We are close to Interstate 10, and enjoyed the sound of semis all night. Traffic never died down. Pleasant temps; slept on top of the bag.
A benefit of the desert is the brief, colorful sunrises (see photo). Most riders are packed, have eaten breakfast and made lunch by 7-ish.
Today we rode about 40 miles and gained 1,875 feet per Andre. We rode past fields of rape seed and Brussels sprouts. More common were barren stretches of desert with lots of cactus. The photo shows saguaro and ocarillo cactus, the most common ones. We also enjoy colorful yellow flowers by the road (photo shows Carol, Linda and Jerry rolling by the blooms).
There are frequent reminders of the mining history of Arizona. Often a road is "Mine Road". The sign for "Gold Nugget Road"was tempting!
Earlier I mentioned the orange triangle we wear for safety. Two more are shown in photos below. One shows my simple "CA to FLA". Terry's has the total trip mileage, calculated from our maps.
Ken and Linda unfortunately each had a flat today. The cause was the fine wires from tire retreads, which litter the road shoulders. You can navigate around the debris at times, but some is unavoidable or too small to see. It's also hard to see the embedded wire(s). Linda used a tweezers to remove her offending wire.
Around noon six of us rolled into the town of Salome and Don's Cactus Bar (Carol is in the photo). Had a milkshake since we still had four miles to go. Staying at Centennial Park which (good news) has shade and power to charge our phones and (bad news) one men's shower. Are we cursed? A budget move by Adventure Cycling? Stay tuned.
Bruce
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