Now the fun starts. Today was the first of our two days of climbing. It’s not that the hills are insanely steep it’s just that they are so long. We have hills this steep in PA, but they don’t go on for miles on end. Our first hill today was about 12 miles. Not excessively steep, just looooonnnnngggggg.

As the day went on, the wind increased and became a stiff cross wind. It was so strong at times that it felt like it was going to blow you and your bike off the rode. When the wind is blowing that hard it feels safer to be going at slower speeds. When we had descents, we all rode our brakes to keep our speeds down. We all agreed that biking today with the cross wind was scarier than the tunnel. I hope this doesn’t freak you out Mar.

Mark was his entertaining self today. I can’t believe Brian posted that video. We needed the laughs to take our minds off our quads. I am confident we will get thru tomorrow. It should be the most challenging day of the trip. We have to get over Emory Pass which is 8228. I think I read somewhere that we will climb 4000 feet tomorrow. Hey if this was easy, everyone would be doing it. Well, maybe not everyone.

After a great night’s sleep we rolled out of the motel parking lot at our usual 7:40am. When we got out of Safford, it was so crystal clear that I was struck by the first (and only verse I know) of Oklahoma.  So I belted out: ‘O what a beautiful morning, o what a beautiful day…’  I’m sure you know the rest of that verse.  Little did I know that that song would reverberate in Mark’s head for the rest of the day. Sorry about that little buddy.

As in the past mornings, we started shedding layers after an hour or so. It struck all of us how little traffic there was this morning. It helped that it was Sunday for sure. We went for 5 minutes many times without seeing a car in either direction. It reminded me of some of the running scenes in ‘Forrest Gump’. At one point Mark and I quested how many miles ahead there was this bend in the rode we could see. It turned out to be 6 miles.

We met up with Beth in Duncan, AZ for lunch at Ol Joe’s Cafe which is mentioned in ‘Conquering the Borderlands’. They do listen to my reading every night. We also passed the entrance to Sandra Day O’Connor’s family ranch which is also mentioned in the book.

The highlight was the tailwind after lunch, hence the title of this post. It was nothing short of marvelous. (I won’t tell you what Mark said, Holly). That was the fastest 78 mile ride I have ever done. Way to go God. My prayers were answered today. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

After our usual 7 am breakfast at the hotel, we were off and riding at 7:40 am.  Skies were crystal blue and temps about the same as yesterday.  Looking forward to an easy 75 mile ride.  Not exactly.  76.7 miles to be exact and the extra hours in the saddle started to chafe all of our butts.  We made it but not without some pain.  The scenery is getting more and more breathtaking with each passing mile.

The highlight was ice cream cones at Taylor Freeze in Pima.  What a throwback in time.  It reminded all of us of a Dairy Queen when we were growing up.  Somebody even mentioned Dinny and the trips to the airport on Sunday nights to watch the planes come in for landings at the end of the airport runway, followed by ice cream, Dinny’s treat.

Tomorrow is a repeat of today (77 miles) but with some climbing thrown in for good measure.  We fortified ourselves with our first steak dinners of the trip.  I intend to wear long pants tomorrow.  My right leg is pretty sunburnt, despite multiple applications of sunscreen.  It needs a rest day from the sun.  A rest day from biking will not come until next Friday after we reach El Paso.  Many miles still to ride.

I think I can.  We got an early start after a great sausage and eggs breakfast.  OOPS-forgot about Lent.  The first climb wasn’t too bad so I started feeling confident.  All those spin classes at the Y really paid off. Thanks Steve, Joe, Gina and Frank!  After lunch in Superior, Az, we started for the Queen Creek Tunnel.  We resumed climbing to the mouth of the tunnel where Sag Lady was waiting for us. Brian had his first fall this trip-a nasty one on gravel.  Bloodied his knee and bruised his hip but he is a trooper.

The tunnel wasn’t bad.  One car was honking at Sag Lady for driving so slow but gave a friendly honk, if there is such a thing, when it passed her and realized what she was doing-protecting three old men Wearing spandex.  From there the ride kept rising for many miles ultimately reaching our highest elevation at 4,888.

Then the down hills started. Brian and Mark were much better than last year, not going all out.  They still go faster than I am willing to go but I catch them pretty quickly on the flats and up hills.  All in all a good day.

Can’t wait to read reactions to the video posts. Don’t forget to check out Sag Lady post and cast your vote to name the sag car.

With much anticipation and anxiety, we are starting the second leg of our cross-country bike trip: Phoenix to El Paso.   This trip will probably have the most spectacular scenery but the most challenging cycling.  We have to scale the Rocky Mountains.  I have been dreading this leg of the trip since we first came up with the idea of riding from San Diego to St. Augustine.  I hope I have it in me; we shall soon see.  Last year I struggled the first two days going over the coastal range which hardly compares to the Rockies.  I sure hope our brotherly rivalries helps to propel all of us thru the long climbs ahead.

