A gradual mile climb up and six miles down with not a bit of wind; it was a glorious start to the morning.  The climbs and drops were gradual and enjoyable, we were really enjoying the quiet, cool morning.  The majesty of the hills and the land is impossible to describe or convey in photographs.  Ten minutes down the road, we entered the San Carlos Apache Tribe Reservation.  We were enjoying the morning (and no wind), rolling up and down the hills in the cool morning.  We’d pumped out 20 miles by our first stop, only an hour and half in.  We chatted with an Apache and discussed our different modes of transportation.

The landscape continued to engage us, from the towering mountains to the smallest of flowers; the layers of hills and mountains framing our horizon.  But nothing was so dramatic in it’s beauty as this blooming cactus.

Shortly before ten, the forecasted SE winds announced their arrival and intention to blow strictly west, directly in our face.  Though only 10 mph, not nearly the force of yesterday, it quickly drained any reserve our legs had.  Our pace slowed dramatically, eight miles in an hour.  Just before noon, we took another rest and advantage of an Apache market for an early lunch.  With  a lot of miles to cover, we only stopped for 30 minutes.  Though it had been 83° in the shade of our stop, our thermometers quickly rose to the triple digits after a few minutes in full sun. The rolling hills soon became a struggle in the wind.We again passed dried river beds and one that actually had water.  In the distance at the base of the mountain, green abound near the Gila River.  Five hours and 40 miles since entering the reservation, we finally found the end.  Nothing changed much, other than the roadside became cleaner.  Continuous trash and glass is something we have sadly noticed in any reservation in which we have biked.

We had been watching this mountain top for hours, not believing we could actually see snow while struggling in the 100° sun.  Mt. Graham stands at 10,720 feet, so yes, it is snow.After over 500 miles in the “Old West”, we see our first horses. Our last stop was cool, refreshing and an unexpected treat.  Taylor Freeze in Pima has been a welcome and friendly respite for bicyclists doing the coast to coast ride.  We could use them at the end of every day’s ride.  We had ten more miles and thankfully our last stop had given us the much needed energy to make it.  After seven and a half hours of sitting on the bike, willing it to go forward, we finally rolled into our room for the night.  It was a long hard 76 miles and we were spent.

We would like to thank Everyone that has commented thus far.  Rest assured, though we may not respond, we read each one…..Thank You!

Days ago, we spent hours trying to find an alternative route to the one our map wanted us to take from Duncan.  The problem was the mapped route would require at least one night of camping in the desert with no campground or Water.  We were excited with our new route, as it would provide a hot shower and soft pillow, plus it would be a short ride after our grueling ride from yesterday.  But the wind Gods saw it differently; the road could not be any more directly into the wind.

 Our half mile out of town was straight east and the buildings blocked the brunt of the wind.  However, once we turned southeast, the 20-30 mph wind stood us straight up.  We struggled to go 5 mph on our slight uphill, not that we could tell if there was an uphill, the wind was so strong.  We pushed to go a mile before stopping; our only opportunity to take a picture.  Ten miles out, we came to the intersection that would put us on course and the wind at our shoulder. Tempting as it was to not face the wind any longer, it was not strong enough to pull us away from a motel room at the end of the day.  Based on our photos, it was a pretty ride, but every nerve, thread and ounce of our body was focused on staying upright and moving forward. After two hours of biking we had climbed 500 feet and only gone 13 miles; it was arduous, no, it was Brutal!  Another hour of biking only yielded an additional three miles; we were getting beat up.  We had really underestimated how much the wind was going to take out of us and by mile 20 were were starting to ration water.  The climbing and desert wind was sucking everything out of us and we questioned our finishing.  We rounded a corner at one point and saw a car pulled over on the side of the road.  Our spirits lifted slightly, thinking it may be a police car that we could beg a bottle of water from.  As we pulled into the turnoff, we realized it was someone having a roadside lunch; we asked nonetheless, but obviously no one drives around with a cooler of water.  We pushed on.  About a half an hour later, a car approaching from the other direction starts waving us down.  Our desert Angel, Diane, had stopped her lunch and driven over 30 miles to buy water for us, over a Gallon of it.  Diane, if you are watching THANK YOU, as we were pretty close to done.

 The wind was still blowing hard in our face, but fully loaded with water, we knew we could make the last 12 miles, albeit slowly.  By our fifth hour of pedaling, we had only come 31 miles.

A few miles short of town, we were gifted a downhill we could actually coast down.  The wind fought hard to push us back up, but this time, for two miles we enjoyed not pedaling.  On the outskirts of town, we stopped at the first place we saw that offered refreshments.  The sign was not promising, but it was 2:30 and other than breakfast, we had only had an apple and orange.  Lunch was unexpectedly good, plus we got a tip on a good place to stay for the night.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover our room was huge, brand new and comfortable; apparently a far cry from what we had reserved.

Six hours biking, eight hours out and only 40 miles completed.  It had been a very tough day.

We were ready to go at six o’clock this morning, but the cowboy cantina across the street did not open until seven and we needed nourishment for the ride.  Feeling much more refreshed this morning, we were able to enjoy the restaurant’s decor, sense of humor and good eats…….these cowboys can cook up some grub!  Now it’s time to ride.

Same forecast as yesterday, but today we were fully loaded with water and mentally prepared to face the wind, we only hoped our legs were up for the challenge.  It was a nice pedal out of Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O’Connor’s hometown, especially since we were protected from the wind for the first mile.  But the wind was waiting as we turned the corner and assumed our southeast trek.  We left the green farmland as the Gila River and our route separated.  Six miles out, we crossed into New Mexico and the Mountain Time Zone; Ennui Morricone’s theme song to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” eerily played in our heads.

