Slide Show of Trip

St. Augustine Beach

Atlantic ocean! Trip over... Relief!
Much to reflect upon.
Dad and Shell are due in town any time. It will be wonderful to see them.
I'm still too frazzled to add much...
Managed to get this picture to load.

The Lord is still with me ( evidenced in picture ) in spite of my foulness the past few days.

Thank you all for your prayers, blessings and kind words of encouragement.

St. Augustine Beach, Florida

107 miles today... 3078 miles total
I'm Done!
2 flats
Man, I was animal and machine! I wanted to finish... I took a couple of sticky short-cuts... But it was worth it... I feel exhausted and elated...
Passed thru gainsville and other towns...
One encounter with a hostile motorist that I may share later... Right now, i'm enjoying a guinness and waiting for a med rare steak....
Many, many pictures to share... Will upload pix and stories in next few weeks after I decompress.
i'm pretty rung-out after fighting cars and traffic for road space...
God Bless Us All!

Greenville to high springs florida

92 miles
I didn't think I had it in me to go this far today. I traversed a lot of park property and the suwahnee river... Quite honestly, I wasn't into the scenery. It was warmer today... More comfortable for riding today.
About 120 miles to go...

P.s. Pj, thanks for tuning in... ( how do I know you?)

Quincy to greenville florida

85 miles
Went through tallahassee... Very busy town...
LOts of hills.. I thought fla was supposed to be flat...
Very cold last two mornings... Upper 30's - uncomfortable for biking. Hard to steer when shivering. No hotels nearby - so camped behind a little church outside of town.
Generally, I like biking when little towns crop up every 10-20 miles.
About 225 miles to finish. Very anxious to be done. I hope it warms up a little. I'm pretty cozy in my tent, but getting out of sleeping bag in a.m. when it's cold is difficult.
I've been pushing myself a bit... feeling tired and cranky... Getting pretty good at 1000 yard stare when I take breaks.
Hopefully done in 3 more days... We'll see!

Caryville to quincy, fla

85 miles
Crossed the final time zone for trip... I'm now on eastern time...
Nice terrain... Sunny but cold... temp in 40-50's.
dad and shelley are going to be in st.augustine sun evening. I told them I may not be there until mon or tues.
Two flats today... Could have gone further...
Checked into another flea bag motel... Got dark and too cold to camp...
Goodnite!

Jeff Brauer memorial fractured elbow ride

Ride for the cure (for non-displaced, non-cominuted, radial head fractures )...
Let's stamp out elbow fractures in our lifetime!

I'd like to dedicate the hundred miles that i've ridden from pensacola to caryville florida to my brother in law jeff's fractured radius.

Money can be donated to a trust in his elbow's honor. Call (719) 481-0494 and give generously.
Proceeds will go towards paying for Jeff's rehab. Without rehab to learn to eat one handed, Jeff can only eat by bobbing for food like a chicken.
(i hope jeff isn't following my blog )

Great riding conditions today... Cool and overcast...
400 miles to go....

Dauphin Island Alabama to Milton Florida

80 awesome miles
Started with a ferry ride to costal highway. Spent all day riding along gulf coast in sunshine. Found my way into pensacola fla... And out in time for rush hour.
Rode twenty more miles to milton.
Hope to make it past defuniak springs tomorrow. If i'm lucky, i'll be done next mon.

Nowhere MS to Dauphin island Ala

75 miles today...
I chronicled the horrible drivers in backwood country mississippi and alabama with my last post. Once I got to Bayou la batre, things got much better.
The ride from there to dauphin island was a joy.
I am camped at a campground on the island which is very nice. I walked to the gulf shore nearby and watched the sunset... Very nice...
Tomorrow I take a ferry to the interconnected gulf islands that take me through pensacola fla. The roads are supposed to be very good with good shoulders and better traffic from here on out...
...according to the map sources anyway...
Yee-ha! It's nice to be back in civilization!

