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Day 03
What a difference a day makes

YESTERDAY                  TOMORROW

ROUTE: Blythe CA to Wickenburg AZ DISTANCE: 115 Miles WINDS: Calm at start and nice tail by first SAG
WEATHER: Sunny and warm...winds SW 10-15 TERRAIN: Gentle rise for 40 miles then flat to final downhill to town TOTAL CLIMBING: 3300 feet

DAILY REPORT:   NOTE FROM EDITOR (that's me):  Boy am I a do do...somehow when I linked to day one I got last year's ride...sorry.  If you'd like to see what THIS group did on day one, I have now corrected that error.  For you people at home who were looking frantically for your loved one, and when you didn't see them in the photo, was wondering what he or she was REALLY up to, I sincerely apologize.  For those at home who had loved ones who rode with us last year and when you read day one thought they had skipped work to ride with us again, I also apologize.  For the rest of you, you didn't know who was here anyway...but you might want to see what this group did.  Thank you goes to my daughter who pointed this egregious error to me.  M

Now for the news of the day...for this group:  Today was a day of mixed emotions.  Sorry for the late post, but as you read, you'll understand we were a little distracted last night.  Another breakfast at Dennys!  Seems every town out here has one near our motels.  Up early, eat, and load that seems to be the theme lately...it's starting to be routine by now and it's only day 3.  When I open the trailer, bags start flying and poof...everyone's gone!  We woke to a beautiful morning with light tailwinds, but that would soon change when we got on highway 60 where they started picking up...luckily they stayed behind us all day.  It was a welcomed experience after yesterday's punch into the headwinds all afternoon.  I pretty much took the day off from riding to get caught up with the website and catch my breath from the hectic schedule lately...WHAT WAS I THINKING?  People are starting to wonder if it's a plot or something...ride leader rides, headwinds...ride leader in van, tailwinds.  So today Mikie is in the van...we'll rock!  Hopefully, this too will pass and I'll get some fun winds before we're through.

The first portion of our ride took us into Arizona, our second state, via I-10 and we stayed on the interstate for about the first 36 miles of the day where we made our only turn to get on highway 60.  I've affectionately coined this highway "The loneliest highway in the US."  It is an arrow straight road that seems to go on and on and on...disappearing into the haze of the horizon in places with only one significant rise leaving Hope AZ.  Tom and Richard (lower left) got a kick out of the sign on the way out of town that read, "You Are Now Beyond Hope."  I'm sure many of the riders, or at least their families, would agree that sign really describes our status.

There's really not much out here at all.  There are small farm houses dotting the landscape in some areas but the land is mostly high desert unless its watered.  One gentleman told me that one farm near Aguila, where we had our last SAG, was over 22 miles long...from the highway to the base of the mountains in the distant.  It looked pretty fertile, but if it were ever to run out of water, I'm sure it would just be sandy desert too.  I asked the gentleman where they got the water they needed to farm and he said they had deep wells that were fed by seasonal rainfall.  Rainfall?  You couldn't prove it by me that they ever had rainfall since every year when I come through it's so dry out here your spit evaporates before it hits the ground.  He said that when they have their rainy season, water gets up to the window sills of the houses in town.  Wow...guess there's no place for the water to go when it does fall.

The ride after lunch was almost dead flat until about 10 miles short of Wickenburg where a 10 mile descent into town is a welcome finish for another day in the saddle.  The ride today was a bit more strenuous than it should have been mainly due to the fact that we've been in the desert for the last 3 days.   But the good news was that it wasn't nearly as hot as it could have been...mid 80s in this part of the country is definitely welcome.  Almost everyone was in by 4:00 so they had a little time to rest for tomorrow's climbing.  I didn't have the heart to tell them that they will have payback tomorrow morning as they will have to climb out of Wickenburg on the way to Cottonwood...I'll just let them enjoy the afternoon.

Until the afternoon it was a pretty uneventful day.  We did have a few flats to contend with and Peter broke a spoke at the first SAG...nothing that we couldn't handle in short order.  The race is on for the coveted "Most Flats Award" at the end of the ride.  Our only other challenge was keeping everyone hydrated with the dry air so we were a bit more aggressive on our rotations today.  A water bottle doesn't last too long out here as normally I go through a water bottle an hour at home...out here you go through 2 or more...it's just so dry.  But, nothing out of the ordinary out here...just another normal, quiet day...just the way I like it...but that would soon change in the early afternoon just before the last SAG in Aguila.

I had just finished dropping Jim off at the last SAG with a water bottle and SAG food and was heading back to support the riders who may be needing water before they got to the last SAG.  I stopped to take photos of riders as they passed and to give them a chance to stop for water when I got a call from Darryl stating that Jack had fallen on some rumble strips and was injured...his wife, Karen, had also fallen but seemed OK.  Jack's injuries were significant enough to prevent him from continuing the ride, but I'm happy to report he'll recover.  As I type this in the late evening, I just received word that Karen has a broken pelvis.  She was feeling OK after the crash and rode in the remaining 30 miles, but she started to feel soreness in her hip just before dinner.  We took her to the local ER be checked out and discovered the extent of her injury.  This is only day 3, but I'll assure you that these two friends will be sorely missed in the coming days.   

That's how it goes on the road sometimes.  Today was a great day on the bike...we were all enjoying the sun, tailwind, and good company...but sometimes stuff just happens out of nowhere.  We live with that in our sport, but we persevere.  Our prayers are with them both as they start their recovery process...and tomorrow we continue the ride albeit with a somber mood.  Tomorrow we'll test our climbing legs as we'll stack up over 8,000 feet elevation gain by Cottonwood.  It's a beautiful day of riding and I'm sure the temperature will be much cooler as we go up.  Stop by and see how we do.  Keep Jack and Karen in your thoughts as they won't be continuing with us.  Tomorrow will be a better day.

PS:  MEET THE RIDERS is up.  I'm still missing a couple but I'll have them soon. 

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:

"My odometer was showing 60 MPH while we were stopped under those wires....it registered 9 miles while I was sitting at that rest stop."

"Tubes cost $5 and another $15 to get it put on without grief."

"I've heard that if you're not the lead dog the scenery never changes, but out here it don't even change for the lead dog."

"Karen, what do you recommend for a broken spoke?"
"Wait for Mike."   (I was in the mechanic's van today)

 

 BICYCLE BRAIN BOO BOOS:

Today's Brain Boo Boo goes to our rocket scientist Mark.  I came upon his group and he had just finished patching his tube and changing his tire.  I was trying to pump it up but was unsuccessful...it just kept leaking out.  I took the wheel off and found a big hole in the tube...and right beside the hole was a nice patch Mark had just placed on the tube.  Oops...that was his first mistake.  The second was doing it when I was around.  I've said it before...fixing flats isn't "rocket science."  Oh, that may have been the problem. 

DAILY PHOTOS OF OUR ACTIVITY

Sandra, you can reach outside your shorts to pull up your socks. 

Somehow Frank missed the childhood training on how to put your feet inside your shoes.

 

I just turned around and in no time, someone stripped my bike!

At lunch, Sandra wanted to get her photo next to a large odd cactus.  I'd just snapped her photo by a 30 foot cactus just out of this frame, when this little prickly requested to have it's photo taken next to this odd person.

Ben, you'll probably find another pair of socks just like these in your suitcase.

Eric was determined not to let today's long bike ride stand in the way of his "Swan Lake" audition.

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