Day 10 Bisbee, AZ to Portal, AZ - Gass-powered Tandem: xcountry - CycleBlaze

March 9, 2021

Day 10 Bisbee, AZ to Portal, AZ

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OMG, we finally had a day with tailwinds!!  We rode out of Benson (to the East of course) and came upon the open pit copper mine for which the town was famous.

Huge pit. It closed in 1974 after 100 years of operation
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Margery GassWow - reminds me of our trip to Minnesota.
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3 years ago
Checking out the mine
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Looking back at Bisbee from east of the mine
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At 3 miles out of town, we stopped at the Bisbee Breakfast Club restaurant for a REAL breakfast.  The restaurant is actually in the old town of Lowell. 

A town frozen in time
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Mike GallagherThose morning”breezes” made the pickleball courts extra challenging, can only imagine the strain of the afternoon headwinds! Are you sleeping well “on the road”?
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3 years ago
Francie GassMike, you would think we would crash and sleep well, but we don't always. Tonight I think we'll each take a 1/4 sleeping pill.
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3 years ago
Pamela McRaeAre you sure this picture wasn't taken in 1958? Frozen in time indeed!
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3 years ago
Ken GassTo Pamela McRaeNo cruising though, just parked cars. The Breakfast Club was for real! No dry, wrapped hotel breakfast burritos.

This has been a challenging & very special adventure for the two of us, with great small group dynamics.
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3 years ago
Pamela McRaeTo Ken GassI'd say "challenging" is an understatement. You must be fit as a fiddle.
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3 years ago

We took hwy 80 all day to the northeast. The winds were from the SW in the 20's, gusting to 40!  Our average speed for 77 miles was 18.5 (we then turned west to get to Portal and rode 7 miles into these gusting winds on a 2% hill...that brought our average down to 16.6 mph).  It was really fun going 25-30 mph without trying hard.  It was agonizing going the last 7 miles.  Ever want to know how hard you can push yourself?  Go on a long bike ride.

Exposed core rock
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Straight road with a tailwind
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Our lunch stop at mile 53
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We saw several pronghorns in the grasslands, but we and they were going too fast for a photo.  We briefly crossed the state line to N.M. before returning to Arizona to go to Portal.

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Portal has somewhere between 100-200 people living in it.  Our friends Barbara Ellis-Quinn and Ron Quinn winter in Portal!  They joined us for a picnic dinner at our Portal Peak Lodge and then took us on a tour of the town and surroundings. 

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Margery GassYou've got friends everywhere!
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3 years ago
P.O. and Arizona Sycamore
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A little further west of Portal is Cave Creek Canyon with amazing rock formations.

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Looking West towards the canyon
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Sunset in Portal
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And last but not least, some javelinas passed by.

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Bill ShaneyfeltGreat shot!

Were the javelinas (peccaries, skunk pigs) as bold as they look? I never got more than a glimpse of them when I lived in AZ!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peccary
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3 years ago
Francie GassWe were in a car. The javelinas put their snouts up to try to smell us. I was told they don't see well.
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3 years ago

Today's ride: 84 miles (135 km)
Total: 2,219 miles (3,571 km)

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Joann JohnsonWow, spectacular country! What kind of sun visors do you have? They look like are essential given the sun! How are your legs holding up?? Jo
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3 years ago
Francie GassOur visors are called Da Brim. In a store in Tucson we saw some that were huge by the same company. I like ours a lot but we still get a lot of sun. Have 50 dpf on our faces. Our legs are ok! But you'll read in our next entry that we are very tired.
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3 years ago