Doing the usual supply gathering equipment fixing stuff and also pretending to be a student here at Arizona State University. I got a much better, smaller, light weight pump that clips on right next to my water bottle cage at the REI here in Tempe. I also got a chance to have a couple beers with Sam Chung and check out his new house. Good to see you Sam.
Wednesday, November 5th
Day 42 - Rye to Tempe, Arizona
70 miles (2437 cumulative)
Today's ride was AWESOME. I came down out of the mountains. I'm not sure exactly, but I
think there was about 2500 feet of descent and a lot of it went by pretty quick,
so I spent a good amount of time tearing down the road at 30 mph. I got into Tempe at about 4 and went straight to the ceramics department. There is a really great facility here, plus the Ceramic Research Center which houses the largest collection of contemporary ceramics out there, which I plan to check out tomorrow. I went looking for Sam Chung, but he could not be found. I'll have to meet up with him tomorrow as well. I'm staying with Jake Meders, a buddy from Savannah and his wife Jessica who have been very welcoming.
Tuesday, November 4th - Obama Day
Day 41 - Heber to Rye, AZ
65 miles (2367)
I was stopped by a couple, Britney and Jonathan, who driving home from a shake down ride for their trip from Pheonix to Panama. They give me a shout out on their page at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/HQ8
I just discovered this crazy guy on a bike site, it's pretty cool to see all the other trips that people are doing.
I spent the night tonight in the middle of nowhere, with no one for miles and a dying cell phone. It makes it difficult to know what's happening out there with that big political thing happening.
Monday, November 3rd
Day 41 - Concho to Heber, Arizona
64 miles (2302)
Another windy day. It was difficult to make any progress. I'm in the White Mountains which remind me a little bit of the Adirondaks, except without the mud, or the rain, or basically any water, or any desiduous trees, and more of an old west motif in the small towns, rather than a north woods motif, and about 3000 feet higher, so really they're not that similar at all. I got into Heber around 4 thinking I would grab some lunch and push on. While walking through the grocery store and guy notice my biking gear and asked me about my trip. So we got to talking, and I was asking about camp grounds up the road and he asked "WOuldn't you rather stay in a house?" Well sure, of course.
I was wearing my Obama sticker, and he says "Well, I'm not an Obama fan." But I figure if he's willing to put up with my political veiws, I can put up with his.
His name was Kenneth McLaws and he took me to his cabin which was ni
ce and warm, and had hot water and a kitchen. He fed me dinner and we watched Bill O'Reilly and chatted about this and that and he continually offered me food and drinks and prickly pear jelly and pretty much anything. He's a boy scout leader and used to be an avid back packer so we had a common interest in the outdoors. Though we had several differences of opinion, he was a very interesting and all around great guy who was kind and generous in opening up his home to a stranger. We never did see the final score of the Redskins, Steelers game that will supposedly determine the outcome of the election.
Sunday, Novemeber 2nd
Day 40 - Witchwell to Concho, AZ
42 miles (2238)
This Morning Les took me to the petroglyphs in a Canyon nearby the campground. He hunts artifacts, so the whole time he was looking on the ground for arrowheads and pottery shards. It was meant to be an hour long hike, but there water in the entry to the canyon, so we had to take an alternate route in. We spent about three and half hours hiking around. I got to see ruins of an old hunting shelter (who knows how old) and found some pottery shards and arrowhead chippings (the part of the rock that they take off to make the arrowhead), but no arrowheads. Once we got into the canyon, there were tons of petrogylphs and it was so cool to see these drawings that were done hundreds of years ago.
I didn't get on the road until about 11 and then the winds started blowing. Oh the winds again. I made it to Concho and decided to camp out in a little park beside a lake and have a camp fire.
Day 39 - El Malpais Visitor Center, NM to Witch Well, Arizona
79 miles (2196 cumulative)
This morning when the visitors center staff showed up, not only did I not get scolded or charged for camping in their parking lot, I was fed breakfast. MaryAnna Ireland cooked me some oatmeal and I chatted with her and Jim Ferrel while the sun came up. I passed through Zuni, which in 1970 was the first Native American community in this country to admiinister it's own affairs. A guy on the street stopped me to ask about my trip. He was walking around the town campaigning for Obama, gave me a sticker and recommended a campground across the stateline in Arizona. It was in the middle of nothing and nowhere marked by a sign that said "Land for Sale, RV, Camping." I rode down a gravel road and found three guys barbecuing who told me that bikers and hikers could camp for free. They also said that dinner would be ready in 1/2 an hour which gave me just enough time to set up camp. Ron owned the place and had a little trailer with solar panels and a wind generator. He was selling parcels of land for about $1000 an acre. There's nothing on it but cactus, juniper and solitude; no water or electricity. Les was his buddy wh
o was refurbishing his trailer for him, and doing a pretty nice job of it. He offered to take me to see some nearby petroglyphs in the morning. Their friend Robert was a former computer science professor who had a plot of land nearby. He had built a little geodesic dome tent that he lived in year round. We had dinner and stayed up chatting and drinking beer. They're a good group of friendly guys.
October 31st - Happy Halloween!!!
Day 38 - Exit 126 to El Malpais National Monument Visitors Center
71 miles (2117)
After breaking camp I changed my flat, with no way to repair it. After a while a Water maintinence truck pulled up that had a compressor in the back; success! Of course ten miles down the road I pull a thorn out of the front tire and hear the air come rushing out. So I change the tube again and walk over to an unmarked cinder block building and luckily their maintnence shed has a compressor, so I fill up the tire and move on. I took historic Route 66 into Grants and found a big heavy floor pump at an auto parts store. I had hoped to cross the continental divide today, but with both the flats, I ended up spending halloween camped in a parking lot with no one around for miles. It's the El Malpais National Monument Visitor Center, and I'm not really sure if I should be camping here. Spooky.
October 30th
Day 37 - Albuquerque to NM I-40 Exit 126
45 miles (2046 cum.)
I had a late start today and rode through the city of Albuquerque and then up the mountains outside of town. I was on frontage road for a while, but was eventually forced onto I-40 which I took for 10 miles and will have to take for 10 miles more tomorrow. It's not aweful, but not great. At least the shoulders are plenty wide. Towards the end of the ride I had a rear flat. I decided just to pump it up and keep going. I didn't really repack the pump to well, because it fell off when I was crossing the cattle grate. By the time I went back for it, a car had flattened it. Uh oh.
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