Southern Mississippi and Alabama

This section has some of the creepiest places i've seen on this trip. The scariest white people in the country...
None of the backroads in mississippi were marked. Fortunately, my maps were good. The route zig-zagged through some very isolated ''cool hand Luke'' paved backroads. The roads were lined with evergreens, swamps and occaisional trailers. Most of the cars/trucks were vintage primer-gray fords and chevys belching black oily smoke. Many had confederate flag decals or flags on the antennae. I passed many random trash heaps as well.
Because the roads weren't marked, at several intersections I had to ask passersby if this was the road to such and such... Most seemed put-out by a stranger asking them questions.
One primer gray truck with three rough looking guys stopped at an intersection for me. The driver had a bandana on his head and a tee-shirt with a silllohette of a pole dancer that said, '' support single mothers.''
He verified the road that I was on. His buddy on the passenger side looked just like charles manson. He hollered at the driver in a slurred voice, ''where's the pecker trying to go?'' the driver shot back, ''shut the fuck up you tool!''
There were no campgrounds or other options, so I road back an old logging trail and found the most discrete place I could find to set up camp... I was a bit uneasy...
No hassles in camping, except I woke up and my rear tire was flat. I fixed the flat and got going well enough...
It was sunday morning and I was astonished at the number of people who honked and harrassed me to get off the road... the most intolerant drivers i've encountered... Especially on the border with southern alabama.
Of note was a church bus that came up on my rear honked it's horn continuously until it pulled along side and the fat old fart driver with high and tight grey hair and horned rmmed glasses wagged his finger at me and mouthed, ''get off the road!''
There were six passengers. The slightest among them tipped the scales at 250. All were in their starchiest sunday best. All six peered their moon faces at me and stared at me as if I were the strangest thing that they had ever seen. they stared with preposterously large black eyes, magnified by coke bottle lenses in their black horn-rimmed glasses. Their lipless vacuole-like mouths dialated and constricted rapidly with every breath they took. They looked at me as if I was racing them to church so that I could steal their money and rape their women.
Sensing the threat that I posed, the driver sped off, driving God's chosen off to heaven.
Alas, I was left behind...

Bugalusa LA to Nowhere MS

82 miles...
Frustrating to navigate because mississippi does not like to put up signs marking secondary roads. Every turn was an uncertainty.
One of the roads with a bridge across the biloxi river was closed, so I had to find an alternate. Joy! Not one road was labeled..,
Tonight, i'm camped off of some logging trail. Tomorrow I should make it to alabama and the gulf... Should be more interesting...
Goodnight!

Room mate at Budget Inn

I decided to treat myself to a motel this evening. There is a dearth of possibilities for the next 100 miles or so.
The Budget Inn in Bugalusa la is right on the border with mississippi.
I rode 61 easy miles today from clinton la to bugalusa la ... and knocked off early. I checked into this here Budget inn, bought a couple beers and soaked in a nice hot bathtub.
While soaking and sipping blissfully, my little room mate showed up.... Cute little guy...
I may be in cell phone silence as I traverse mississippi toward alabama and the gulf...
That's all til now... I have to tell my room mate to turn his music down...

Morganza to clinton la

78 miles
Another day of nice weather. Passed some beautiful bayou country along mississippi. Took a ferry across mississippi river to st. Francisville. La. Nice old historic town north of baton rouge. Nice rolling country roads through forested country.
Travelled further east past cotton fields - endind today in clinton. passing thru many small sleepy towns with few or no sErvices.
Down to my last ten bucks... Still have some food. Tomorrow is payday, will probably check into botel in next day or two to clean up and restock. Getting rather smelly...

Close Call

Today has been a postcard beautiful day.
75miles from grand prarie to morganza la.
2180mi total
I passed sugar cane and rice fields along flat back roads. Through hardwood groves and a half dozen peaceful small towns.
As I was finishing my ride along a 6mile stretch of state road, I entered a long curve in which the road was lined on both sides with hardwood forests. The speed limit was 55 and double yellow lines. There have been several unavoidable stretches of road like this that one must ride to get to the next section of back roads. Anyway, I saw a logging truck coming and started hugging the white line on my side. As the truck came by a utility truck cut across the double line to pass... he cut right in front of me without warning and I had no shoulder to vear onto and no time to react. He passed me head on doing about 80 -- I felt a wall of wind and saw but a blur of vehicle. It all happened in a blink of an eye.
I didn't have time to feel any anger or fear...
I realized that I could have been snuffed out that quickly...
Two miles later I saw a sign for Prayer Lake. And that's where I checked in...
Apparently, God doesn't want me dead yet! He must want me to finish this ride first.
Prayer lake is a paradise... Beautiful lush manicured fields and mature oaks and pecan trees....
Thank you all for your prayers.
Tonite, I return the favors.

