June 2, 2020
Elfrida - Willcox, AZ
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473 feet elevation gain
The 'new' AC Dan installed in our room must have been someone's reject. It took the edge off, but we certainly didn't have to worry about getting too cold. I was up and down as usual several times during the night and finally got up a little after 4. I did all of the getting ready stuff, making several trips down the hallway to the microwave/fridge in the living room area and to my bike in the storage room. Our next door neighbor was already awake, smoking cigarettes and watching TV. I debated knocking on the door and asking for help getting my bike down the stairs instead of waking Jacinto. I quickly dismissed that idea.
At 5:30 I woke Jacinto up. He didn't complain much, other than saying it was too cold to ride. 66 degrees? That's perfect riding weather for me. I had a phone consultation last night with Jim about the Navajo Nation routing. Jim mentioned at the end of the conversation that I might be overheating because I'm wearing too many clothes. What? I am well past my bikini days! Jim's advice was to go for shorts and use sunscreen instead of the convenient tights. The shirt I don't have a choice on as I brought only long sleeve shirts. But it is white and that reflects the sun. Look at all of those Arab sheiks. They couldn't be wrong? The Halo brand head gear protects the back of my neck, but so does my hair. I tried going without that today. End result was I did feel that the breeze around my neck felt good. It seemed I wasn't as warm today. Maybe tomorrow I will try the shorts and use Jacinto's spray sunscreen.
I made a left turn onto Highway 191. Success, so early in the morning! The sky was blue and the air felt fresh. It was a fine day for bicycle touring. Dan and Irene's house was 1.5 miles down the road. I recognized the old house next door when Dan said he grew up with ten siblings (and one bathroom).
Today would be an easy cruising day with just a couple of turns. Low pressure riding. I had called tonight's motel to see about an early check in. They would put our room at the top of the list to clean. Thank you.
I was slightly surprised at the variety of agriculture I saw today. Arizona is not all desert. Dan said there used to be two green chili canning factories in the area and fields and fields of chilis. Now there is only one factory and the chilis are grown in Mexico. The undocumented labor had trouble crossing over the border to work, now there are no chili fields.
I was surprised at the amount of traffic initially. I was out here beating the heat before 6 AM. Where were all of these vehicles going? I saw a couple of border patrols, a number of county vehicles, one sheriff, and a whole bunch of other vehicles. The road didn't have much shoulder, but everyone went way around.
We were left with a good feeling for the area after dinner last night. The workers at the motel were also extra nice. I like country people. I waved at virtually every vehicle passing. Everyone waved back. Yep, it's a small connection, but it's a little bit of warm and fuzzy every time someone returns my wave. I hope that the next bicycle rider they see, they have a good feeling for. I like spreading the karma forward.
Today I saw a gin. Was it a cotton gin? Surely it wasn't a drinking gin factory? I saw a Mennonite Church. I don't know why that one surprised me. There were a variety of tidy ranch houses. on today's ride I didn't see any abandoned or uncared for houses. Other than the cool old stone one I photographed.
I went by Deer Ranch. It must have been a big operation. They had a number of roads entering the ranch. Buck, doe, antelope, and fawn. It will forever annoy me that fawn didn't come after doe instead of antelope. When driving an automobile, you miss details like road names.
At mile 15 I rode past Sandy's Restaurant. That's where Tom got his favored $4.99 breakfast. I could smell the pancakes before I got there! I debated turning in. I had just eaten oatmeal and hadn't really worked that off. I could probably spend the time, since it was an easy day . . . naw, I'd keep riding. My plan was to eat tacos in Willcox. I had a half bottle of Spiz meal replacement drink (125 calories per scoop, with three scoops) that could tide me over to town.
Much of the ground was natural, but had vegetation. I went past a few hayfields with elaborate irrigation systems rolling over them. One bean field. A fair number of pecan orchards. This is an inviting area. I bet it's a hard way to make a living out here, but I found it inviting.
I went past a pinto bean factory. I debated dropping in, the sign said they sell to the public. I wonder what it would cost to send a 50 pound bag of beans home. I could drape it over Jacinto's rear rack. That would slow him down.
