Today was an ideal day for riding in Arizona. We began early to beat the heat on our way east: 77 miles to Safford AZ. 6 miles in I got the first flat of the trip for either rider (Peter had one on a fun ride around San Diego before we started). A quick fix and we continued on with downhill or flat riding all day. The breaks were valuable today as the heat took its toll. Our last stop was at the Taylor Freeze – a well-known Ice Cream shop in Pima AZ.The root beer floats there came with extra root beer! Perfect timing - 9 miles short of the finish line.
The real thrill of the day was the ride itself. We went through the Apache Reservation, which is huge and took 30+ miles to cross. They have their own schools and facilities and the obligatory Casino, but the real beauty was the landscape. The tall mountains overlooked the prairies and mesas with abundant cacti everywhere. We even went through a small town called Geronimo named after the famous Indian that the US Calvary couldn’t catch –they even paid Mexicans to catch him. Every mile gave us new valleys and rock formations different from the last. There really are some amazing places in the US.
Our trip almost ended on schedule in Safford. However, the conditions were so perfect that Peter and I decided to keep moving on. The route was flat or slightly uphill for another 25 miles and there was a good tailwind so we continued on, pushing the day's ride to over 100 miles. Bill and Holly once again rescued us from a long day and brought us back to Safford. Even though the temperature got up to 89, we got a 100 in just as the sun was setting.
The route today ends at Day 9 just past Safford AZ. Click the box marked show elevation to see the profile of the ride so far:
http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=941128693975988277
watching your entries every day. so glad you are out of california and into better scenary. stay cool. we had mary over for dinner last night. good time.
ReplyDelete