Phoenix to MacDonald Observatory

This longer span journal approach to blogging my trip is definitely different. It's harder to think back and remember all the details, some as far as a week back, rather than fresh in my mind from the day. I haven't written out a blog since two states ago!

So, we biked through the Phoenix metro after leaving my aunt and uncle's place, to Warmshowers hosts 60 miles away on the other side of the metro. Phoenix had surprisingly good infrastructure and it was an enjoyable ride. Our hosts live in an amazing retirement park with no end of things to do, whether biking, tennis, hiking, biking, jewelry, woodcraft, whatever it may be. Bill even took us to spend some much needed time in the hot tub, before Gerri provided us with a wonderful dinner. At dinner they discussed the dangers of the highway 60 route we were planning to take (even using an unused tunnel rather than the scary one on the highway) and seeing our wide tires, suggested an alternate way from either that route or the official ACA route going well out of the way.

We talked it over during the night and ultimately decided to take their "third way", with a lot of climbing, and 20some miles of what we were told was "good dirt". We saw a cool museum of things from Superstition Mountain, including parts of old wild West movie sets, a ghost town, and the underwhelming destination of so many, Tortilla Flats. The paved part of the road up to Tortilla Flats had more traffic than we expected, and it was two lane with no shoulder, but the drivers were mostly polite. The dirt part...was much rougher than we expected. Cars had left huge, bike-shaking washboards, and there were rocks, ruts, and intense switchbacks. At one downhill stretch, Joel and I held our brakes the whole way down. It was a lot of intense downhill, and a whole vertical mile of uphill. I think I have hardly ever been as tired as I was when we got back on pavement at last (I will not forget the man who stopped to tell us it was further left than we think when we were over halfway theough the 22 mile dirt stretch) and shortly after came to our camping spot on Roosevelt Lake.

The next morning I took a photo of my bike at that lake, submitted it, and it got in Bike Rumor Pic of the Day! It was a small accomplishment, but I felt awfully good about it. That day we did even more climbing and descent on our way to Globe. We were beat, and we got ourselves a hotel. Joel went to dinner at a Mexican joint nearby, while I went had to go see Besh-Ba-Gowah. I walked a ways to get there, with a threat of rain, but it was well worth it. It was a major permanent habitation of the Salado tribe, and a trade center for many neighboring tribes, until drought apparently brought conflict to the region and forced them to leave. We have no idea what they called the place, as Besh-Ba-Gowah is a name given by the Apache when they later found the place, nor do we even know what the Salado actually called themselves. So many mysteries, so much history, and I could feel it permeating the ruins as I walked amongst them. If you get to Globe, you must go. After visiting the ruins, I got dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant, different from the one Joel went to, and then promptly went back to the hotel and crashed.

We made it to Safford the next day. We had an interesting host there, an impressive academic whose focus was history but he had a love of quantum mechanics that had led him to teaching a lecture series on it. We went out to dinner with his other academic friends out in the desert, with a gorgeous view of Mt Graham. It was a fun night with a lot of discourse I could only partially follow.

From there we biked to Lordsburg, a long but uneventful day. Most of my impression I am left with of that road is simply how much trash was left along it. What's more, alcoholic trash, shards of beer bottles shimmering in the sun, piles of more beer bottles and cans collecting in every bush at every low spot. New Mexico has one of the highest rates of bicycle fatalities, and if people drink and drive as much as that road would indicate, it comes as no surprise to me. Our free campground for the night at Veteran's Park was at least fairly nice.