Deridder to grand prarie la

80+ miles
Low wind flat terrain. Some of the parrish roads are in rough shape... Giving my junk extra discomforts...
Very pleasant day however... Nice temp... Sunny.
I caught up with two young ladies from great brittain who are on a sponsored trip across the usa.
Again with picture uploading trouble... I'll try to make another entry about them with pix in near future...
It's interesting how much the terrain and visible standard of living has changed across the state line. Lush greenery, marshes and rice fields...
for tonite, i'm in my tent behind a church sanctuary in grand prarie ...
God bless us!

Pine ridge estates and rv park in deridder la

I enjoyed a nice respite here. I pulled in at 6:00 after a good days ride. It was a very nice evening. I was greeted by Alan, the park superintendent. I asked if I could pitch a tent somewhere. Alan went way above the call to find me a nice spot by the rest rooms. Alan was the kindest superintendent I have ever met. He was worried that I might get cold, so he told me to feel free to set up in an empty cleaned out storage area inside. I was fine in my tent, however.
I set up camp and cooked up some junk. I enjoyed the cool evening. The park was very clean. Children were playing and running along the tree lined fringes of the park. Parents and friends were gathered outside ... Some were grilling dinner... Others just visiting after arriving home from work. The sun was setting, children were laughing, adults were communing. A huge belly laugh erupted from a man as one of the younger kids presumably got the best of his older brother....
It was all so beautiful...
The next morning I awoke to the sounds of children whispering outside my tent. It was still dark and they were on their way to the school bus stop. apparently they were arguing about whether or not anyone was sleeping in the tent... I quietly unzipped about 6 inches of the tent fly so my eyes would show and I growled, '' Yummy! Children! ''
They freaked... It was great...

Woodville texas to deridder louisiana

80mi today, 2050mi so far... Just over 1000mi to go...
The rolling hills seemed to stop about 20 miles from the border ... almost like an apology that's too late. I never thought texas was so hilly.
Almost immediately the terrain flattened with light winds from the northeast. I'm guessing that winds will have a southerly direction as they blow toward the gulf... We'll soon find out if that's right or not...
Really starting to feel homesick...
I saw a golden retriever that looked like max... I almost stopped -- but I probably would have blubbered...
Love to all!

Texas behind me...

I managed to get this picture to load.
When trying to set up this picture, there were two old farts in an rv behind me waiting to pose at this same monument. They wouldn't go ahead of me. They insisted I go ahead and take my picture first.
So I did...

Oakhurst to woodville texas

62 miles...
I got off to a late start after a good sleep and breakfast. My start was further delayed by a flat rear tire... My 4th flat so far... The culprit was a fine piece of radial tire steel wire. So far... 2 flats from wire, 2 flats from thorns.
Started at 11:00....very boring riding... All rolling hills with a light headwind. Still feeling a bit stale.
Trees and state roads till I hit the border. 45 miles to louisiana... I'll be there tomorrow.

Navasota to point blank, texas

65 miles today...
Today my body had some complaints - so I took things easy and knocked off early. I detoured my route to get off some of the hillier backroads without shoulders and opted for some of the flatter state roads with wider shoulders.
My right gastroc thanked me... And I have learned to appreciate motrin.
some of the tree huggers might scorn me for bypassing some of the sam houston natl forest, but I still got to see some pretty country.
It's amazing to see the transition from desert, to mountains, to arid hills, to scrub forests to lush pine forests and lakes over gentle rolling hills. It all changes so gradually... Much easier to appreciate the gradual transitions on a bike than in an auto...
Tonight I stopped early-- about two hours before sundown. I found a pretty spot behind a church and graveyard nestled behind a pasture.
I cooked up some rice and beef stew... And ate very leisurely while watching the sunset.
I thought about everyone at home that I love and felt a pain of homesickness... Sigh...
I'm a little more than 100 miles from the louisiana border. If I pushed it, I could make it there tomorrow, but I think i'll stroll easily for the next day or two...
Goodnight everyone... I'm glad you're with me!

