Day 12 - Globe to Safford

For me, the best day so far. 85 miles over rolling hills and flat lands in the high desert. The first fifteen miles heading east from Peridot on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation were spectacular rollers, not too long, not to steep, just a ton of fun to ride.

We left the El Rey in Globe around 7:30 and headed for Peridot. We warmed up with a short climb. The next 20 miles alternated between climbs of medium difficulty and their accompany descents. Nothing to hard.

Once in Peridot we stopped at the Bashas Grocery Store for a break. I had a maple donut, it's a shame that a grocery store donut would be better than dunkin' donuts, but what are you going to do. The interesting thing about this Bashas is that the department signs are in both English and Apache.

After the next, glorious 15 miles of rollers, we settled in for 45 miles of flat terrain. Luckily we had a pretty nice tailwind for most of that.

We past through Geronimo, now a ghost town, Fort Thomas, birth place of Melvin Jones the founder of Lions Clubs International, Pima and Safford.

Pima, apparently, is where Pima Cotton was developed, but it is no longer grown here in large amounts because the gins can't handle the Pima cotton fibers, which are longer than those of standard cotton (I knew we'd hit all of the "c's". Cotton was the last one, we even picked some up off of the side of the road.)

We are staying in Safford at the home of Mons Larsen and family. Jerry found them on warmshowers.com and the entire family (3 generations) has been extremely welcoming and friendly.

Grants brother Craig also lives here in Safford. Unfortunately we did have time to visit Craig as well.

Time to sleep, tomorrow will be a very long day with two mountain passes. I'm not sure, but I think we cross the continental divide tomorrow. We definitely leave Arizona tomorrow.

Day 11 - Superior to Globe

Today was a short day, only 28 miles, but it started out with us climbing out of Superior to Top of the World at 4600'. Oof! That was not easy. Lots of traffic, including mining trucks and RVs. Highway 60 alternates between one eastbound lane and a 4' shoulder with rumble strips and two eastbound lanes with no shoulder at all. Don't know which was worse. We also had to make an uphill run through a tunnel. Scary! That was the sketchiest section to date.

Once over the summit we were able to see the Pinto Valley open pit copper mine (another "c", only cotton remains).

After lunch in Miami we rode on to Globe, our destination for the day. The short day allowed us to visit the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park. We walked through 700 year old Salado Culture pueblo-ruins, very interesting.

We also visited the Globe historic district. Then to the El Rey Motel for some rest. 85-ish mile day tomorrow.

Day 10 - Scottsdale to Superior

Relatively easy day. Took the Scottsdale bike path from north Scottsdale where my parents live all of the way to Tempe. Was that there when I lived here? Maybe some of it, but definitely not all. I remember it was a 45 minute drive from home to ASU, we did that trip on bicycles in an hour and fifteen minutes. Pretty good. Of course it's much quicker by car now that they built the 101 and the rest of the freeways.

Arizona was one if the last states to build freeways in urban areas. Barry Goldwater wanted to see large boulevards instead and that's what we had. Can't say which is better, I do have fond memories of driving through town to get anywhere.

we stopped long enough for me to put down a foot on the corner of campus then rode on.

We also saw our first citrus (orange) trees today. Even grabbed one for a taste, not bad. Earlier in the trip I explained the four "c's" of the Arizona economy to Michele: copper, cattle, citrus and cotton. We've seen plenty of cattle and today, finally, citrus. Recently they added a fifth "c": climate, in reference to the positive impact of tourism. The first four aren't as important as they once were, but I remember cotton growing along Pima Road, which I drove between home and ASU.

We spent along time riding east from Tempe, through Mesa and into Apache Junction before we finally left civilization. Past the Superstition Mountains where I used to backpack and over Gonzalez Pass and in to Superior where we finished the day with root beer floats and a walk to downtown.

In Mesa I meet a man who makes tractors and the like out of beer (or soda I suppose) cans. Neat.

The Superstitions are the location if the fabled Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine. Supposedly a prospector discovered a gold in the Superstition Wilderness and revealed its location on his deathbed in the late 1800s to a boarding-house owner who had taken care of him for many years. As far as I know, people are still looking for this pot of gold.

Some Apaches believe that the hole leading down into the lower world is located in the Superstition Mountains and that winds blowing from that hole cause dust storms.

At the east edge of superior is a 500' cliff called Apache Leap (you can see it in the photo of downtown). There were no known trails to the top, but a group if Apaches lived there. Sometime in 1870 after an Apache raid to capture cattle the cavalry were sent out to intercept. The soldiers followed cattle wandering to the east of Apache Leap, and they discovered the access to the top. They waited and then attacked. Instead of allowing themselves to be captured, the Apache men jumped off the cliff to their deaths. Legend has it that the Apache women mourning the loss of their men cried over the side of Apache Leap, where their tears became little black glass. The little pieces of obsidian found here have been named Apache Tears.

Day 09 - Scottsdale Rest Day 2

Another relaxing rest day. Jerry made pancakes today, to go with our bacon and eggs. Then it was off to Old Town Scottsdale.