I was able to assemble my bike without too much difficulty.  There was one little trick that I needed to remember before I could get my handlebars on the frame.  Gears and brakes seem to work fine today in contrast to last year.  Brian had the most difficulty getting his bike back together.  Thankfully there was a bike shop near the hotel that got things straightened out in his reassembly.  Mark reminds Brian and I how easy his bike is to assemble.

Our ride today was like a tuneup; it was less than 30 miles of city type traffic over flat roads.  Tomorrow is only 55 miles but it is almost all climbing: Apache Junction to Globe, AZ.  It will probably take us all day.  Queen Creek Tunnel is near the mid-point of tomorrow’s ride.  It promises to be an interesting day.  Early bed time for all of us.  Good Night.

What a relief.  We finished;  no flats; no accidents; no mishaps.   I know our wives and families are just as relieved.  Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and understanding.

Today was an interesting contrasting day.  We had breakfast and got away around 9am.  Wickenburg is a modern day western town.  One brief aside.  Last night at dinner a couple of fellows came into the restaurant and were seated at the table beside us. They and several other patrons never removed their cowboy hats.  One of these fellows had a revolver in a holster on one hip and a knife in a holster on the other hip.  I can honestly say that I’ve never seen that except for law enforcement.  I didn’t feel threatened; it was just strange to see a private citizen with a gun in open view.

We rode on Route 60 which was 4 lanes with a wide shoulder all the way to Phoenix.  It was pretty wide open country and we were cruising.  As we got closer to Phoenix, the landscape changed gradually into suburban sprawl.  We figured out how to get onto bike paths west of the city limits and rode them for perhaps 25 miles.  Other than sparse signage on the trails to tell you where you are, it was great.  When the bike trails turned from macadem to gravel, we had to go on the city streets.  Not much fun but ok.  Then back on another macadem bike trail almost all the way to our hotel in Tempe.  Tempe reminds me of Colorado Springs for some reason.  College town with upscale shops and a mountain in the background, close enough to ride or run to.

Tomorrow I fly home to rejoin Marcia and the kids.  Yes I missed Josh, Molly and Teresa too.  Can’t wait to see everyone and start planning the next leg of our cross country bike trip.  What a blast this has been!

53 miles (85 km) – Total so far: 497 miles (800 km)

This morning, Rande at the Westward Motel came into the motel Cantina and made us strong, hot Espresso bean coffee. It was great. He said, regarding the winds expected today, “Set your Spinnaker and sail.” We had a boring, straight ride. But the wind was at our backs and we made it in three and half hours. We stopped every 10 miles for a few minutes and made it to Wickenburg by 1. Not too shabby.

Today I had to try something to help the time pass, as it was not a very visually stimulating ride. We were on US 60 East. It was without a turn for miles and miles. There was only brown desert brush to look at, with an occasional cactus — we didn’t even have any wildflowers to admire. It’s too dangerous to listen to an iPod while on a bike, so I tried to get some music playing in my head. I thought of some song melodies to amuse myself. “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” wasn’t one of them. Neither was “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” Now, I did hear Freddie Mercury singing, “I Want To Ride My Bicycle, I want to ride my bike…BICYCLE BICYCLE.” Steppenwolf sang “Get your motors runnin’. Head out on the highway. Lookin’ for adventure in whatever comes our way.” And so on with some other tunes.

Then I wondered should I tell Tim, “I think I can hear your wheel rubbing” just to mess with his brain for a while. We had a rhythm going for the middle of the ride. Brian set a good fast pace. Tim was in the middle yelling “Car back” whenever traffic approached. I was in the rear as I have the most reflective stuff on. I would find the car in my rear view mirror and if he wasn’t moving over to the passing lane, I would wobble a bit and ride squirrelly like, to see if it would make the driver nervous enough to move over. It worked more often than not.

The last 7 or 8 miles was all downhill. I got into a tuck over the handlebars and coasted into town. My mind went blank until some jerk honked at us for 10 straight seconds for no reason. The first a-hole we encountered all the way from San Diego.

Here’s today pics. Not too many, though.

Leaving the Westward Motel on a cold March morning

The only agriculture we saw right on the outskirts of Salome, AZ

Arizona's wide open spaces along US 60

Some Arizona scenery

The Wickenburg Massacre historical marker states that Apache Indians killed these people but we later learned in a museum that it was probably bandits in disguise.

I would love to ride a penny farthing someday. Brian, don't you try...you might fall. This one is in The Desert Caballeros Western Museum.