Balstrop to navasota, texas

119 miles... Dang!
I wanted to get as far away from yesterday as possible.
I encountered everything that makes up the best and worst of riding. Great road, bad roads, good and mean drivers, beautiful back roads, nice farms, cramped urban roadways, hills, flats, headwinds, tailwinds...
Tonight i'm camped behind some rolled up bales of hay. The cows griped at first, but now they seem to accept me...
All in all I rate today's ride one and one-half arms up...
( picture of Jesus with one arm up and one halfway up )

Lord, fly me way the hell away from austin!

90 miles today... All ranch roads without shoulders.
60mph traffic providing constant assaults two feet from my left elbow... relentless...
Terrain and winds better... Still a bit hilly in spots.
My nerves are a bit frayed...
I will be much better when the lord gets me the hell outta here....
(picture of Jesus rolling his eyes with his hands in the air)

No pictures for awhile

my handheld ipaq has vomitted every time I have tried to process pictures from my camera. It's frustrating! I've been getting some good pix. I haven't been able to upload some of the best.
As soon as I get to a good desktop pc, i'll try to upload pix...
In the meantime we'll have to use our imaginations.
(pic of vomit goes here)

Kyle, texas

( picture of city limits sign )
Named after the coolest nephew in colorado...
( picture of my knuckles )
Knuckle me, man!

Porcupine

I apologize for the roadkill pix. But from my perch, I encounter more than most...
I am saddened by the senseless loss of life wrought by automobiles. All these beautiful and facinating creatures are lost for no purpose or gain whatsoever.
This porcupine bit it for no good reason... I hope at least he caused a flat tire.

Camp wood to blanco, tx

88 miles today. 1625 total... I'm halfway done.
I don't want it to end...
Beautiful day... Lots of little hills. No headwinds until evening.
Went through kerville, tx where grandfolks lived in mid 70s. Hope to make it past austin tomorrow.

Melvin Tuggle

I met melvin east of del rio. He was pedalling west and was planning to ease north toward las vegas... And ultimately to seattle ( he started in norlfolk).
Melvin is a wiry 68 yo retired navy lifer (kinda looks like popeye ). He spent forty years in the navy. His home ship was the nimitz. He left the ship at newport news where the ship was docked and having a new reactor installed. He is expecting to meet up with the ship in seattle.
Mr. Tuggle is full of life. I am very pleased that I got to meet him on this trip. I hope I can cross paths with him again sometime. He seemed like a guy that would be worth having several beers with...

Armadillo

I wish I could post the picture I got of the armadillo that I saw. Unfortunately my handheld barfs and freezes whenever I try to load the image...
Too bad, he was a cute little bugger...

How to find your way east across texas

Pick the direction from which the strongest wind is blowing... Ride into it...
From the davis mountains to the eastern outskirts of the hill country, i've had nothing but strong sustained headwinds... And not little wimpy breezes... Ball busting winds that you have to pedal hard into to even go downhill...
Damn wind!
Look at the picture and guess which way is east...

Del Rio Night Riders

when I last saw andy montoya, it was in the mountains of blackjack pass on the border of az and nm. Andy passed me while I was visiting my mother in albuquerque. Andy cut a tire on road junk and had to buy a new tire, tube and other supplies in el paso. He was down to his last hundred bucks... And thought he could make it to del rio where he was to get money wired from his brother.
Long story short, I found andy on the side of the road in sanderson tx - out of money and out of food... In the middle of the longest stretch of this cross country ride without towns or services.
I started the day in marathon and was hoping to make it to langtry. This would have been 115mi. - an impressive ride. There were steady headwinds and it was rolling hills. I was reconsidering a shorter day when I found andy.
Andy had to make it into del rio by sat to arrange a wire transfer from his brother.
I loaned andy a spare tube. I made some of my macaroni, peas and tuna stuff and some coffee.
We were still about 120 miles from del rio. It was about 5:00. I suggested a night ride to del rio. Andy was up for it.
We put on our night lights at dusk. The air was crisp. The sky was huge and clear. I saw dozens of shooting stars. We did well until about 3am. Andys front tire was losing air.
We stopped - I made more macaroni and coffee. Andy fixed his flat.
As we got closer to del rio our headwind became stiffer and the hills became more rolling -- fatigue set in.
At sun up we were still about 40 miles from del rio... Ironically, I felt somewhat revived by the sun. Andy was falling asleep on his bike.
At comstock, andy was taking a nap. I felt that if I would have stopped, I couldn't have re-started. I told andy that I was going to ride on in and get a room. Andy had to reach his brother and find a bank. But he couldn't go on without a rest.
I made it to town against very stiff winds. I had ridden 180 miles in 24 hours. I checked into a comfort inn at 11:30 and contacted andy. He was two hours behind. He had fallen asleep on the roadside.
I felt better after a shower food and a couple beers.
Andy finally showed, he had made contact with his brother -- I had just ordered pizza.
We made it.
Today, i'm cleaning the bike, sorting gear and preparing for my next leg to navasota via austin. I feel pretty good after a good night sleep.
Texas hill country is on the horizon...