The wind maintained a strong 20 mph blow, but today it threw in super strong gusts, often bringing us to a stand still.  Once again, after two hours of riding we had climbed 500 feet and only come 13 miles; an hour later seven more miles….the wind was wearing us down. Shortly after noon, we found a hitching post to rest our tired bikes, but in the hot blow of the wind and the seering sun, it was not very comfortable.  By mile 30, the temps were in triple digits, the hot gusts seemed to blow right through us, sucking any moisture with it and the road would not end.We crawled into town hitting the first place to eat we could find.  A cheeseburger, ice tea, chocolate sundae and chocolate milkshake, slowly brought us back to life.

There is not much to this tired town, including a restaurant close to the hotel.  Unfortunately, we had to get back on the bikes to ride to dinner.  It was Cincho de Mayo and we were determined to redeem our Mexican dinner from earlier in the week with a good meal and Margarita; still searching.  On our way to dinner, however, we learned that the Interstate (runs through the town) had been closed due to high winds……no wonder we were so spent.  Only 38 miles logged today, but it felt like 380 miles.  If the wind is blowing in our face tomorrow, we are taking the day off.

It was tough to leave the dreamy bed and comfortable hotel, but.…. today’s forecast was for a mid-morning tailwind and we would need every bit of help available for the climbs ahead.  The cool 72° morning began with a three mile downhill backtrack; much more enjoyable than yesterday afternoon’s climb in to town.  Once on course, the road began rough and the shoulder filled with gravel, but with no traffic we could ride anywhere.  There was not much to see as we climbed through this vastness and we could see for miles, until we spotted Antelope (sorry MaryEllen).They seemed surprised, but not too concerned to see us, so photo ops abound.

Though we had no wind, the climbing still required a lot of stops on our slow pedal up.  Two hours of riding today and we just managed 14 miles with 1300 feet of climbing; we were ready for the tailwinds to show up and they were Late.  The grade was getting steeper and the air thinner,   as we slowly climbed.  Thanks to a two mile 350 foot drop, we squeaked in 21 miles in three hours of pedaling.  As our elevation inched toward 6,000 feet, trees began to replace the low shrub. Long before the wind assist came, we could hear it in the treetops.  By the time it reached our backs, we were struggling to maintain 3.2 mph, the wind pushed us to a blistering 4 mph pace up the mountain.  We finally reached the Continental Divide at 6355 feet (our fourth time over the Continental Divide).

The route now offered ups and downs as we rolled through the high valley.

Shortly after noon, we realized why there had been no traffic all morning.  We had known there was a big bike race in town, as we had to stay on the other side of town, but we had no idea, Tour de Bocrie would meet Tour de Gila.  This is the 30th annual five day event and we were arriving on the day of the time trials.   Took advantage of the signage for a quick rest, food break and a chance to see the racers go by.   The next ten miles was a blur of riders, conversation and massive hills.  We met Doug from Gallop, NM who had ridden over to watch the race and 14 year old K.J. from Tucson, who rode with us (after his race) for a couple miles, Great kid!

Once in town, we stopped for our daily (chocolate peanut butter) milkshake and then the mile Uphill to our hotel.  It had been a grueling 47 miles, but with the excitement of the race and the riders all around, we had forgotten the pain.  That was until we had to ride over a mile back in town for dinner; our legs were shot.  We are using the race in town as an excuse to take a day off, but we really need a rest and a little bike maintenance.  So we dropped our bikes at the shop and headed to dinner in town (more on that tomorrow).  Finally a delicious dinner (Apricot-Chipotle Chicken Alfredo)and a surprisingly amazing bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from New Mexico.  A fitting end to our second week!

Tempe, Arizona to Silver City, New Mexico

236.6 miles (one day off)

Continental Divide (6355 feet)

The town was bustling with bikers today.  This race draws amateurs, Olympians and Tour de France racers from all over the world.  Today was filled with different heats of the criterium.  Though we were supposed to be getting much needed rest, we could not resist possibly seeing a race.  So, we walked the mile and a half to town for lunch and hopefully catch a race.   After lunch, we arrived just before the start of the mens heat.  It was exciting and fast and positioned on a corner, we were able to see them several times as they lapped.

A quick tour of Silver City, revealed a small town with a delightful quirky character, but with roads blocked, we did not venture far.  Plus, we still needed to ride our bikes back up the hill.  This photo is from our hotel’s parking lot looking down towards town, yes, it is that steep.  Our location limited our dinner selection, in fact the only restaurant was Mexican and once again, they did not serve beer or Margaritas (isn’t that against some Mexican food/drink law?).  Glad we made it in to town last night.

By the way, the wind was still blowing today.

Just a quick note to thank Everyone for their prayers and well wishes over this past week and a half.  Thankfully, we head home today where we will continue Jerry’s road to recovery.  Once we figure out if this tour will be concluded in 2016 or continued at a future date, we will do one last post.

If anyone from the Silver City/Las Cruces, New Mexico area is reading, thank you.  We would not wish the circumstances for our stay on anyone, but it could not have happened in a better place.  Everyone we encountered in the last ten days has been beyond wonderful; our pleasant memories of this area will be because of you.

We leave you with a picture of the stunning Organ Mountains.

Thanks to all the Angels that looked over us, May they shine their grace on you, as well!