The next day the wind was insane. But in a good way, mostly. It was an intense tailwind, increasing more and more through the day. We were scarcely going less than 20 mph the whole day, and with my gearing, I could easily have gone 30, though Joel could not with his. We got to Deming along I-10, and had a tough decision to make. We had planned to go to Columbus, turning south toward the border, but if we did, our awesome tailwind would become a dangerous crosswind. We could stay there with lots of daylight left to use, or...we could go another 60 miles, and do an unprecedented 120 mile day for either Joel or me. We chose the last option. It was wild. There were threats of dust storms that concerned us, but thankfully we never experienced much. The shoulder got gravel coated for a bit, which was not fun, and we actually lifted our bikes over the fence to get to the largely parallel frontage road, which was much better. We could scarcely stop the whole time, as the wind threatened to blow us over. I needed Joel's superior mass and strength to help hold me upright at one point to make a text. In a surprisingly short time, we made it into Las Cruces. The wind shifted some toward the end, and going got much tougher the last few miles. Last minute plans for a host fell through, and we were beat, so we decided to get the first hotel we found (which was overpriced and not very good, but I won't complain).

From Las Cruces we biked on through El Paso to camp at Hideaway Lakes in Tornillo. On our way into El Paso, we ran into a cool group of cyclists who warned us the ACA route on Mesa Rd was not the safest, and after some discussion of how to direct us, ultimately ended up just leading us to where we had to go. It was fun riding with other people, and even though I felt like we were going slower than we otherwise would, the miles went by quick in their company. It was easily the most eventful part of the day.

The next day we biked on to Van Horn. We spent some time on a beautiful rural road along farm country on the border where we saw lots of bird life and livestock. We also passed through a number of old towns that were towns no more, with some interesting abandoned buildings. But most the day we spent on the interstate. We ultimately got another hotel in Van Horn, feeling worn out from the 90 mile day, and wanting time to grocery shop and get dinner. We forgot it was Sunday, and after our walk to the grocery store on the other side of town we barely had time to shop before close, and then the cantina we stopped at had a long wait time so we went for Wendy's, which has nothing for me as a vegetarian, but I was able to get a big microwaveable burrito from the gas station and was satisfied. I stayed up just long enough to see totality on the lunar eclipse.

The next day was brutal. It was only 75 miles, but 4500 feet of climbing (Google wrongly indicated 4000) and as soon as we turned off the interstate (goodbye I-10, we had some good times) at the non-existent town of Kent, the wind was devastating. It was a headwind, it was a crosswind, it was a soul-sucking, energy eating wind. It was one of the hardest days I have ever had in the saddle. At one point, we made the decision that I should keep going my pace rather than waiting for Joel to catch up, to ensure that one of us get there before dark. I made it with more time than I thought, but then after reaching Macdonald Observatory, was uncertain of where to find my host, and I had no cell reception and hadn't for many miles. Thankfully, with a little help I got on track. I showed up at the door to find them playing music with friends, and waited for them to finish their piece, hoping I did in fact have the right door. Right as I had rallied my host, Steven, to get on the bike rack and go after Joel, as soon as we had gone just down the hill to the visitor center, than there he was, having made it on his own. We treated to a wonderful meal and a well needed shower and a blissful night sleep in bed.

And today, we got a very necessary rest day, our first since Surprise, Arizona. Joel and I took care of the things we needed to, and I also got a chance to bike the little ways further up to the highest highway in Texas where one of the telescopes is, and also to take a really awesome tour of that telescope, as well as the more modern, and one of the largest in the world, Hobby-Eberly Telescope. It was a great day, probably one of my favorite rest days I've had on tour. Despite how cold and windy it has been today at this high elevation, I will be sad to leave here and our awesome hosts tomorrow. But, we have to push on. There are many miles yet to go.

San Diego to Phoenix

Hard to believe it's been a week already and I haven't made a single post in this blog. I'm so used to it being a staple part of my bike touring experience, journaling everything I've experienced for the day, using this blog as not only a way to inform others about what I'm doing, but also to help me process it for myself. Maybe it's doing the little social media posts for the shop, more likely it's having someone else with me to talk about the day, but I haven't felt the absence as much as I thought I would. As much as I enjoy posting in this blog, it's still always been something I had trouble finding time to do.