We took in the first half of the Giants/Angels Cactus League game at Scottsdale Stadium then went to Frank & Lupe's, my favorite Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale. Always good for a couple of Margaritas and Frank's enchilada dinner, flat enchiladas with house made tortillas topped with a sunny-side up egg and spicy red sauce, which is what I had today.

Then off to Gilbert Ortega for southwestern jewelry. Now at home repacking and worrying about the route to come. I'm sad to be leaving home so soon, don't get home to Arizona enough.

It sounds like services will be few and far between for the next couple of weeks with several hard days and possibly some gorilla camping. I'm a little anxious about this segment.

Next rest day: Las Cruces, NM in just under a week.

Day 08 - Scottsdale Rest Day 1

Ummm! Bacon and eggs for Breakfast. Didn't do much today. We went to REI and Trader Joe's for supplies. Jerry replaced his slashed tire and picked up another pair of shorts. Michele got a shiny new titanium sport, I guess seeing Caley snap off her plastic spork in a quart of ice cream the other day made her realize she needed a spork with more scooping power. After bonking on the road to Wickenburg I loaded up on cliff bars and camp food. Ugh, more weight.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and working on the bikes. Jerry adjusted his front derailleur and I adjusted my brakes. All the bikes got cleaned and lubed chains. We're ready to roll again.

The day ended with grilled t-bone steaks, salad, au gratin potatoes and more pie. I'm thinking that maybe I should just stay here.

Day 07 - Wickenburg to Scottsdale

Relatively easy day. The predicted wind never really materialized, although we did get some. The first thirty miles, after a disappointing breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, from the Westerner Motel in Wickenburg to Surprise were slightly downhill with just one easy climb early in the day.

We then traveled on some of the Phoenix area bike paths before a long 11 mile stretch on Union hills Drive, a six lane arterial. We broke up this stretch with a lunch break at Roliberto's. Green chili chimichanga and strawberry soda. While we were eating there was a load BANG! that created some concern in the restaurant, sounded like a gun shot. Since no further excitement followed, we all finished eating and got up to leave. Once outside Jerry discovered the the bang was his tire blowing out. Glad it happened while eating and not while descending or traveling in heavy traffic. A quick change to his spare tire and we were on our way.

The day before I had mentioned to Michele that Jerry's wheel looked out of round. With the new tire Jerry's wheel looks fine. That wobble in Jerry's tire was surely the tire bulging and getting ready to blow. Note to self: mention anything unusual immediately.

Not that Jerry's was the only incident of the day. About 10 miles before Surprise I picked up a dry wall screw in my rear wheel and flatted. Two flats on one day. There goes my fantasy of crossing the country with no flats. The fixing of the flat is easy enough, it's the unpacking of the bags to find the spare tube that's the pain in the neck.

After lunch it was about a twenty mile ride to my parents place in Scottsdale where cold drinks and soda were waiting. It's nice to be home. Mom made us beef stew and salad for dinner with key lime and cherry pies for dessert. Best meal of the trip so far.

The drivers have been mostly courteous and curious. Only a couple of honk horns or dirty looks and these invariably occur in larger towns. Yesterday in Phoenix we had an SUV honk at us as he drove by. While he, or she, was probably expressing some level of contempt for cyclists, I choose to assume it was an overly exuberant "hello," an event that happened later in the day has been far more typical:

While we waited at a streetlight in Scottsdale a car with two couples pulled up and rolled down the window to tell us that Kansas had just defeated North Carolina (Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!) and to ask what we were up to. After a quick explanation they were off, shouting encouraging words out the car window as we went our separate ways.

FYI: I've heard that the KU Geology Department can be credited (blamed?) for changing "Rah Rah, Jayhawk" to "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk".

Pfft! Geologists.

Day 06 - Hope to Wickenburg

A day spent riding in Arizona. I can't imagine too many things more pleasant than that.

It was sad to leave Hope behind, everyone was very friendly to us. The $3 breakfast included oatmeal, breakfast pizza (more a quiche, really), sausage, OJ and coffee. Quite a bargain. On the way out of town I stopped to take pictures of the little church and the sign announcing the end of town, beyond Hope indeed.

The rest of the day was uneventful and there's not much to report. We had the same cross wind we had yesterday most of the day today, although it died down about an hour out of Wickenburg. Stopped in Aguila for lunch and the town seems nearly abandoned, very sad. The Coyote Flats Cafe was open tho so I had a fried baloney sandwich and coleslaw. I had just polished off a quart of chocolate
Milk 10-minutes before so I didn't really enjoy it. Took half with me for later and after another 20-miles it was delicious.

Resting in Wickenburg and getting ready for tomorrow's 65-mile run home to Scottsdale. Looking forward to being home for a few days. Weather report calls for SSE winds with gust to 30-mph tomorrow. Which way to Scottsdale? SE. Bummer.

Wickenburg trivia: The town of Wickenburg was founded after Henry Wickenburg throw a rock at his stubborn burro, the rock contained gold.

Ride Stats:
Miles: 62.6
Start Elevation: 1840
End Elevation: 2130
Total Climbing: 348 (we topped out at 2800 so how we only climbed 348 is beyond me, ask Garmin)