tomballay

The Horses are Watered, Fed and Ready for Departure

We cycled 81 miles today along I-40. The winds were very strong, luckily they were blowing in our direction for most of the day.

We left Winslow at 7:30 am hoping for a strong tailwind. Unfortunately, the winds were coming almost directly from the south, gusting over 30 mph.  We had a very difficult time keeping ourselves upright for the first hour and progress was very slow. Midmorning, the winds shifted to a WSW direction and we were off to the races.

Dan Moves Along I-40

I-40 in this territory replaced old Route 66.  Although the exits along I-40 are wide-spread, we saw a  number advertisements for old stops along Historic Route 66.  Our hotel looks like it comes from this same vintage.  It is very comfortable and the staff is very accommodating, but the Chieftain Hotel lost its fastball a long time ago.

Lobby and Staff of Chieftain Hotel

There is no restaurant anywhere in sight, but the Gas Station/Convenience Store next door has all the food we need to fill our tanks.

It took us less than 7 hours to make it to our hotel so we had plenty of time this afternoon to plot our route for tomorrow. The weather is not going to be accommodating tomorrow as we will be heading directly into a northeast wind. We hope to make it through Gallup and over the Continental Divide, but we will have to monitor our progress and plan our stop accordingly.

Today was a good day to recover our energy from the climbs of Saturday.  We both are feeling better as we close out the day.

Worse Than Texting and Driving - Taking a Self Portrait While Cycling

We rode 99 miles today.  Riding 100 miles is considered a big deal.  No one rides 99 miles and stops a mile short of 100. That gives you an idea how tired we were when we finished today.  One extra mile was not an option.

We left our Hotel at 6:oo am and watched the sun rise as we were on Route 260.  We expected a tough climb today getting out of the valley and into the mountains, but it was tougher than we anticipated.  It took us 4 1/2 hours to travel just 34 miles. It was a total grind.  The scenery, however, was just unbelievable and the weather was outstanding. 

Dan Ascending from Camp Verde Valley

We climbed to elevation 7450 ft today and spent our lunch eating at the Lone Valley Cafe in Happy Jack. We met a number of really nice people at the Cafe.  Most were interested in what we were doing and some gave us some information about our route ahead and what to expect in Winslow – “wear plenty of sunscreen because there are no trees.”

Tom Standing in Front of the Happy Jack post Office

Leaving Happy Jack, we rolled up and down, but staying at a fairly high altitude. For the last 35 miles, we rapidly descended into Winslow, dropping about 3000 feet. With a strong wind at our back and descending slopes, we traveled the last 40 miles in about and hour and forty five minutes. This was quite a difference from the morning climb.

Winslow is sort of barren looking town.  The people seem friendly enough, but the scenery is nowhere near what we experienced the last few days.  We have a comfortable room at the Quality Inn and we are both in our post ride routine – clean up, wash riding gear, eat, update blogs, try to stay awake until 9:00 pm.

We are both very tired today and doing our best not to burn ourselves out.  Tomorrow is a new day and brings a strong tailwind that should blow us toward Gallup, New Mexico.  The Lord willing, we hope to be into New Mexico by tomorrow night.

Today was a day of rest and planning.  We did move 15 miles down the road to the Comfort Inn at Camp Verde, I-17 and Route 260.  We will be traveling along Route 260 to Route 87 straight into Winslow.  Although we have a climb up to an elevation of 7000 ft.

Dan at End of Our Last Ride

Relaxation Mode

the winds will be blowing at our backs when we turn onto Route 87.  It will be a long day, but the last 30 or 40 miles will be downhill with a tailwind. 

We loaded up our bags with a number of extra water and Gatorade drink bottles, which makes us heavy, but should last until our projected water stop around mile 45.

We will be riding by the Post Office of Happy Jack, Arizona.  Foolishly, I thought my home town of Happy Jack Louisiana was unique.  I guess we all learn something everyday.

We completed a 78 mile ride yesterday from Yarnell to Cottonwood that took us through some beautiful mountains and provided some fantastic vistas. We spent most of the day either climbing steep mountain grades or flying down descents at breakneck speeds. It was a good day. 

Dan and I realize now that we were both dehydrated on Wednesday (perhaps me more than Dan). I believe the dehydration really started on Day 3 when we crossed the Colorado Desert in Southwest California. We  need to make sure we are hydrating properly, which means drinking water almost continuously. The good news is despite spending 8 1/2 hours on the bike yesterday and completing two very difficult climbs,  I am feeling much better.

