The synopsis of the day: We got on the bike at 6:00am;
we rode 75 miles; we got off the bike at 1:30. I think the extended version is
somewhere below.
It is remarkable to me that I can feel so good
starting out in the morning and feel so exhausted in the afternoon. The heat is
a big factor. In the evening I sink into a deep sleep, waking a couple of times
during the night. Early on I wonder if I can proceed tomorrow. As nighttime
ages, I feel rested and assured that tomorrow is just another bike ride. I told
someone on the bike trail today that I have a new appreciation of the desert
and its effect on anyone outside for an extended period of time. My prior
knowledge of these outback places came from watching the movie “Hombre.” If you
haven’t seen it, it’s a good one.
As has been the routine for the last 5 days, we awoke
at 5:00am to the chimes of Sara’s phone. I am always awake but do not stir until
the other two are moving. Our efficiency at getting ready has improved since
our first day in San Diego.
It was to be a mostly urban route today, ride across
Maricopa County, the home of Phoenix and all its suburbs. We were on the road
shortly before 6:00am heading south on Watson for a short distance. We turned
east on Broadway for a 5-mile rural stretch. Broadway, ah yes. A distance of
2500 miles and a world of cultural differences separates Broadway of Phoenix
and Broadway of NYC. The Broadway of latter is well known. I will share my
limited experience with the former. In that short leg of our trip, on three
separate occasions, from three different locations, we heard gunfire. Come to
think of it, maybe things are not so different in the two places?
We traveled the first 30 miles at a brisk pace meeting
Susan two hours later at a Mickey D’s for our second breakfast. It was my first
time in a McDonalds in forever. I am not complaining because it was, in fact, a
restful stop, in the cool air, with cold water, and a hot meal. We agreed to
meet 10 miles later at a Circle K gas station. Susan drove on the roads while
Sara and I used the paralleling bike trail. Initially, the trail was nothing
more than an abandoned sidewalk with weeds growing out of the gaps in the
pavement. As we moved east, the trail improved. Eventually it exited onto
Baseline Rd that we used for a mile to the rendezvous point. It was a harrowing
mile. We were beeped at several times and the ones that didn’t bother to use
their horns showed off their aggressiveness. It was a comfort to pull into the
driveway where our black oasis (the van) and St. Susan were waiting.
After a cool down and a bite to eat I asked a few
customers and a police officer about road conditions ahead. No one was very
helpful, so we stuck to the script. We left Susan for a second time today and
in a short easy ride we were on a magnificent concrete trail that ran along a
canal for 15 miles. We used almost all of it. The map that I carried had us
travel the east-west bike trail until it ended onto a north-south trail. I was
unsure of it all, so every once in a while I asked a user about the trail. Of
the four people I asked, two of them were first time users. The other two gave
me conflicting information. We pressed on, finally arriving at the dead end. It
was just that, a dead end. It went nowhere. I did not panic. The bike trail ran
parallel to Southern Avenue, a road on our route. So, we doubled back to our
last avenue crossing and headed north eventually arriving at Southern Ave. We
turned right and were back on track.
Susan met us just three miles from our junction with
Southern where we had 14 miles to go. I asked her if she could meet us about 10
miles down the road as the thermometer read 102 and rising. We did hook up with
her for the last time just 4 miles from the hotel. After a quick rest, we finished
off the final miles in quick fashion.
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| Sunrise on Broadway headed out of Buckeye |
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