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Quartzite, Arizona

Hank – After breakfast we chatted with Ronald a bit before hitting the road. It turns out he’s an Ironman. He completed Ironman in Hawaii back in 1984. Whoa!

Kathy and I rode into Salome. As we passed by a flea market I saw a huge display of cigar boxes for sale. We talked to Vic for a little while.  There were some boxes I would have liked but I didn’t feel like shipping them home. Besides, I wouldn’t get to work on them for a very long time and I already have quite a few waiting for me.

We passed through several small towns on the way to Quartzsite. Today went much better than yesterday. We took a break in Hope and had lunch in Brenda.

When we left Brenda we ran into two more east bound cyclists. Keith and Michael are from Vermont. They’re doing the southern tier route but started from the Los Angeles area. Keith said we were his new heroes, which I thought was humorous. We told them about the two places we camped, which are ahead of them.

Highway 60 merged with I-10 and we rode the freeway for the last 10 or so miles. Downhill!

The B10 RV camp is another place that likes cyclists. We get a tent site for $10 instead of $20. Whoo-hoo! We showered and did laundry. There was a bit of excitement that I just caught the tail end of. I saw a police car come into the park. I was just going into the main office when it was leaving. The owner and several other people were mad that a woman was being allowed to stay. I don’t know what she was doing but everyone was bad mouthing the cop for not doing his job.

A couple rode in on a tandem arrived later on. Liam and Nicki are from York, England. They quit their jobs and sold their house so they could travel. How  adventurous! They ordered a tandem from Bike Friday and had it shipped to San Diego. They flew to San Diego from Australia where they’d been touring the entire country by car. They have seven days on the bike so far. They’re not sure if they want to stay on the Southern Tier route or jump up to the Trans America route. We recommended the Southern Tier since it’ll be a lot flatter after then get past Austin. Kathy and also I passed on a lot of tips to help them out. They are doing great but have concerns that with pass as they gain more experience.

Tomorrow we ride south towards Yuma. We might be staying at the Army base. And we might be camping in the desert. We shall see.

Kathy – We both slept well last night and today was a good day of riding. We covered 45 miles with 800 feet of elevation. It was a sunny clear blue sky kinda day. Our temps started out in the low 50’s and ended in the low 70’s.

Our ride had some climbing in it but it wasn’t bad at all compared to yesterday. I think it is because we ate and hydrated much better today. Best part of our ride was the super sweet last ten miles of downhill! Our speeds averaged in the 18-22 mph range so it wasn’t too fast, but it was a great ending to a good days ride.

Our meals today were pretty bland but offered us nourishment to keep us going. I filled my water bottle up using the water dispenser on the soda machine station at the place we ate lunch at, and it tasted like mold was in the water. I quickly dumped my water bottle out, rinsed it, and refilled it with bottled water I decided to buy. Can’t get too picky out in the desert with only a few small towns scattered about. In the end all is good, we were fed, watered, and no one got sick.

I absolutely loved seeing the mountains surround us all day. The mountainous landscapes are all so different, and each just as beautiful as the other. It was truly a spectacularly gorgeous day to ride in Arizona!

We met some great cyclists on the road and at the campsite. The guys on the road were fun to talk to. Keith and Michael are pumping out the miles each day. I’m hoping they have time to stop and enjoy some of the towns and people along the way. They might be on a tight schedule trying to get to Florida with taking time off work, not sure. Just hope they take (a lot) of time out to really enjoy their adventure across the U.S. on their bikes.

Nikki and Liam were a cute young couple from England traveling from California to Florida on their tandem bike. They are pretty adventurous to buy a tandem bike, come to the U.S. and start riding. We enjoyed our conversations with them and wish them the best in their travels.

Thankful for good riding days.

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2 Comments

  1. Amazing the number of riders you’re running into.

    Reply

    1. Its probably because we’re on the southern tier route. We didn’t see a single one going to Yuma. 😊

      Reply

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