services.

The trip from Quartzsite to Salome was typical of the last few days of riding, where a long section of the route was on the interstate.  The shoulders are wide so are relatively safe, but the sound of the high speed traffic wising by is very fatiguing.  And then there are the mine fields we have to contend with.  No, it is not a war zone, except maybe for us bikers.  Trucks traveling down the interstates at high rates of speed in really hot weather will shed the thread layers from their tires.  These various size pieces of rubber are loaded with long thin inflexible wires.  If you happen to ride over them you will get a flat.  Tom has had five flats in five days, some earlier flats from thorns, but the last two from these wires.  We look like drunken sailors swerving to and fro to avoid all the pieces of debris we possibly can.

There were two 1000 foot climbs today but neither were very steep, just long gradual climbs.  We all arrived in Salome relatively early and some of the earliest had to wait a few hours before being able to check into their rooms.  Salome is a small, no, very small town, one of the many victims of the high speed interstate.  The Sheffler’s Motel, probably very nice at one time, has seen better days.  It is an OK place for a biker to stay, but as some have said, “not a place I’d bring my wife.”   

The cooks tonight will have to be very creative to feed us with the very limited shopping available here.  Scratch that, we  are eating at the only bar which is right across the street - ques there were no food choices to feed a group of 13 hungry bikers.

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Map of total trip to date

2017 09-16 Palo Verde to Quartzsite

The sunrise bathed the sky and silhouetted the mountains with gorgeous shades of reds and yellows. Relaxing the soul is important on these long hot days and this was a very nice way to start today’s otherwise uneventful ride. 

Arriving into Quartzsite before noon allowed ample time to relax.  Another day where the locals told us how lucky we are that we did not come a week earlier when it was 15 degrees warmer.  The temperature today was in the upper 90s, I am very happy to have missed the 115 degree days. 

A few of us took advantage of the extra time and went to the Readers Oasis Books store.  Not to buy books but to see first hand the world famous owner, Paul Winer who is a talented musician composing all the songs he plays.  But perhaps more than his musical talents, people come to see his work attire.  This 74 year old man wears a cowboy hat, sandals and one sock to work.   His clothing cost is one of the lowest of anybody I know.  You have to see for yourself – check out my pictures.

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2017 09-15 Brawley to Palo Verde

It will be difficult leaving the air-conditioned comfort of the Gateway Church’s fellowship hall today.  But we will leave and ride 72 miles to Palo Verde.  Glamis, 30 miles into the ride is the last place where a biker can buy water.  From Glamis to Palo Verde there is nothing but dessert.  Today I’ll let the pictures do most of the narrative on the ride but would like to make one observation.  The dessert has an interesting beauty to it that may be missed if passed at the speed of an automobile.  The bike traveler gets to stop anywhere along the rode and sense all the dessert landscape has to offer.   One more note on today’s ride.  It was 95 degrees and we were told we are lucky because last week it was 12 degrees hotter.

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2017 09-12, 13 and 14 San Diego to Brawley

2017 09-14 Boulevard to Brawley

Breakfast was at 6 this morning so we could all get an early start as today’s ride will be 64 miles long.  One could only describe today as a real experience.  To start the ride we had a little climbing, nothing to sever and not that long.  Tom and Joe stopped at a point close to the Mexican border to take pictures of the fence separating Mexico and the USA, when up walks a local man on his morning walk.  A very pleasant and friendly man named Leberto, who has been living the US since the 60s.  He asked many questions about our journey and wished us well as he shook our hand and continued his morning walk.  You meet the nicest people while on bike trips.

Then we entered the interstate, I8, for what should have been a fantastic, several mile downhill.  One could easily have achieved speeds in excess of 40 MPH, but for one thing, which was marked by the sign at the top of the downhill, “Winds next 12 miles”. The cross winds where so strong that it actually made cycling down this section scary and dangerous.  The gusting winds would throw your bike first one way then the other.  At times you could barley control the steering of your bike.

After this white knuckle section, we had a slight down hill for several miles but with a tremendous tail wind.  It was easy to achieve speeds of 20 to 30 MPH without any effort.  It was enjoyable even though the road is in terrible shape.

After turning north for the final 12 miles to Brawley we were greeted by head winds that slowed our speed to less than 10 MPH.  Today was a day of extremes, but all contained the power of wind.

