Graber cycling

Off day. We drove up to see the Gila cliff dwellings. it was still windy and snowy and in the the 30s all day so we were glad to not be riding in it!

An hour plus drive from our cabin on some winding icy/snowy roads got us there. Also had some snow squalls! I was glad we weren’t 🚲 today.

We did a 2 mile hike of the cliff dwellings with a guide for part of it. Pretty interesting history of the Southwest.

By the time we got back to camp we were ready to head into town for a restaurant with WiFi and food.

Heading towards Deming NM tomorrow. we decided to opt out of the 8200ft Emory pass when it’s 30deg, windy, and snowy.

Bylas to Duncan. 75 miles. 2000 ft climbing.

A cloudy, mostly flat morning. We had a view of a large snow covered mountain to our right. A light to medium headwind switched to a strong tailwind soon after lunch. Since we wild camped we decided to go to the nearest town for coffee and breakfast and were very pleased to find Meg’s Diner. Great breakfast! A steady climb in the afternoon aided by the tailwind resulted in a fun descent into Duncan where we met Kristal and janet at a $50/night motel. This was the result of forecast 50mph winds tonight that we didn’t want to tent in!

Roosevelt to Bylas. 78 miles. 4150 feet climbing.

After we discovered in the morning that our campground had showers and electricity we stayed to take showers and charge our devices before leaving by nine.

Another really tough morning of climbing. While on the climb another cyclist, Simon from Sweden, caught up with us and rode with us until we stopped for lunch in Globe.

A nice tailwind and descending resulted in our first day over 70 miles.

We stopped at the Bylas town park, pitched our tent and ate dinner. However, the area was very noisy and busy. We were worried about security also. So we packed everything back up and in the dark rode another mile out of town to some space by an old abandoned railroad trestle. Another night of ‘ wild ‘ camping!

We found out later that night that the area that we camped at had many stray dogs. They discovered our tent at 9:30 pm and proceeded to bark at us for the next hour before finally giving up!

Sunflower to Roosevelt. 54 miles 2800 feet elevation.

Limited cell coverage now so the photos will be delayed.

We left our ‘wild’ camp around 7:45am. A beautiful morning was spent climbing and descending for several hours.

We finally finished the toughest climbing by 11 and stopped at Jake’s Corner for a late breakfast.

We reached Roosevelt lake around 3. Craig’s Achilles was acting up again so we iced it for an hour. After some deliberation we decided to camp at Windy hill campground. It was a beautiful site with great views.

Tempe to sunflower. 57 miles. 3900 feet climbing. A Pretty hard day.

We had a late start from the hotel this morning due to restocking and icing Craig’s Achilles. The hot tub last night was great for his legs too.

Leaving just before 10am we had about 20 miles of flat riding out of the city before start the first of several climbs. Craig felt good today so we pushed on to Sunflower which is not a town. It’s basically just an intersection with a towing company business. We wild camped about 50 yards off route 87. It was a very difficult climb te get there.

Wickenburg to Tempe,AZ 78 miles 850 ft climbing.

A mostly downhill day going into phoenix. We also had a nice tailwind and Craig was feeling better so we made good time most of the day.

However as we were in the last 10 miles on the bike path following the Arizona canal Craig’s IT band all of a sudden began acting up and we struggled in.

We had reserved rooms at the Comfort inn with Kristal and janet for the night After a nice Lebanese restaurant dinner we headed back to the hotel too take advantage of the hot tub.

Brenda to Wickenburg. 77 miles 1500 feet climbing.

Our longest day yet. We were able to set off from our motel by 7:30. It was a beautiful sunny morning. We had two long ascents of 1% grade for 25-20 miles at a stretch. And there was an annoying 5-15 mph headwind! Craig felt better today but I still pulled(was in front) all day. I still feel great and had no problems doing it except for some sore muscles. We met another couple, Barb and Bob, along the way who are also doing the same route. We are at the same RV park camping with them. Hoping tomorrow is another good day for Craig as we enter phoenix.

Palo verde to Brenda, AZ. 61 miles

We were delayed by a foggy morning. It was almost 9 before it was safe to leave.

Mostly flat until we reached the Colorado River and crossed into Arizona. Several steady climbs on interstate 10 and then a short descent to the RV park where we booked a motel room for Craig to soak his aching body.

Glamis to Palo Verde 40 miles. 1400 ft climbing.

We spent a sleepless night due to hourly freight trains and round the clock ATVs playing on the dunes about a mile away.

We set off with extra water since there would be no place get water for the next 40 miles. The morning was a long slow climb. And then an easy descent over 15 miles. We were hoping to make 70 miles but some showers arrived so we found temporary shelter at a county park. Then after waiting a couple of hours for the showers to let up we rode two Miles’s in a light rain yo an RV park for the night

Craigs legs are still not good so we took it easy again today.

Calexico to Glamis. 50 miles. 600 ft ascent.

We woke up to rain showers so we took our time getting out of our cheap motel and rode two miles to a Denny’s for breakfast.

A very flat day. We are both pretty sore. Craig more so than me. He’s had issues with his IT bands, his knees and today his Achilles was acting up.

We took our time getting through this agricultural area. We ended up in the Imperial Dunes recreational area. An incredible number of off-road toys that were being driven around. The rangers directed us to a spot pretty far away from all that noise where we pitched our tent