He jumped out right in front of me... I tried to miss him...

Poor Texas Sheep Pig...

John Wayne watching my ride at a truckstop

Train going by my tent east of davis mountains

Leaving the davis mountains

I had a great ride today after I got through the mountains. I got a flat in alpine, tx. The third so far. 2 of the 3 so far have been from these viscious thorns around here.
Beautiful country and good riding except for mountain gusts. Finished at marathon tx. 91 miles for today.
Nothing for next 110 miles. Will load up on water and food tomorrow.

Helloooo Ladeeees!

Yee-Ha! This is Cliff. He is 1010% pure blooded Texan. He loves rough country and fast women... No doubt!
Cliff likes country music. His favorite artist is Uncle Cracker. He likes Lone Star beer, naturally... But he hopes no one from church finds out.
Although Cliff acknowledges his sinful ways, he would be happy to save some purtee young gal out there.
Cliff drives the church bus for the Freewill Fundamentalist One Church of GOD. He sits in the pit section.

Like a kite in the wind...

I rode 50 mile northeast along route 10 with an awesome tailwind. Nothing but truckstops, ghost towns and peripheral farms and ranches.
I rode 50 miles in less than three hours.
I felt like Gods playtoy... and was glad of it...
Until I had to make a turn due south. Then my 40mph tailwind turned into a 40mph cross wind.
I was literally leaning 10-15 degrees into the wind.
At some points I was tacking into it liike a sailboat...

Davis mountains

I came into the davis mountains off of a great 50mile ride on I-10. A tailwind the whole way. Then I turn southeast onto state rd 118 and it was into the mountains with a stiff cross breeze.
118 runs through several canyons and gradually swerves upward. The wind through the canyons gets all twisted up and creates huge f-n gusts of 50mph or more. They may be right sighted, left sided, headwinds-- but never tailwinds.
Anyway, i'm in the davis mountains tonight at about 6500feet. I've got one more pass before getting to the university of texas observatory tomorrow, then its all downhill to del rio.
I still love mountains...

Cowboy biker

I had to climb over a little fart of a mountain today called sierra blanca. On the far side of the hill was a border patrol check point. the trucks were backed up about half a mile. Everysemi truck that had passed me going up the hill was waiting at the check station.
I whizzed by them all on the shoulder waving my hat in the air and whooping like a rodeo cowboy.
When I pulled up to the border patrol station, the guard waved me through and said,'' very funny biker boy.''

Troy from dallas

This is troy. He and I crossed paths twice today between el paso and sierra blanca.
Troy had to bury his father last year ... and his grave is in silver city, nm. It's the one year anniversary of his passing - so troy decided to bike from dallas to silver city to visit his father's grave.
I was touched by troy's humility. His journey to visit his fathers resting place is a loving tribute. I hope it was a healing time for him. I'm sure his father is smiling.

I don't think I like el paso much

Today was excellent riding weather. I packed up from my camp along the rio grande just south of las cruces, nm. I quickly found my way into texas, but I took the wrong road and ended up 10miles west ( exact opposite direction) I had to backtrack to end up almost back to where I entered texas.
El paso is a very large sprawling city ( pop 550,000) that spans nearly 30miles west to east. It is not a very biker friendly town. It's not as dangerous as the area east of tempe that I described awhile back.
Still I had to fight a lot of traffic.
I became misdirected in trying to get downtown, and I had to take another route that cost me another 10 miles.
Finally, i'm outside el paso. I'm happily, about 20miles east of the city camped up in a pecan orchard. The farmer who owns this fine orchard gave me weird looks, but was still kind enough to give me his permission to set up my tent here. It's a nice spot.
105 miles today! ... 75 of which got me closer to florida. The directions between here and del rio fortunately are much easier.

