April 25 – Arizona Deserts

Today we rose before the sun, our usual procedure, and I had another fine breakfast at Denny’s. Yum, but it gets me down the road. My friend Dave Thompson remarked that the one aspect of his training he didn’t do was eat Denny’s breakfasts for a week so that his digestive system could adjust to a low fiber high cholesterol diet.

Today’s route went from Blythe CA, over the Arizona border on I10 and after 35 miles on the interstate we turned onto US60 and rode to Wickenburg AZ. Wickenburg is a Western town. It seems to have a tourist trade based on some history of mining and whatever. An Italian restraint is named the Mine Shaft and stop signs say WHOA. Perhaps the tourists love it, but I think it is very tacky.

Today’s ride was not to hard, 117 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing. Temperature was not that bad either probably not getting above the low 90’s. One of the bigger problems was the roads. In general the surfaces were not too bad, but the Arizona Highway Department seems to be in love with rumble strips. Rumble strips are the groves on the side of some roads that let sleeping drivers know they are about to go off the road. In principle they are not a bad thing. However for cyclists they in general separate a shoulder from the main road. This can making salmon courses trough rode debris more difficult it can also make it impossible to ride on the edge of a smooth road and force cyclists onto very rough shoulders. And in Arizona rumble strips are akin to open pit mines. The cuts in the roadway are 8 inches wide 6 inches long and at least 2 inches deep. And they are separated by no more than 6 inches. Going over them with a bike can be a life altering experience, even if you do not crash.

One of the biggest pluses today was the scenery. There were saguaro cacti along the route. I find them to be beautiful, as long as I don’t have to have close contact with them, but another rider thought they were making an obscene gesture to all who passed through their habitat. It is all in the way you look at things. One rider seemed to be more interested in interacting with cacti than I; this just looks like either a flat tire or a stabbing pain in the butt waiting to happen. The county side passed between some very nice mountains but most of the time the road did not venture near the mountains, something I appreciated. We went through the small town of Hope AZ; someone has a sense of humor because as you leave the town there is a sign proclaiming that “You Are Beyond Hope”.

On a day like this we would typically have three rest stops, one for lunch and two for food and water. I have mentioned that the food is OK but not outstanding. Today the third rest stop was set up by a couple that did this ride several years ago. They wanted to give us all the things they wished they had had at the rest stops, also all things that we don’t have either. Their rest stop had big chocolate chip cookies, doughnuts, fruit (melons, strawberries and mangos), soda and shrimp with cocktail sauce. I passed on the shrimp, not my idea of ride food, but many riders really chowed down, apparently with out any GI problems. I do think that this is a great endorsement of America by Bicycle, even if they did poke some fun at the company.

I mentioned my need for a new rear wheel. Well when I finished the ride today I called tomorrow’s motel to see if the wheel had been delivered. I was told by the front desk that it had not been delivered. I called Performance Bicycle and they assured me that FedEx had delivered it and told me who had signed for it. I then called the motel again and, after talking to three people with no knowledge of the package, but who knew that the person who signed for the package worked for the motel, someone was able to find my package. Hopefully all will be well after tomorrow’s ride, and so far the borrowed wheel has given me no problems. For two days I have had NO flats. I am no longer the leader in the dubious category of most flats: I intend to stay out of the lead for the remainder of the trip.

I will finish and go to bed with visions of tomorrows ride to Cottonwood AZ in my head. There is a perfectly wonderful, relatively flat route from Wickenburg to Cottonwood along an interstate, but we are going by way of US 89, it is about the same distance but has by all accounts 10,000 feet of climbing in 100 miles. At least I KNOW that I can finish the route as I have often done rides as hard as tomorrow’s ride will be. The funny thing is to see how many riders from the Midwest and East have never done any ride with anywhere near this much climbing, several are very concerned and a few are scared. I shall let you know what happens.