So, we're a week in. A week into my first tour with someone else. It's been good so far. There's been some struggles resulting from our different approaches to things, but we've been working toward a balance. I would rather go a longer day if it means getting a night inside with a Warmshowers host, Joel is happier to camp night after night if it means shorter days in the saddle. I like riding continuously, eating and drinking while I ride, and mostly stopping for scenery, while Joel prefers to stop for more regular breaks. I am more open to spending money, while Joel is as frugal as I used to be. I eat junk food, while Joel actually cooks. ...Honestly, despite being 18, he's probably the responsible one. I'm trying not to corrupt him too much.

Dwight took us to the beach in San Diego, and after a quick photo op, we were on our own. It was a good ride through the city. The ACA route steered us mostly along bike trail through the city. It was a good route. We had to do a little rerouting because all the rain had caused a street we were supposed to cross to be flooded, but it wasn't far. I did find it somewhat annoying that at streets the trail would direct you on sidewalk to cross at the nearest intersection and work your way back on the other side rather than have a crosswalk straight across, but I find that sort of thing common in urban settings where the trails are a retroactive installation and the biggest concern is not affecting car traffic. And while we did see some bicyclists using the trail, it's worth noting that we saw far more homeless people living on it. I warned Joel that once we got to the edge of San Diego we would be doing some serious climbing, but having never done a climb like that before (with or without gear), he wasn't fully ready for it. But he got through it like a champ. We slept at a nice campsite on a Native American reservation, and I was at least mostly comfortable in the 40 degrees (figured out a couple things to do better for future nights).

We had even more climbing the next day. I would ride my pace, then stop and wait for Joel before our next turn. In retrospect, I probably should have dropped gear a little more to be easier on my old man knees, but they're holding up okay. At the end of the long day, we were rewarded with a great stay in a RV, hosted by the owner of the Desert View Tower. If you're ever in the area, I can not recommend it enough. Heck, he's selling, so maybe you should buy it. There's a stunning view overlooking the desert (get it, desert view?), a tower full of eclectic historic pieces, and some interesting caves. It was a great spot to stay.

Day three our rapid descent downhill didn't gain us as much time as I had hoped, and we ended up a little off my plan. But, it meant instead of camping out in the desert dunes of Glamis, we had a nice night in a cbeap hotel in Brawley. The owner was a no nonsense gentleman with about two dozen security cams watching everywhere. His vending machine was broken though, and wouldn't let me have the soda I dearly wanted. I ended up paying a ridiculous $3 for the few cents of sugar water at whatever the heck fast food thing a Carl's Jr is.

The next day we rode out of the heavily irrigated farmland and into the desert dunes, land of ATVs. I made the mistake of assuming the store in town would have a restroom, and passed one for the ATV people out on the sand. I ended up going back for the restroom and telling Joel to go ahead when he was done with the store. He got done quicker than I expected. I was chasing after him, just out of sight, for damn near an hour, going increasingly slow as desert headwinds sapped away at me. I came upon him at last resting under a tree taking lunch. Not far after that, highway 78 turned from fairly straight with wide shoulder (if not always in good condition), to next to no shoulder, rolling hills, 65mph traffic. It was one of the worst roads I've been on (and I've been on some bad ones), and I was cursing the ACA route for taking us on it (even though there's realistically no other way to go). There was no way to know what was coming up over the hills, so vehicles (all too many of them semis) couldn't pass us safely in many stretches, but you better believe that didn't mean they were going to slow down. It was scary, and adrenaline definitely pushed us harder up those hills, no need for the honking horns. I was really glad that I had my mirror, so we could know when cars were coming up, and here and there get off on the all too few little turnoffs provided. We passed a border patrol inspection station, asking the officer if we got shoulder up ahead, to be told no, not for yet another 20 miles, and that he was surprised there weren't more accidents on the road than there are. You can believe how encouraging that was. It was a harrowing experience, and I was glad when we finally got through it. We pushed hard toward late in the day and slept that night at Peter Mcintyre Park on the edge of the Colorado River (my phone couldn't decide on what time zone it was as we were so close to the border).