Caballo reservoir through San Cruces, NM

The easiest and funnest 70miles of the trip so far. Fast and flat with a tail wind... Pushing me closer to El Paso.
Camping underneath an overpass along rio grand. Beautiful pecan orchards and chili pepper farms.
Hope to get an early start and make it through el paso by noon... We'll see...

Mom and Rich

My visit with mom and rich was too short - and long overdue. Suffice it to say that I am the luckiest son alive.
However, I am a bit jealous of my half brothers, doogie and mac.
here is a picture of us all at the caballo reservoir in new mexico...

A Day Off in Albuquerque

Mom and Rich came down to the Caballo reservior to pick me up yesterday. We had a nice evening out -- lots of needed food and beverages.
I spent the day resting and shopping with mom. I got to drive around Albuquerque and pretend like I lived here.
I got my laundry done and repacked my gear. I had to borrow a pair of Rich's shorts and shirt while my laundry was going. The oversized sagging denim shorts made me look really gangsta!
I took the children (Doogie and Max - as seen in picture) on a walk through the neighborhood.
Mom made us a great steak dinner.
Tomorrow we get up early so they can drop me off at the reservoir to resume my journey.
I'm hoping to get a group picture to post tomorrow.
It's been a great day to rest and visit.

Mountain squirrels vs city squirrels

I am truly amazed at the athletic prowess of the mountain squirrels vs the ones back home. The squirrels out here are leaner and able to make tremendous aerobatic maneuvers as they casually move from bough to bough. They have no expectations or demands of me... Unlike their portly brethren who live back home.
I scattered a bit of trail mix as an offering to one little guy this morning. He did not rush to see what I had left.
Back home, the little fat bastards would practically break the branches to lope on down to the bird feeder at feeding time. They would often curl their spoiled pudgy little lips in disgust and lumber off in betrayal if the food in the feeder was not to their liking.

East meets west

I crossed paths with David Valenzuela ( http://davids-ride.blogspot.com ) up to emory pass as I was coming down. But he was biking faster uphill than I was descending.
Super nice guy ... Peacefoot is a great moniker for this guy. We chatted for awhile... And he motivated me greatly...
He is headed for san diego ...
I hope I look as fit as he does as I get close to st. Augustine.

Ascending to Emory Pass

I was hoping to traverse Emory pass last evening, but after 3 hours of climbing, I was pooped. I found a nice little primitive campsight about 3 miles from the summit. I was out of water, but a french canadian couple was enjoying an adjacent area and were kind enough to share.

When I woke up there was frost on all my clothes that I left to air out. After some coffee and a cereal bar I ascended the last 1200 feet to the pass.

I spent some time enjoying the scenery and began my twelve mile descent to hilsboro, nm.

I was hoping to make it to caballo, nm by 2:00 pm to meet Rich and my mom who were going to show me around albuquerque the next day.

Emory Pass

I thank God for such beautiful places!

At 8828 feet the thinner air may have enhanced my euphoria, but the vista was as nice as I have ever seen.

On the Continental Divide

East of the Continental Divide

West of the Continental Divide

Continental divide

I think i've made an important discovery. My route has crossed the continental divide three times.
As you can see, I made three puddles. One to the west of the divide, one to the east of the divide and one right on the divide. As you can plainly see, the puddle to the west flows west. The puddle to the east flows east. The puddle on the divide itself flows nowhere. It just forms a smart little puddle that sits there.
I wonder if they know about this at national geographic?

Bike maintenance

Last evening was very helpful to take stock of my bikes condition. I've put in 3500 mi on my tires. The chain and cassette are still practically new. I've ridden 883.5 miles so far ... Approx 2400 mi. to go.
Anyway, last evenings tire fix was easy enough. I replaced my worn tire and patched the puncture on the tube. I put on a fresh tire and tube. Then I clean and lubed the chain and deraliers. I tuned the shifters and adjusted the brakes.
Had I not received help from a kind stranger in getting this room, I would have simply and hastily patched my tire.
With Emory pass (8500 feet) looming and some hard climbs and descents ahead... This has Been a true blessing.
I'm getting a late relaxed start, but with a fresh recuperated body and bike.