For a change, tonight we will be camping indoors in the fellowship hall of the Gateway Church.  It is now a sea of sleeping pads, sleeping bags, and bikes.  A modern facility with a pool, recreation room (we will all pass on this amenity), and a washer and dryer which are free to use.  They even supply detergent!  Our cooks have the use of a modern kitchen.  The showers where clean and refreshing!

Here are some interesting facts about some of the riders on this trip. Rich from Seattle, WA rode 4000 miles to get to the start of our 3200 mile trip.  Terry from Utah competed as a biathlon in the 1972 Olympics.  Eileen is a member of the support team for one of the riders in the RAM, which is a bike race across America taking about 7 to 9 days.

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2017 09-13 Alpine to Boulevard

As people road out of camp today, they looked especially hard so as to avoid runing over the little goat head thorn plants.  Most of the flats yesterday occurred in the last mile into  camp and no one wanted anther flat today.  These little plants seem to be adept at growing in the cracks in the road.

Toady was another day of climbing, but unlike yesterday, there was a few good down hill sections.  Today’s temperature was also a little cooler, only around 90 to 95.  They camp ground was interesting to say the least.  It was adequate to sleep but not much else.

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2017 09-12 San Diego to Alpine

We left San Diego behind today and headed for Alpine, CA.  The ride was only 44 miles but was not at all an easy one.  The ride out of San Diego was loaded with turns.  At times it was not easy to follow the bike route provided by Adventure Cycling.  Traveling with a GPS though should make this easy. The old saying goes, “Live by the sword, die by the sword”.  Let me rephrase that:  “Live by technology, die by technology.”  After the GPS failed four times, helping me to get lost as many times, it finally started acting “normal” when I reached the country roads with no turns.

The flat exit from San Diego turned into a never ending climb, right to our camp ground.  The temperature exceeded 100 degrees and the heat quickly drained ones energy.    It was a long, slow ride into camp.

Goat head thorns are prevalent in this part of the country.  Low growing plants with pea size seed pods, each pod loaded with little thorns.  They stick to anything, but seem to be especially fond of bike tires.  Four people had to fix flats tonight, which is never a fun experience.

We all slept well tonight.

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2017 09-11 San Diego – Cabrillo National Monument shake down ride

Our day started at 7 with a traditional Adventure Cycling breakfast consisting of cereal, fruit, yogurt and oatmeal.  The table also contained the fixings for making a lunch to eat during our shakedown ride.  The actual shakedown ride was not scheduled to start until 9, which made some of the rabbit riders who like to get out of “camp” early a little edgy.  

Today we rode as a group, which is not typical.  The first stop in the route was at the Ocean Beach Dog Beach, where we did the tradition wheel dip.  The tradition is to dip your rear wheel in the ocean at the start of your trip and the front wheel in the ocean at the end of your trip.  We have now achieved half the tradition.  The other half will occur in November when we have ridden our 3200 miles.

Our second stop was at the Cabrillo National Monument.  On September 28, 1542, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo and his crew sailed into the harbor, now occupied by the USA Navy, and became the first Europeans to set foot on what would later become the west coast of the Untied States.  The views from the monument where spectacular and made up for the effort we had in climbing from the Beach to the monument.

The rest of the day was spent – resting.  Although some of the younger members of the group went down to bogie board in the ocean. 

Tomorrow we will leave San Diego, marking the real beginning of our journey.

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2017 09-10 San Diego

This morning I said good bye to Leandro, a very special person who I met here at the San Diego Point Loma Hostel.  Leandro is from Brazil and is traveling around the USA.  I will miss my conversations with him and thank him for making the start of my journey a pleasant and enlightening one.  Good luck Leandron on the rest of your travels.

Tonight will be the first official meeting of the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier bike ride.  Not wanting to waste the day, Tom, Chris, Patrick and Joe decided to take a short ride to the beaches of San Diego.   Our short ride was almost 30 miles long and what a great ride it turned out to be.  The clear blue skies and pleasant ocean breeze made taking in the marvelous views of the ocean especially pleasant.  We stopped and had lunch at The Board and Brew sandwich shop and enjoyed a great sandwich.  The place was popular and the food good.  After lunch, we continued north along the Ocean for several more miles before turning around to return to the hostel, enjoying the ocean views from a new perspective.

At seven this evening the 13 people who will become family for the next 65 days meet for the usual Adventuring Cycling orientation meeting, where the leader, Ken Exum discussed all the rules and requirements, and talked about what we could expect along our journey. 

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