Day 17: To Safford

March 13, 2012

I slept late and got away from the motel at 9:35. The first 3 miles is backtracking east and uphill on US 70 to the highway 77 intersection where I came in yesterday.

On the way out of Globe I stopped at McDonalds for breakfast #2. I finally got out of Globe at 10:10.

After traveling mostly north for two days I'm going east once again and I'm back on the ACA Southern Tier bike route. With one exception I will follow it all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Maybe I will see other touring cyclists.

This reservation has more services than the Tohono O'odham reservation.

The first 40 miles is gentle hills with a downhill trend. Mostly is in the San Carlos Apache Indian reservation. The reservation has two towns and both towns have stores. This tribe is willing to sell stuff to travelers.

Most Arizona *Adopt A Highway* sponsorships are tributes to people who died in car crashes.

I'm leaving the Sonoran desert now. I only see the occasional Saguaro on steep south-facing slopes. And I see Yucca plants for the first time on this trip.

Today I passed a fellow named Doug Boone who is walking cross country from San Diego to Washington D.C. His cart is hand made, with three 16-inch wheels. He pushes a big heavy load. Big enough to provide useful shade! His goal is to go 25 miles per day with a day off every 5th day. A few miles back a bridge was under construction with 1-way traffic controlled by traffic signals. I was able to bike across the bridge with the traffic but he wasn't allowed to use the bridge. He had to push the cart through the gully underneath.

Doug Boone, walking from San Diego to Washington D.C.

The last 40 miles to Safford is almost completely flat, upstream in the Gila river valley. A gentle wind blew from the south, a crosswind. My speed was good but I got a late start today.

Today was sunny with a high temperature of 78F, just about perfect.

I got to the tiny town of Pima just before sunset. Still 9 miles to Safford.

While approaching Thatcher some tall bright lights were visible from a long distance. From half a mile I could tell it was an extremely well-lit church, probably Mormon. I discovered it was a Mormon temple when I was right in front. Most Mormon temples are in big cities, not in remote rural areas like the Gila valley.

The picture-perfect Gila Valley Arizona Mormon Temple. On top the angel Moroni faces east.

I had to use my headlight for the last 5 miles. It was completely dark when I got into Safford at 7 PM. I got a $45 room at Economy Inn and had a Chinese buffet for dinner. It cost only $6.90.

I stayed on US 70 all day and didn't make a single turn. Navigation was easy but traffic was sometimes heavy and the road sometimes has a narrow shoulder with a rumble strip. Most of the road is totally straight, so some motorists act like it's a race track. I'm glad to have a super-bright LED flasher. Today's distance was long, but the terrain was gentle.

Most of the highways in Arizona have paved shoulders that haven't been maintained in a very long time. It's quite common to see that the main travel lanes have been repaved one or even two times since the shoulder was paved. The result is smooth pavement for motorists, but rough crumbling pavement for cyclists. Arizona is also lax about removing weeds and bushes that encroach on the highway, making the shoulder unusable.

This time of year the days are gradually getting longer. But it doesn't seem that way when traveling east. Sunset occurs slightly earlier each day until I cross into the next time zone.

This is my third consecutive night in a motel. I won't have that option the next two nights because there are no motels. I'm going to higher elevation where the nights will be colder.

Distance: 79.4 mi. (127 km)

Climbing: 1914 ft. (580 m)

Average Speed: 12.5 mph (20 km/h)

Today's ride: 79 miles (127 km)
Total: 995 miles (1,601 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0