After breakfast at Denny's we were off to a 6:20 am start. It was urban riding for the first 30 miles as we made our way from Tempe through Mesa and Apache Junction. We passed Arizona State University both as we came in to Tempe and as we rode out. Pretty impressive looking campus. I've watched football games on TV that were at Sun Devil Stadium with the mountains in the background and it really is pretty up close. It seemed the entire greater Phoenix area is very flat and we traveled 60 miles overall (over two days) through urban traffic. After Apache Junction it was open road the rest of the way to Superior. Below is a photo of the Superstition Mountains as we were leaving Apache Junction. After Florence Junction we began the climb over Gonzales Pass at about 11:00 am. It was 108 F and the grade was relatively steep. With the heat it was a real grind - but the views looking back towards Phoenix were nice. There was a nice downhill just before Superior but then another short climb to finish the days ride. Those last 2 miles seemed very slow and to take forever. After finding the Superior RV Park Gary, RJ, Dan and I had a late lunch at the Buckboard Cafe. The Cafe closed at 2:00 PM.
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| Superstition Mountains near Apache Junchtion, AZ |
September 30 - Friday; Superior to Globe, AZ; 25 miles.
Though only 25 miles in length, everyone agreed that today's ride was TOUGH!!! I got off to a 6:50 am start. It was windy with the wind out of the east (or whichever direction I was riding - so it seemed) at 15 - 25 mph! The ride began immediately with a climb of substantial grade that lasted for 11 miles and nearly 3,000 feet of total climbing - first from 2,800 at Superior to 4,000 feet, back down and up again to 4,800 feet at the highest point, back down again then back up to 4,000 feet then through Miami, Claypool and Globe, which are pretty hilly too. The initial part of the climb out of Superior had us crossing a tall bridge with no shoulder and a strong crosswind. I thought the bridge would be level - but no, it maintained the grade. Shortly after the bridge was a 3/4 mile tunnel which again I thought would be level - but NOOOO, it maintained the grade too. The tunnel ended up not being quite as scary as the bridge because the tunnel had 4 lanes and we were given good riding room by passing traffic. Grinding up a 6% grade with 20 mph headwind with heavy traffic and no shoulder was very, very hard. When I eventually reached the down hill sections the wind was howling and directly in my face which really held back the speed. At times I had to pedal to get the bike to go downhill on a pretty good grade! Near the end of the day's ride the group met up at a Taco Bell in Claypool. As I was riding in to Claypool a just of wind STOPPED my bike! Leaving Taco Bell I rode ahead to find the Globe library to do this update. We're staying at the home of Larry and Susan Hansen tonight. After camping last night in the heat, it will be really nice to be inside. Our hosts are cooking spaghetti for dinner. Last night's dinner was difficult to prepare but got us through the day. Tomorrow is 80 miles with no major climbs. I hope to get off to a really early start to take advantage of the cooler morning temperature for as long as it lasts. It'll be a long one, especially if we have the headwind we had today - which the librarian says is not normal.
More next time I can get to a library. This trip is GREAT and I cannot thank Susi enough for letting me do it. You're the greatest and I owe you BIG TIME!
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