Day 48: Lordsburg to Safford

April 3, 2025

Entering AZ, the seventh state of the trip, with Ethan.

The cell inernet at camp is very slow, so I didn't post this until today.

Yesterday I went to bed about 10 and woke up a little before 6. It was nice being in the cabin because it was in the low 30s outside. However, the sun was out and it seemed to warm up into the 40s relatively quickly. I wore my Canari light rain jacked, which Ethan brought from home, over a long sleeve jersey. I put my Salsa vest on top. I wore shoe covers because my feet were really cold the previous day. I wore both pairs of full-finger gloves.

We got to eat inside the KOA's breakfast area, which was nice. I had the usual for breakfast and packed a sandwich and some fruit.

The plan was for the van to meet us in Duncan, about mile 36. We didn't particularly hurry getting ready because it was cold, but left at a little after 8:04. It was so nice to ride with Ethan. He is so strong. He got in front and started pulling. I had to ask him to dial it down a couple clicks so I didn't go into the red zone. That was especially true when there was an uphill as drafting didn't help as much. At first my fingers were cold. We stopped a couple of times to go to the bathroom and drink water. At mile 25, about 1:30 after we started, I took off my heavier gloves and used only the light full-finger ones. I also ate a Kind bar at about 25 miles. The last 5 miles or so into Duncan were a descent. We got to the van about 11:20. I ate a sandwich and a clementine. I also took of my shoe covers and the rain jacket. I put the rain jacket in my pocket, which is why I wanted it. It is much less bulky than my wind jacket. The van was outside Germaine’s Emporium. The proprietor let us use his bathroom. Man did he have all kinds of junk.

At the van, SR joined us. Not far outside of Duncan there was a 10 mile climb. Karoo divided it into 4 smaller climbs, but it was mostly up the entire time. A couple of times SR and I couldn't hang with Ethan. He noticed and backed off. Once we got to about mile 50 it was downhill until about mile 74 when we got of US 70.I asked Ethan to stop once briefly to eat a quick snack and drink some water. We also stopped when we turned off 70. We had a headwind most of the way but were still flying with Ethan leading the way. It was hard to concentrate to keep on his wheel, but a lot of fun.

When we got off 70 we were on smaller roads with a general upward slope. There were sometimes when we had a tailwind. In general we didn't ride as hard, probably at my request. I think we got to camp about 2:20 NM time or 1:20 AZ time. I set up camp, organized things for tomorrow, and got a shower. Ethan is sleeping in a bivy sack, so didn't have much to set up. He is a much better light packer than I am.

There were some road runners around camp. Clearly they have been fed. We also saw a coyote.

JW and JE made dinner tonight. They had cheese and crackers for dinner and shrimp, eggs, and pasta salad for dinner. It was good, but Ethan didn't like it because he doesn't like eggs. He ate PBJ and lots of cheese an crackers.

Tomorrow we were given the option of being driven out to I-70 where we left the Southern Tier. It will save about 7 miles and will take that option. SR asked to ride with us again. I hope we won't go as fast tomorrow. The ride is mostly downhill for the first 40 miles and then there is a lot of climbing to Globe over the last 30 miles. Even with the 7 miles chopped off the beginning it will be a long day.

Today's ride: 81 miles (130 km)
Total: 2,411 miles (3,880 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0