We made it to Apache Junction, but it was a long day. I awoke at 3:30 a.m. in order to pick up Brian and get to the airport in time for our 6:50 a.m. flight to Phoenix. The flight was fine, and we actually arrived ahead of schedule and had to wait for a gate in order to deplane. Our bags were the first ones off the conveyor belt—I hope we don’t have to pay karma back and wait forever when we get back to Philadelphia. Beth picked us up, and we were promptly back at the Marriott in Tempe (where we ended our trip last year) by 10:30 AM. I had my Bike Friday assembled and I was ready to ride in no time, but Brian had lots of trouble with his cable couplers, and he had to drop the bike off at a bike shop in Tempe. We ate a nice lunch and were riding by 2:00 p.m. Today’s ride was mostly in congested, suburban-type neighborhoods with lots of traffic stops and school dismissals (oof), but we arrived at the Best Western in Apache Junction by 4:30. Tomorrow will be a much harder ride to Globe—we will climb about 4000 feet over 55 miles.
Well my bike is ready to ride!
Bike shop to the rescue! Just had the front cable to the rear derailleur and rear cable to the front but everything else was right!
Pit stop on the way to Apache Junction around 3:30 in the afternoon.
Nice motel! Almost rode right past it!
Waiting for Beth to give us room keys.
Can’t finish a ride without a few Fat Tires.