Brian I really think next year you need a saddle like this to save your sore butt from further torture.

We started the day in the kitchen at the rustic Westward Motel.  Strong coffee, oatmeal and toasted bagels were the fare.  After still another fall by Brian, skimmed knee, we took off down Route 60 with a very pleasant tail wind.  Three and a half hours, and 55 miles later we were at our next motel in Wickenburg.  The road was as straight and boring as anything I have ever been on.  All I can say is, thank goodness the ride was fast.

Beth beat us to the motel today and she had scoped out some restaurants for lunch and dinner and a museum we had read about the night before.  After lunch, the brothers visited the Desert Caballeros Western Museum for a couple of hours.  Very informative exposition on ranching and mining life in Arizona in the 19th and early  20th century centered around Wickenburg.  Then spent an hour or so mapping out our route for tomorrow to avoid as many city streets in Phoenix as we can.  We think we have located 30 miles of bike paths to help us get to our destination in Tempe tomorrow night. Should be a ride of just under 70 miles, the first 30 or so Route 60′ then the bike path along the Arizona Canal and the last 10 or so on city streets in Tempe.  It’s also supposed to warm up to 70 tomorrow, a nice changefrom the 50s today.

After a great night’s sleep in a brand new Comfort Suites Motel, we were off and riding at 7:15.  Rode thru Blythe, virtually had Main Street to ourselves, to the Colorado River and the foot bridge to Arizona.  Did Brian ever tell you Arizona is one of his favorittttte states?  He only told Mark and I about 50 times.  I hope he doesn’t keep telling us the rest of the way across Arizona.

Today was perfect for bike riding.  Finally we had a tailwind.  Not only a tailwind, but one so strong it pushed us up our climbs.  Brian was feeling frisky today, at one point riding about a mile or so in front of Mark and I.  With the help of another bicyclist, I got my gears adjusted so the problems I have been having for the past couple days seem to be corrected.

We rode a good portion of the day on I10.  At one of rest stops on the interstate, a fellow named Vic stopped to talk to us about our trip.  When his wife came out of the rest room she gave him an impatient look like lets go, I’m ready, what are you doing talking to those guys in funny outfits.  After he unlocked the car door with the remote from where we were talking, Mark said we left ours at home.

Arrived in Salome, our stop for the night at around 2pm.  The motel is very unique, probably the most interesting place we will stay on this trip.  The owner drove us to the store so we could get some beer and snacks while we waited for Beth to arrive.  Since we had our own kitchen, Mark cooked a pasta dinner and made a salad.  We sat around the kitchen, drank two bottles of wine and just hung out.  A fitting end to a great day. 

Thinking about the end of this trip.  Two more days of riding and weather predictions of tailwinds again today.  I do miss Marcia and the kids.  I quess a week of riding is about the right amount of time.  Perhaps we will do leg two in 6 months instead of next year.

The worst night’s sleep of the trip.  Woken up by people above us in the Travelodge Motel at 11 pm and again at 4 am.   On the way out of town at 7 am passed by a brand new Best Western.  Wished we had stayed there.

It started off cold but we knew it would warm up as the day progressed.  Fortunately it was overcast so it never got as hot as forecast.  This was expected to be a hard day crossing the dessert with no services available for at least 70 plus miles.  I had three water bottles and we refilled at mile 50 when Beth came along to restock us.  All three of us were totally out again when we pulled into Blythe.  I don’ t how people do it when they don’t have any support network.

Some interesting people along the way.  Met a fellow named Jack Watson who was pulling  a little cart with his gear.  He is retired and planning to ride all the way to St. Augustine camping all the way.  He camped in the dessert last night and plans to camp every night if he can.  Mark said he would like to try it sometime but Brian has absolutely nointerest.  I might be persuaded to try it for a two or three day stint.  We’ll see.

The second interesting person were the three border patrol officers when we had to go thru a checkpoint.  They were probablybored and there wasn’t any traffic.  They were very friendly once we engaged them in conversation.  We stayed and talked to them for probably 10 minutes and we asked them to be on the lookout for Beth (Hawaii license plates) and be sure to give her a hard time, in jest, of course.

Best of all was the scenery, especially thru the dessert.  We switched it up a little and took short stops (5 min or so) every 10 miles or so.  The stops in the dessert were so quiet.  There were no man made  sounds unless a car passed us and no animal sounds.  Lots of sand dunes along the route for 15 miles and then minimal vegetation until we got to Riverside Co. where irrigation started again.  A long butsatisfying day pedaling over 90 miles.  Tomorrow is a shorter day but has moreclimbs than today.  Feeling more confident as each day passes.