Day 8 (Tues, 19 Feb)

Day 8 (Tues, 19 Feb)

I rode from Globe, AZ to Thatcher, AZ today.  The ride was 74 miles with 1,600 ft of climbing.  The ride was primarily along US Hwy 70, had some climbs but was mainly along a valley in between mountains to the east and west.  The terrain is significantly different than western AZ (which was flat with mountains) – this was much more like Utah with mountains, bluffs, many river beds (ALL of them were dry), and rolling hills (rock that appeared to be (or similar to) sandstone).  Overall though, a very dry terrain, but evidence that there must be flowing water through the area at some point during the year, just not now.  Temps were more mild, in the 60s and partly sunny.

I continue to feel stronger on the bike every day, pushing my legs a bit more today and also my upper body is starting to recover and gain strength after a hard first week of building upper back/shoulder muscle to control the extra load of 40 lbs of gear I’m carrying on the back of the bike (with the extra weight, especially on bumpy roads – it takes some pressure on the handlebars to keep the bike tight on its line).

The big highlight of the day was meeting 2 other long haul cyclists, each heading in the opposite direction from my route.  The first I saw about 1.5 hrs into the ride.  His name is Hu Yung (South Korean) and he’s cycling from Jacksonville, FL to San Diego, CA – basically the reverse of the ride I’m doing, so he’s just about done!  The second cyclist I met 3.5 hrs into the ride.  His name is Dave (from Great Britain) and he’s cycling a huge loop around North America.  Dave started in New York City in November, cycled to Florida, is now heading to San Diego and then will go north to Alaska and then back east across Canada to New York.  About 12k miles – WOW!  Both cyclists were primarily tenting during the trip.  Both had inspirational stories and I really enjoyed meeting/speaking with each of them.  Dave demonstrated to me once again that we all can inspire and be inspired at the same time.  Keep pedaling and living life to its fullest!!

I made it to my hotel and hot peanut butter cookies had just come out of the oven and were at the front desk – they never tasted so good, so I had 2!

In the pictures below: 1) mountains to the east and west of me as I rode through the valley, 2) your guide on this trip (some type of goofy smile there – need to work on my pose), 3) local cactus, 4) the last picture is of Mt Graham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Graham ) which is almost 11k ft high – huge for this part of Arizona, with lot’s of snow on the top.  I’ll try to get a better picture of it tomorrow – quite magnificent.  The mountain is almost straight west of my hotel – I’ll be heading southeast next and happy to not have to ride over that large of a mountain.