Amado - Patagonia - I'm Happy To Be Here

December 3, 2021

Amado - Patagonia

Heart

Comment

I had another fitful night of sleep. I was awake early. We had requested an 8 AM breakfast. I heard rattling around about 7 AM. Jan went down for coffee, and came back saying we could have breakfast now. ??? I was still in bed, whiling away time. Hurry, hurry.

Breakfast was a nice assortment of fresh fruit, plus scrambled eggs, and turkey sausage. I supplemented with instant oatmeal. Jan had toast.

We were out the door at 9 AM sharp. Jan walked the gravel driveway. I rode.

We were on the frontage road a few short miles before getting on the interstate for one mile. This is where they bottled necked all of the traffic for the border check point. We enjoyed the smooth pavement while it lasted. Jan had been suffering with her wrists and hands on the rough road surface. She suspects recently developed arthritis.

The road continued to parallel the interstate. We passed through busy Tubac, and less busy Carmen.

At mile 15, we took the turn to Pedalton Drive, where Hank and I were separated last year by the train, and he took a wrong turn. I will forever remember Hank at those tracks! What a story!

Pendalton Road undulates along the edge of the hills, up and down over every drainage. If you are a fan of pointless ups and downs, this is your spot. I knew we had a couple of steep climbs at the end.

I was passed by one cyclist who said he needed my bike. There was a noticeable lack of cyclists compared to the last time we passed through.

This trip we got on the bike path. It wasn’t clean, but had many twigs and dry leaves. I was concerned about thorns.

That path ended, and we got on the roadway. Another path started. Jan got on it, telling me the surface was much smoother than the road. I joined her, only quickly to get to the big sandy area I remembered. We were back on the roadway.

The bike path was nice for riding together and reminiscing. Jan and I have known each other since 1982. We did our first multi day tour together, Cycle Colorado, in 1992. I continued to tour, eventually going self contained. Jan went the opposite direction, to racing.

She and her husband have done many club organized camping type rides, such as Ride the Rockies and DALMAC. This is her first self contained tour. It’s not her style. She likes having support to rescue her and also the company of lots of people. Camping is okay. I don’t think I’m talking Jan into the 2022 Fall colors tour

we hit the climbs at the end of Pendleton and took a couple of turns. It was important to me to take a photo at the painted plywood cow. Of course, there was suddenly all sorts of traffic, wishing we were out of the way. A man was selling ten pounds bags of oranges at the intersection, but Jan didn’t want to carry one.

We moved on. It wasn’t far to Highway 83. But! Jan had a flat tire on the rear Darn darn. She had only changed one flat herself. He husband usually does the honors. I helped her get the wheel off and provided moral support and a napkin to wipe her greasy hands. We were off. Experienced cyclist tip - the next time you stay in a motel room with packets of disposable make up remover put one in your tool kit to wipe dirty fingers.

Jan mentioned that the delay might cause us to miss my desired lunch stop at Common Grounds, which closes at 3 PM. I told her I am a plow horse. I always get the work done, slowly. She is the race horse, she should sprint ahead and get our sandwiches to go. I had my order ready. Jan took off.

I continued along, at my pace. It was another 14 miles to town. The scenery along the Patagonia Lake area is pretty, with red rocks. I was fading fast, but wanted my gluten free Cuban sandwich. Jan was just walking out of the restaurant as I pulled up. She had some confusion finding it. For some reason she was looking for a place called Gluten Free Heaven! I ran inside to was the remainder of the grease off my hands. It was 2:55. Today they had homemade ice cream. I bought raspberry and maple walnut. We ate outside on the attractive, covered deck with handmade wrought iron and ceramic tables and chairs. They are for sale at the shop next door. I would love a set to take home. Jacinto wasn’t near as excited.

I lingered, enjoying the ambiance. But our sweat was drying and getting cold. It’s time to move on. Three doors down was the Stage Stop Inn. I registered. Jan and I helped each other get the bikes in the doors and down the skinny pathway to the rooms. The rooms surrounded a swimming pool in a courtyard without a roof. The rooms are dark without any sunshine. They have sliding glass doors into the courtyard. The rooms themselves are nice and have memory foam beds. This is the only motel I’ve stayed at that has purified water in the room.

Jan had the first shower. I showered, and then we tried patching her tube. It didn’t work. Now she has no spare. Her solution if she has another flat is to call an Uber. This sparked a giant conversation about how she doesn’t like self contained touring and her rear end and wrists hurt too much from being on the road longer.

We are going to dinner now.

We ate at the adjoining Wild Horse Restaurant. The special tonight was fish, with soup, coleslaw, and chips. We both ate that. It was acceptable, if not delicious.

After dinner we called our respective husbands. Both thought we could peel off the glue free patch and try patching her tube with one of my traditional patches. Kurt added that we would not test it in the sink, as the pressure of being inflated inside of the tire would help keep the patch in place. That is what we have done. Now we *might* have a spare tube for her. Best case scenario is to not get a flat in the next 88 miles. Let’s see how lucky we are!

The plan tomorrow is to eat breakfast at Common Grounds, ride to Sonoita, drop our gear at the Sonoita Inn, and take a 25 mile loop around wine country/Elgin. Then we will have lunch at the brewery.