All day I face the barren waste without the taste of
water,
Cool water.
Sara and I with throats burned dry, and so’s that
taste for water,
Cool, clear water. … Paraphrased
The above lines were composed in 1936, but I first
heard them on the “B” side of a January, 1963 recording by the Rooftop Singers.
The “A” side was the number one hit, “Walk Right In.” I’ll let you find “Cool
Water” on YouTube. I mention the song because just after 6:00am as Sara and I
rolled out of the Apache Junction Best Western, I began singing the song. We
were now leaving the low lying desert and its oppressive heat for the high
mountain desert. The expected highs in the towns ahead of us are going to be
10-15 degrees cooler.
I brought two bicycles with me for this ride, an all
weather bike and my favorite one. For the last few days I have been on the
latter, my Basso. In the cycling circles of Cincinnati years ago it had the
moniker “The Mighty Basso.” The bike doesn’t like it, but it has been moving
down the road more slowly these past few years. We had some climbing today,
about 2500 feet of it, and the other bike is geared better for climbing. But,
it was not raining, or threatening, so I used the Basso.
Specifically about today’s ride, we were to be on US
60 heading east on all but the first three miles of the ride. We entered by way
of a freeway-like ramp onto US 60 and almost immediately it changed to a
four-lane, divided access highway. The berm was rather skimpy considering the
traffic was moving at 65 mph. To make matters worse, every quarter miles, the
berm merged to nothing and we had to use the right driving lane for some 300
feet until the berm picked up on the other side. We chose our acceleration
points carefully and dealt with the situation.
The 15-mile mark on the route was the exit for SR 79
south. As we approached the exit, I noticed that I was half way through my
second water bottle. We had scheduled to meet Susan at the 30-mile
mark, but with a significant climb ahead of us, I wasn’t going to make it. I stopped to call her discovering that she was
still at the hotel. I described the situation and she asked if she should come
immediately. I told her to take her time but not to pass us by. Before the next
hour was up, she showed up to save me.
We were to do 4000+ feet of climbing today, the second
biggest climbing day of the entire tour. The biggest climbing day was behind us
on the second day. As it were, we started up after passing the SR 79 exit. The
berm improved greatly as the incline rolled under our wheels. We could see the
roadway miles ahead as it wound into the foothills and beyond. The traffic
moderated, and so as our legs labored to haul us up the hill, we chatted about
things. Ahead was the opening that the
road chose to thread as it scaled the long ridge. It is not unusual for the
wind to pick up as one approaches a mountain pass. And so it was with Gonzales
Pass as US 60 threaded the ridge. On the other side visible below us was the
town of Superior. It was mostly downhill from the Pass to the town.
Susan was waiting for us at our last stop of the day. The
rest area had a clean, well-shaded picnic area where we ate some snacks and
chatted. We stayed there for longer than usual resting and eating, but mostly
we stayed while being entertained by Apache, a mutt with a boxer influence. His
coat reminded me of Pete, the dog on little rascals, minus the funny eye
makeup. When I first walked over to the picnic table, I said to the dog, “I’ll
pet you, but I won’t feed you." The owner, who was under his Ford pickup
removing the gas tank, without compulsion from me, put the dog in the pickup
bed. When I noticed it, I ask why he would imprison the dog. He relented and
let the dog roam around the park. Apache
roamed around the place, but stopped frequently for a pat from one of us.
With 8 days under our belt, we are 20% of the way to
the Atlantic Ocean. Tomorrow will be our last day in AZ. It is hilly, but
mostly in our favor. Stay tuned.
 |
| Up to Gonzales Pass |
 |
| And down into Superior |
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