I had thought we pushed daylight that day, but we pushed it much further the next. I had a host set up for us, but at a distance further than I felt we could really make with our short Winter daylight hours and having not made it as far as I'd hoped the last couple days. We followed I-10 for awhile until getting off onto highway 60, passing one little desert town after another, each filled with RV parks. I kept pushing us forward to see if we could reach our stay in Aguila and be inside for the night, or at least get closer to our stay in Phoenix with my family. I couldn't get ahold of our hosts, so we decided we'd stop at the last RV park along the way if they didn't get back by then. They hadn't by the time we arrived, so we pulled into the RV campground...and they turned us away. They told us they were strictly RV only. Yep. Even if we set up our tent freestanding on a concrete RV pad and paid exactly as much as if we had an RV, we weren't allowed. It brought up sour memories of running into three such RV parks turning me away in the South on my last tour. And worse, it left us with nowhere to go but back, or onward 20 miles to Aguila, with very little daylight, and having not been able to get ahold of our host. We gunned it for Aguila, with the sun getting low. Thankfully, our host got back to us (though there was some poor signal phone tag). It became just a matter of pushing against the approaching dark. We made it into town with the sun already set, following directions to the gated community they live in, and being led by the light of her truck through their neighborhood in the dark. In the dark, I didn't even realize we biked over a runway, or that every home we passed had a hangar. Our hosts turned out to both be pilots living in a community for pilots. They made us a great meal and a very good night's stay, which felt all the more so for the nearly 100 mile ride to the edge of daylight and beyond.

Yesterday was a fairly uneventful ride, downhill for a good amount, to Surprise, to stay at my aunt and uncle's (though sadly they had just left for Cancun). And today was a rest day here mostly spent doing various chores of the road (route planning, maintenance, groceries, the like) and watching mindless shows like Family Feud.

Tomorrow, it's back to the ride, onward through the Phoenix metro.

Updates

As I type this out, I am sitting in the backseat of Dwight's van (having had front most the trip, and only this afternoon given it over to Joel when asked), as he diligently drives Joel and me through the desert to San Diego. It's been a long ride and there is still quite some ways to go, but as we head further south into warmer weather and scenery more akin to what we will see on our tour, the excitement of starting the real journey is finally starting to solidify. I'm so used to riding out from wherever I'm at, heading out the door, hopping on my bike and immediately being on my own and on my way, that leaving Lincoln by car just didn't trigger that anticipation for the first day of the road trip to San Diego. But it's here now. Tomorrow we will get dropped off at the beach and be on our own, no more sitting in a car absently watching the scenery go by, just the two of us and the open road. And I'm ready. Sitting in a car for hours on end takes way more of a toll on me than riding my bike all day.

But Dwight has been a great driver this whole time, and I really can't thank him enough for taking us. I'm going to miss our trio. We joked about abducting him and taking him with us (I mean, he even brought a bike with him to ride around at a few stops on his way back to Lincoln), and I seriously would if I could. Joel and I will be fine though. We'll have a strong rapport in no time, I'm sure.

Joel and I have been tasked with revitalizing the social media presence of our shop, The Bike Rack. And that means two important things. First: It means you should go here- https://instagram.com/bikeracklincoln?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1o7ywvakfbt75
And here-
https:/twitter.com/bikerackne
And don't forget here- https://facebook.com/BikeRackLincoln/
And you should follow the shop in order to follow us on our trip.

Second: It also means, as much as I hate to say it, I may not post on this blog as fastidiously as I have on previous tours. It's often been a struggle to post as much as I have before (when I think the few people who follow this blog mostly just want to see the pictures anyways), and I'm going to have less time for updates when I have all the other social media posting to do. Not to mention that I'm going to have another person with me, so I'll have less alone time on top of that. I'll still try to post here when I can, but please, follow the Bike Rack for more frequent pictures and updates!