We met Bob McCall, a 68-year-old cyclist at the top of our first climb.  Bob was a great guy and obviously was in fantastic shape as he routinely cycled from his home in Prescott(elev 5368)  up to the top of the mountain (6000 ft.). We followed Bob into town and he gave us some valuable info about our ride ahead and also recommenced a good place for us to eat lunch in Prescott.

After lunch, we headed up our second mountain climb (still in the Prescott National Forest) into Jerome Az. Jerome is a really small town literally hanging on the edge of the mountain side. It would have been a great place to stay but we had already made plans to stay in Cottonwood. We regretted this decision as Jerome looked like a fantastic place to spend a day.

We have decided to take a day of rest today and make sure our fluids and energy levels are recharged. My bike is holding out well (thank you John Drake and Bikeworks).

Our plan is to head toward Winslow Az tomorrow.  It is a distance of over 100 miles, so we will see how we feel as we travel along.

Our physical condition is definitely improving and we are hoping that we are getting the hang of climbing. It is intimidating to come to a sign that reads 12 Miles of Steep Mountain Grades and Switchbacks Ahead. You know that you are looking at 2 hours of difficult work. I have started to train my mind not to think of the end point – just trying to make it around the next turn. I yearn for the flatlands of the Texas Panhandle.

Dan and Tom at 6000 ft.

Mountain View

Dan on a 35 mph Descent

Completed a 63 mile ride today culminated with a 6 mile climb with gradient between 5 and 7.5 percent. It was the most physically challenging thing I have done in my life. I evidently am not drinking enough fluids as early signs of dehydration started to show themselves (I will leave it at that). We are staying in the Oak Park Campground and Motel – comfortable but no restaurants were open when we arrived at 5pm. Dan and I went to the grocery store and did our best for vittles. I have consumed about two bath tubs of water and am having trouble keeping my eyes open to update this. Tomorrow heading toward Cottonwood AZ.

Dan and the RV

Five Star Hotel in Salome

As planned, we completed a 61 mile trip today. We expected it to be relatively easy, but the ride involved 2500 ft of climbing.  It took us almost 6 hours to complete the trip.

We started from Blythe on I-10 and traveled along the Interstate for 32 miles before exiting on Route 60 East. We are glad to be saying goodbye to I-10.  The scenery is nice but the traffic is heavy; too many 18 Wheelers racing by our shoulder.

We met a number of cyclists today. The one that stands out is a guy named Alex Wilson from Vermont. This guy was loaded down with gear and traveling cross-country alone. I don’t know how he does it (or why for that matter). Climbing those mountains with 50 pounds of gear is a tough go – guess he finds this satisfying. Alex was a prototypical cycling guy – sort of weird. I am guessing that is what many think about us until they meet us (usually Dan making friends) and realize we are just a couple of good old coon asses from South Louisiana.

We are staying at an interesting hotel (picture attached) that Beth managed to find.  This town of Salome is sitting in the middle of nowhere.  There is nothing out here and we were lucky to find this place. The rooms were all booked (go figure) but the owner, Randle, put us up in his RV, (picture attached with Dan standing alongside).  We are living high on the hog.

Tomorrow we are heading to Yarnell, North of Wickenburg.  The first fifty or 60 miles of the trip are relatively flat but we have a monster climb up into what is supposed to be a beautiful town setting. Dan and I visited the post office today and jettisoned some of our gear. We are trying to reduce weight.

I struggled a bit today on the climbs. I need this time tonight to recharge my batteries.  Tomorrow will be a great day.

Climbing Box Canyon Road

We completed a 106 mile ride today from Indio to Blythe.  It was extremely challenging.  We left the hotel very early this morning as we saw the sun rising as we entered onto the main highway. We traveled first to a small town called Mecca located about 17 miles southeast of Indio, traveling along a side highway. We then climbed 1500 ft. from Mecca along Box Canyon Road , an isolated road that was beautiful,  but slow going. It took us 3 hours to travel 34 miles as we found ourselves in a continuous gradual climb from Mecca to I-10.

Once we reached I-10, we traveled for about 70 miles until we exited in Blythe.  The path along I-10 was through the Colorado Desert, a wilderness that had very few exits and no service provided for a distance of 60 miles.  Although we packed a load of water in our bulging bike bags, we realized that we were going to run low.  It was 90 degrees and we were consuming large quantities of water. We stopped at a road construction site and Dan talked the workers into letting us fill our bottles. I think those guys thought we were nuts.

