Monday June 9, 2008
I woke up early figuring I could get my stuff packed and either get into the continental breakfast early so I could start early or just have a little time to relax before a long riding day. Everything was set and I was about to load the bike, but first, I thought, I better check the tires like I have become accustomed to each morning.
I grabbed the bike pump and started for the front tire... FLAT! I looked at the back one and it wasn't. OK, a setback for time... one flat tire. I got the tire off, took the tube out, found the hole, retraced it to the tire and found a small wire (again) that had managed to get up in there. Patched, filled, and ready to go. I thought "I better check that back one, too". I found it to be 20-30 psi low and that wasn't a good sign last time in Houston when I wound up, later that day, changing the tube in a park after ridiculously just pumping it up that morning. OK, back tire off, tube out, found the hiole, retraced to the tire, another small wire.
Here is the lesson about Interstate travel by bicycle. The shoulder is dangerous. Not because of the cars going by on your left, but because of all the debris in the path ahead of you, including the thousands of small wires from the blown tire scraps laying all about. I actually said to myself yesterday when riding on I-10 and seeing all the tires which seemed an obstacle course at the time, "if I don't get a flat from this, I will be surprised". Well, I did. Two of them. So the flat count is up to 3 for the trip.
Out of Lorsdburg at 7:45am after scarfing down a less than spectacular contental breakfast at America's Best Value Inn. I was an hour behind whgat I had hoped for. With virtually no wind to battle for the first time in days, I made great time for the first 2 hours of flat riding. After 2 hours, I had made about 32 miles and crossed into Arizona. I had seen a Javelina (http://www.desertusa.com/magnov97/nov_pap/du_collpecc.html) along the way and he stopped on the side of the two lane road that is Highway 70 out in the middle of nowhere. Going for a better camera shot, I approached a bit closer, but stunned by the amount of luggage I am carrying, he ran off through a fence and out of view. So click the link. It is the best I can do.
At Duncan, Arizona, over an Orange Soda and a Snickers, I was told the road climbs beyond the "S-curve" ahead. Ooooh, the S-curve. How exciting.
They were right! Two miles out of town, the road began climbing. Working hard to get upo the hill, sweating and panting in heat that I would've been able to get ahead of without 2 flats in the motel room this morning, and eventually I reached 4,400 feet elevation at mile 48 of today's ride. After that, it was some sweet downhill cruising. I knew what the elevatiopn profile looked like for today's ride, so I knew the worst was over. I began taking photos and even some video while riding. It is some amazingly beautiful scenery in the Arizona desert, and riding it solo provided an overwhelming feeling of pride about what ground I have covered so far.
Almost 30 miles of downhill and flats, and I found myself passing through small towns of San Jose, Solomon, and then finally coming to Safford. Safford is the first town to offer lodging since Lordsburg, NM, and with the temps these days, camping is out of the question. It was 97F when I got off the bike. "How do you stand it?", my Dad proudly asked me yesterday on the phone during a post-ride debriefing. I thought about that question a while today. I think my answer is "I have no choice." After getting into today's motel (Days Inn) I got word of tomorrow's forecast: 106F for a high. So again, there is no reason to stay here. Hoping it gets cooler if I wait a day just doesn't work. Tomorrow I will try for an early pre-dawn start.
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