Black jack pass, az to silver city, nm

I camped out at 6300ft. I had a rough time starting... I think I was spent from the climb the evening before. I called andy, he camped at the base of the mountain 12 miles back. He told me not to wait.
After passing the new mexico border, I descended about 1500 feet into buckhorn, nm. the descent went through some beautiful pine forests- the first trees i've seen since san diego.
Nice riding untill just outside silver city. I got my first flat of the trip. I had a spare, but it was getting dark.
A kind gentleman from outside silver city, tom hayes, was kind enough to give me a lift into town. he was further kind enough to get me a room at a local super8 motel. I tried to refuse, but he insisted and said that such acts are what we are here for...
Yes, indeed...
bless someone today...
Pay it forward.

I Love These Mountains

Today's journey entailed two long climbs. First through the black hills, thumb butte and guthries mountain. Then we descended into three-way junction and lastly the most difficult climb so far ... A fourteen mile ascent into the big lue mountains. I kept riding til it got dark. I'm right at the pass in a tent by the roadside. Even though the switchback climbs were difficult, I was feasting on the most beautiful sunset view i've ever seen. I'm camped out at 6250 feet.
57 hard earned miles.

2 apaches and a navaho

These three guys were interested in what I was up to when I stopped at a reservation store. They were very friendly, and the two on either end were pretty inebriated.
Regardless, they spoke reverently of their people and their land... If not reverently to each other. They each told me their indian names which I cannot remember and cannot pronounce. The two on the left are apache, the one on the right is navaho. The navaho guy was mocking the long haired apache to some effect. The apache then responded by saying, 'shut the hell up you stupid fucking navaho.'
Apparently no tribal wars were begat... They seemed to be pretty close friends.

From Apache country to mountains

Beautiful scenery, easy rolling hills, little traffic... Was hoping to get high miles in today, but stiff headwind all day. put in 66 honest miles.
Hooked up with a guy named Andy from L.A. Who is biking to st. Augustine, then to keys. We plan to ride through mountains of az and nm for next few days...

Count the cacti ...

Or is it cactuses?
Anyway closest to actual number wins a valuable prize...

Meet Larry

Larry lives in Superior, AZ ladiies. He enjoys mountains and sunny weather. He loves babies and volunteers weekends at the senior home.
He is looking for a fit young woman in her late 20's who is ready to settle down.

Magestic scenery, biker unfriendly

The ride today from tempe/ apache jnction to the apache reservation casino-- just past globe has been the worst with regard to riding, but with some of the most spectacular scenery.
This ride took me along some beautiful mountain passes and through some historic mining towns. However, there were no shoulders to bike along the hardest climbing stretches and along the scariest descents. Additionally, I was surprised and frustrated as there was a constant stream of traffic from tempe to globe - and on a sunday! This has Been reported by others who have biked this same route. What made matters worse today was the gusts of wind that seemed to want to blow me into the traffic that was unforgivingly zooming by me a couple of feet to my left at 70 mph.
Needless to say I shat through every article of underware, cycling short and pant that I brought.
In spite of this the temperature was perfect and the sky beautifully blue...

Pinky, Pat and Vijesh

These are the nicest people that i've ever met in gold canyon. Tonite i've blown my budget and checked nto a best westrn east of apache gap az. These fine peple greeted me and checked me in...

McNeal and Carolyn Glassburn

Today was the perfect day to ride through phoenix and tempe. I started in sun city and rode canal paths and city streets in sunny 80° weather.
I rode for awhile with a nice guy who is like me, an east coast transplant. I enjoyed the sunny weather and the company of craig cocoros.
Eventually, I found the residence of a remote relative. To me he seems like a new found uncle. Mick Glassburn and my new aunt Carol welcomed me into there tempe home. They are life-giving people and i'm thankful that I got to meet them. I also met a new cousin Machelle, who has many features and mannerisms of my sister lynn.
I'm envious as crap about McNeal's 1965 chevy supersport...

