Our early morning departure was cool, 61° and breezy, this time in our face.  Thankfully, it was only about 10 mph out of the southeast; we were due, but that didn’t mean we liked it.

The campus was still sleeping as we pedaled out of town on a long straight road.  One housing development followed another as suburbia spread from the city.

 Stopped for breakfast with only 12 miles completed, yet almost an hour and a half of biking; it was a slow go on our gradual climb. An awesome Crunchy French Toast with ample butter and bacon was just the remedy for our slow progress (or anything other ailment, for that matter).

It was still in the 60’s as we returned to our straight road; for twenty miles we saw nothing but homes and mobile parks.  One cannot imagine how many mobile homes there are here, it’s tough to imagine this many exist in the world!

It was not until Apache Junction that the homes gave way to desert and a better view of Superstition Mountain.

Four hours of steady climbing and still only 37 miles down.  And the serious climbing was only now about to begin, but the breeze had turned and was now to our back.  The dark clouds that had threatened rain earlier had obviously hit before we got to our major climb; wet roads and white fluffy clouds remained.  Whether the new rain or cooler than average temperatures, the desert was awash with color.

By 1:30 we made it over Gonzales Pass and were looking forward to the downhill into town.  As we turned the corner we were struck by the beauty of The Picket Post Mountain.  The sun lit sections, while clouds shaded the top, it was an awesome sight (as evidenced by all our photos of it).  The mountain temporarily distracted us from the fact that our downhill was short-lived.  Though the road looked downhill, we struggled to pedal the last eight miles into town.  It took us an hour to maneuver through traffic construction and the continuous uphill grade.  We were spent after our 55 mile constant uphill ride and hoped our Stromboli refueling would bring us back to life for tomorrow’s ride.