February 28, 2018
Day 11B
Rain,Hail and Hills
Bill and Vicki Sadin from New Orleans have joined us for a week of riding. It was a good inaugural day for them, rain, Hail , Hills, extraordinary vistas and 2400ft of elevation, we had it all today! Everyone is tired but very pleased with the day. Well maybe not Tim, he seems rather chipper not the least bit tired , and not George as he didn't ride today but has other reasons to be tired, more on that later.
We traveled from Tucson,Arizona to Benson Arizona. Our ride included all surfaces, the beautiful, well planned Julian Wash Greenway, hilly frontage roads and Interstate 10. Kudos to the city of Tucson for such a beautiful bike trail . We saw the PIMA Air and Space Museum (from a distance) as we cycled out of Tucson. Leaving at the bike trail we then traveled East of Tucson on city streets which had bike friendly lanes. Our first planned stop was a Dunkin' Donuts , and what a fortuitous stop that was. While in the coffee shop a rain and hail storm descended upon the area. We waited out the storm and enjoyed a great cup of coffee. All clear and off we went once again . Tim unfortunately for Tim, but good timing for us came up with a flat tire at the entrance to an Acadia Elementary School in Old Vail, Arizona. Unlucky for Tim, good timing for us riders as we were able to quickly take shelter at the school as yet another hail and rail storm swept through. As we sat in the outer hallway staff clamored outside to do selfies in the hail, weather rarely change in Arizona!Weather cleared, sun shone and off we went once again. We met up with George at mile 27 for a lunch break and proceeded toward Benson on the most hilly frontage road I have ever ridden which explains the elevation we accumulated today. Twelve miles on Interstate#10 delivered us safely to Benson, Arizona. On the interstate I have started a mind game to distract myself from all the heavy transport and car traffic whizzing by us at 75 mph. I'm deciding what is most abundant on the shoulders of the road, today tire rubber debris seemed to outnumber any other trash on the road. Bikers need to be very mindful of this debris as the thin wires that get torn off with the truck tires causes many a flat bike tire.
Or yes George, almost forgot, driving his motor home up a steep grade he hit bottom and unfortunately tore a portion of the rear bumper off. Tim says its just body work, George says I'm calling my insurance company.
Pizza and beer in the lobby for dinner and early evening for all.
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 414 miles (666 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
6 years ago
When I had a problem with my alternator in our MH we used the generator to keep the batteries charged. Did this for several days until we got back into the lower 48.
It has been fun following along on your trip.
Ron
6 years ago
6 years ago