This ride was every bit the gut check that I was anticipating. I am satisfied that I have now completed my first Century (100 mile ride) and did so with a load of over 30 pounds on my bike. Dan was really strong today as i found myself hanging on his wheel much of the time.

Tomorrow is a new day.  We are plotting our route now and hope to lower the mileage total to give us a day to recover.  Today really took a toll on our bodies. 

This trip would be much easier if we had someone toting our belongings and a route that was proven by other riders.  In some ways, we are blazing a trail as we have very little solid intel to configure our routes.  I guess that is what makes it so fun.

We left the hotel later today as we only intended on riding about 60 miles.  As we left the parking lot, we noticed a very stong west wind. We abandoned our plans to meander along side roads and opted instead to try our hand on the shoulder of I-10 East. This was a phenomenal ride for about 45 minutes as we were running downhill with a strong tail wind.  There were periods of 2 or 3 minutes that I did not touch the pedals yet  traveled at 30 – 40 miles per hour. This worked great until I started getting flat tires. There is so much debris along the side of the road that it is almost impossible to miss picking up something in your tire.  After the second flat, we decided the  risk was outweighing the gain of time and speed. In addition, we were running out of spare tubes.

We exited just east of Palm Springs and visited Palm Desert Bike and Moped where the mechanic, Yordano Vega,  outfitted our wheels with heavy tubes (thorn resistant) and tire liners. We still managed 56 miles  today despite all of our mechanical issues.

Although we didn’t get to set a new world land speed record (which was going to be like Bob Beamon’s long jump record – a 30 year mark) we did learn a few great lessons and met some interesting people. It wasn’t until we stopped at the Bike Shop that I realized that we had flown through Palm Springs on the Interstate at 35 mph, much like a Ballay family vacation where rest stops are timed and no one gets to see anything unless it is visible from the car window. Palm Springs is absolutely beautiful and I am glad I saw at least some of it.  The guys at the Bike Shop took care of us and we now feel we are ready for out great ride tomorrow. 

As we are told, there are virtually no places to stay or eat between Indio, where we are staying tonight, and Blythe California, where we are heading tomorrow. This is a distance of over 100 miles. We visited a local convenience store tonight and loaded up on Gatorade and food. We will leave as early as possible and hope to get to Blythe by 5 or 6 pm.  I think it is going to be a gut check.

Dan has some more pictures posted on Dan and Tom’s ride for Tirzah Facebook account (which had $1100 in donations yesterday. He also has some pictures posted on his regular Facebook account, Dan Peirce.

We completed a 94 ride today from Costa Mesa to Banning, California. The first 30 miles were delightful as we traveled along a scenic and well maintained bike pathway called the Santa Ana Trail.  The remaining 60 plus miles got progressively more difficult, culminating with a 8 mile climb along Highway 79 (an expressway) that was almost a continuous climb.  Dan was tired, but strong.  I was completely spent and I found myself barely moving at 5 miles per hour for the last hour.  The loaded packs on the rear of the bike make a severe difference, especially when climbing. I  limped into the hotel this afternoon and have now started the recovery process.  Our ride was made more difficult by some navigational issues that we need to address.  That last climb could have been avoided with better navigation planning.

Regardless, we are here, safe and healthy – planning the route for tomorrow, which will have to be shorter due to a limited number of hotels in the direction we are traveling.  A shorter route will be okay by me.

If you have a facebook accoun, visit Dan and Tom’s Ride for Tirzah. Dan has downloaded some great pictures.

I left Toledo this morning at 6:00a.m heading to DTW Airport. It was 20 degrees.  I had my multi-purpose bike tool confiscated at Detroit security and that turned out to be the only negative occurrence for the entire day.   I landed at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.  The weather here is fantastic-sunny and about 60 degrees. Dan and I picked up our bikes which arrived at the local bike shop without any problems.  We loaded up our stuff and make a quick trip to the Pacific, which is only about 2.5 miles from our hotel.  We dipped our wheels in the Ocean and took some great pictures which I will try to download here later tonight.  After all the planning and worrying, it was great to actually make it to our starting point and get on our bicycles.  Dan and I are very excited about getting started first thing in the morning.

Our destination is Beaumont, California, which is about 80 miles from our hotel. It looks like we are going to have a nice tail wind, so we may decide to go a bit further.  Beaumont is west-southwest of Palm Springs. 

Tomorrow should be a great day.