Day 53: Mesa to Wickenburg

April 8, 2025

30 miles on very nice bike paths alongside canals.

Underpasses that double as homeless shelters, or so it seems, and it was hard to see the occupants with sunglasses and coming from he light into the dark.

And finally a highway. The shoulder was decent.

Lunch in Wickenburg. My first BBQ of the trip and it wasn't in Texas.

I worked on filing an extension of my taxes last night and so didn't get to bed until 10:30. I feel asleep almost immediately. I'm glad I had a nap. I woke up at 5:30 to my alarm and slept pretty soundly. I just didn't sleep long enough.

I got dressed and went down to set up lunch at about 6:00. I took my bike and one bag downstairs and pumped the tires. Knock on wood, it doesn't look like I picked up a thorn or a wire as they seemed to hold pressure over night. We didn't need to set up breakfast since the hotel had breakfast. I packed a sandwich, an apple, a couple of clementines, a couple of caramel Kind bars, a salty and crunchy granola bar, and a Cliff bar. I was done that by about 6:30 and went in to eat breakfast. I ate an egg, a waffle, a piece of sausage, and about half a bowl of 2 packs of oatmeal. It was a larger breakfast than usual. I went back up to the room to use the bathroom and bring down my last bag. I was down for the 7:15 map meeting, which was in the morning since 3 people were not around yesterday evening. I was ready to leave at 7:30. I wore shorts, a long-sleeve jersey, the orange buff and the vest. I took the vest off after about 10 miles.

I rode by myself. The first part of the trip was on a moderately busy 4-lane street with a bike lane. It didn't feel scary. We then got on bike path. It was a little tricky to navigate at places and I took turns passing and being passed by SR, JW and JE, who were riding together as we took turns missing turns, etc. We finally got on a path that was along a canal and I think the Salt River. We went through a number of cities, but there was no evidence. We got off the trail at about mile 34 and the van was waiting like an oasis in the desert. I had finished one water bottle. I filled that and ate half of my sandwich, the apple (a nice big Cosmic Crisp) and renewed my sunscreen. I think I was there about half an hour. From the van we rode through Sun City first on suburban roads and then on a commercial highway. We then turned onto AZ-60, a 4-lane divided highway. The shoulder was o.k., but there was often a lot of crap in it (gravel, glass, tire treads, etc). Sometimes I rode in the roadway, but it seemed too dangerous so I only did that when the road was very bad. I stopped with about 20 miles left (mile 57) and ate a clementine and a granola bar. I drank water regularly as I rode. BW had stopped shortly after mile 20 and saw me and caught up. We rode together the rest of the way. My feet were hurting a big (maybe because I wore light socks), but I just wanted to get done so kept riding. On the RWGPS map it looked as if there was a lot of elevation gain at the end, but it never really materialized. In fact, it seemed we had a modest tailwind and were going 19-20 mph.

When we got to Wickenburg instead of going to the RV park w went into the historic downtown. We found a BBQ place and I had a brisket sandwich and a Sierra Nevada NA beer. We then followed Google Maps to the RV park. It turns out it was good we did as the RWGPS file ended at the back side of the campground and there was no entrance. We sent a text to the others to help them avoid the problem, but they definitely had to ride a mile or so extra.

There was a nice covered porch at the RV park and we chilled (and I uploaded Strava and this pictures to this journal) there until the van came, about 3:00. I took a shower, set up my tent, charged my electronics, and stretched. I made some personal phone calls before it was appetizer time. Dinner was cooked by JF and JG. It was ready early. It was a barley, beans, and vegetable salad. It was filling. It was nice that we had the leftover chicken from yesterday so I could get some more protein. For desert we had berries, angel food cake, and whipped cream (some of which was leftover from yesterday).

Tomorrow I cook again, this time with BW. We are going to have BBQ chicken, his specialty. There is a market in Salome, our destination, (pronounced with a long o and silent e). We will make Mac and cheese for Stan. We will figure out desert when we are there. I will do the inventory in the morning so bill can get going. The ride is 57 miles and again with winds predicted to be low and very little climbing. It is supposed to be a high of 92 at our destination. So, it will again be good to get out early.

Yesterday I didn't write anything about what works well. So, today I will add that and I will highlight tubeless tires. There have been a lot of flats on the trip, and a lot lately. Three nights ago, and Tonto Basin, Ethan helped people BW find 2 thorns and a piece of wire in his tubeless tire. He had lost some air while riding, but filled it and completed the ride. He never had to stop on the road to change his tire. Today, SR (who also runs tubeless) had a hole in his tire that sealed and then started leaking again. He put a plug in it and it held the res too the trip. This evening BW's tire was a little low. I looked and found a place where sealant was slowly running out. I couldn't find anything, but we plugged it and hope it will hold. I had a wire in my tire earlier in the trip (before Austin). It got soft one day during the ride, but then was o.k. So, no one with a tubeless tire has had to change a tire on the road. On the other hand, the people not running tubeless have almost all had a flat in the last week. I am glad I ran tubeless on this trip. I did have some trouble with the rim tape both in St. Augustine before the trip started and in Austin when I changed my rear tire. So, I would say it is good to have extra rim tape and of course sealant. It was also important to have the pump with the pressure chamber in order to seat my tires. Ethan thinks that BW could have seeated his tire with a regular pump.

Today's ride: 77 miles (124 km)
Total: 2,708 miles (4,358 km)

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