Cue ball

Mr cue-ball is a very friendly gentleman from harcuvar az. He was chatting me up about bicycles. He had a daughter who moved east that bought a bike and panniers like mine. She was going to ride cross country but never made it.
She gave him the bike which he rode some, but lent it to a friend who subsequently fell and broke his hip.
Cue-ball has been given his moniker by locals because they can't pronounce his real name (which is slavakian ). Cue-ball has the palest blue eyes I have ever seen.

Dan and his 1943 jeep

Dan and his wife retired to an manage an rv park in solome az. This is a desert town shadowed by the harquahala mountains. This is where gen patton trained his tank corp before deploying to africa.
His jeep is all original and was found locally by him. Presumably it dates back to that time and place.

Dopey

Dopey is avery sweet bassett hound that lives in aguila az. He and I shared a turkey sandwich outside the service station that serves as the hub of this community.

This looked like a great place to pitch a tent

They said I couldn't, but they made me feel real good about myself anyway.
I am just outside of phoenix. I biked 88 very hard miles ... Much with strong sideways gusts that seemed to want to push me into traffic. I've gone 410 total miles so far.
I started in an rv park in between salome and wenden. The couple that ran the place were very nice. I forget their last names, but they were farmers in bloomington ill before moving to az. I'll upload a picture of dan in his prized 1943 jeep.
I was given access to a kitchenette and bathroom. This morning when I got up, I wanted to make some coffee. My coffee was packed, so I was going to use some of theirs that was in the freezer. I opened the folgers container and found a coiled up frozen rattle snake. ... No kidding... I decided that I didn't need coffee after that...

Jesus, a cactus and me

I promise, for the sake of those who might be offended, not to take anymore pictures of Jesus (at least none that are not appropriately reverent ).
Anyway, i'm glad Jesus is with me on this wonderful trip. I usually only spend time whining to him about stuff. We're getting to spend some quality time together.
God bless us, everyone!

I made it beyond Hope

I am told by the locals that it is unseasonably warm. There are exactly three locals that live along the twenty mile stretch between Brenda, Az (pop 25) and Hope, Az (pop 15). I found myself exactly in between feeling a bit hot when I checked my handy-dandy Coleman thermometer. It read 110 degrees (look at the picture). Also, I was ten miles from brenda and ten miles from hope. I made it beyond hope to a convenience store. I got a large soda that was almost all ice.
In case you are wondering, I carry 4 24oz water bottles and 2 1 liter bottles. I also carry powdered gatorade - which I mix diluted to half strength.
So, even though despair lies between brenda and hope, faith takes us beyond hope...

Dunes, Chocolate Mts and Az.

I started very early in glamis. There is nothing in glamis except dunes and a crappy convenience store. Everything they sell is literally twice the normal price. A 32oz gatorade is 3.99; a can of peaches 2.99; and a gallon of water is 4 bucks... No competition for forty miles in all directions. The poor old critter who runs the place is certainly not making millions... He was a friendly guy anyway.
I flew through the chocolate mountains ... Very interesting terrain and rolling hills. I had to stop at a border patrol checkpoint. They found no mexicans in my packs.
I stopped for lunch at palo verde. A tiny town with nothing but a saloon. it was 11:30 and all the locals were drinking beers. One old guy was asking about my trip, but he was more interested in telling me about hitchhiking across the usa in 1960. he drank three beers while telling about his travels and poker skills.
Finally, I rode past some interesting canals that served to irrigate the farmland on the eastern side of the chocolate mts ... And across the border into arizona ...
68 miles today, 260 miles so far...

California turd beatles

This turd beatle was doing his morning yoga (take note jesse ) while the sun rose this morning.
I got to enjoy the sunrise over the dunes of gamis with my friend in this picture. He would stand on his head whenever I got close...

Tent Pitching

I pitched a good tent in the dunes of gamis. Kyle, quit laughing... You can see my night stand and housing. It was hot and miserable by days end, but I felt much better after eating and resting.
It's cooled off some but still mid eighties. Nice breezes... Sounds of coyotes... Neet...

72 miles through the desert

Hot. No shade. Sunny. Flat.
I packed 1.5gal of fluids and have gone through most of it.
The only respite is a restaurant and grocery in Glamis, CA... Which closes at three. They open tomorrow at 7am...
I'm dining on macaroni, tuna and peas... Yum!
I'm pretty wiped.
Much love to all...