Speaking of Jacinto, he's been having trouble with his feet. He thinks that the body position on the new Rodriguez is slightly different from the Surly. His toes are going numb when he pedals and his big toe on one foot was still numb into the evening. He's going to try moving his cleats back a little.
I don't pay a lot of attention to my speed, as long as I'm over 10 mph, I'm happy. Average speed is important to Jacinto, that's the first thing he mentions each day. The past two days I have averaged higher than Jacinto. He can hardly bear the shame.
Jacinto has had it with four panniers. He said it was too inviting to fill them up. The bike handles fine, but Jacinto feels he has too much stuff and that's slowing him down. I said that people have been known to mail things home. I think that's what he's going to do. Jacinto says if he doesn't mail things now, he might be throwing them on the side of the road on our big day. It must be serious. He says the coffee is going. A couple of years ago he took the coffee on the first trip and then left it home on the second trip. Jacinto was sad every morning of the second trip, that he didn't have his good coffee to drink. He's carrying about three pounds of Spiz and Hammer Recovery drinks for me. I might have to take those back. Jacinto says why don't I just eat food. Good point - people have bicycled for years on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Heck, that used to be my go to riding food, until I quit eating wheat. Touring is pretty tough if you don't want to eat sandwiches, wraps, or pizza and you do want to eat in a restaurant. Today's tacos were just the thing.
Highway 191 after Sandy's Restaurant had a giant shoulder. It was at least 10 feet wide and as smooth as butter. Unfortunately, I turned north and gained chip and seal and lost the shoulder. My luck. Right after the dairy farm, the chip seal went back to regular pavement.
Tell me why the mountains are hazy here? There wasn't any wind blowing. There's no humidity? Shouldn't the sky be Colorado blue and the mountains nice and crisply focused?
Today was a good riding day. Polite traffic, nice scenery, no climbing challenges. Just a build the base kind of ride to get ready for climbing the Mongollon Rim in three days. Tomorrow we had the choice of a 69 mile ride past Fort Gant to Safford. That is an extra 20 miles and 1,000 feet of climbing. I bet it's a nice ride. The alternate goes down the interstate for seven miles, but is 18 miles shorter. I was hoping I'd be ambitious enough to ride the long route, but I was sure Jacinto would take it. He says he's going the short way. That is unusual for him. His feet must really be a problem. Hopefully moving his cleats helped.
I arrived in town before 10 AM. It's an interesting, old town. Wayne would enjoy wandering around taking photos of old buildings. I am a terrible tourist. My interest is in food and a place to stay. My purpose in touring is riding . . . I've had many debates with myself about seeing more of the area once I get to town. I just don't like to do that. I've done my activity for the day, riding all of those miles. When I'm done riding, I want to relax. That's just how I am. But I still feel guilty for not exploring more. Not guilty enough to act on it, though.
I had scouted out Adolpho's Taco Shop in advance. It's just past the Arizona Sunset Inn (great deal, excellent room). I pulled in, ready to eat. A man waiting for his food had to ask about my bike. He recommended the shrimp burrito, although he had ordered a carne asada burrito.
The whole COVID thing has given me another topic to watch for. At Adolpho's, the plexiglass shield was quite skimpy, coming down to shoulder height. None of the workers were wearing masks. Some tables were marked off, but people were ignoring the markings. None of the customers had masks. One person who came in for togo food had a mask. I hung out for about an hour, eating, drinking ice water, and loading photos. Finally I meandered over to the motel. A man was outside, fixing a gardenhose. He asked if I were the bike rider who was arriving early. Yes. He said they were expecting a motorcycle, but he thought my bike was fine looking.
I was able to get in the room early. It is extra nice and very clean. It has been newly renovated with good tile work in the large bathroom, with upscale towel holders and two large shelves to put stuff on. The floor throughout is matching tile. Maybe this room really isn't exceptional, but after last night, it sure looks nice! No one here wears a mask either.
Edit - 9/12/20 - It's not fine dining, but I read that Rodney's is a great hole in the wall sort of place to eat. Reviews are good. Next trip through . . .
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Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 253 miles (407 km)
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