Sleeping in a little bit had me feeling refreshed, not to mention sleeping in a comfy bed. After saying good morning to Dave, I took a shower and gathered my things. To see me off on my way Dave had offered to take me to breakfast, which was an incredibly nice gesture. We were going to his favorite breakfast place in the area, Bobbie's. I had the Baja Chicken Hash which was amazing, and as we ate we discussed my route options. He offered to drive me to a spot where I'd get on the designated bike trail that goes through the canal, another super nice gesture.
On the way to the bike trail I was playing navigator, but because I didn't know the area, I ended up leading us in a massive loop. Eventually we made it to the drop in spot, and we said our goodbyes. I wouldn't have minded staying another day, and I think Dave would have welcomed the company, but as Dave put it I was "a man on a mission."
I found the canal system trough the Phoenix a pleasant way to get across town by bike. The city had set it up to be a bike path, as well as using the space for recreational purposes. I passed by several large soccer fields, some parks, and even a whole disc golf course all inside the canal. The bike path also goes for a long time, maybe 25 miles, so it was nice to be riding traffic free.
Most of the day was uneventful. I was just taking my time cycling through the cities, which goes from one into the next, and stopping for snacks and coffee every now and again. I started near Sun City, went through Glendale, Phoenix, and somewhere around Scottsdale I had to leave the canal. I met a couple of other touring cyclists near the end of the bike path, Vern and Dave, who had left from St Augustine, FL and were doing the whole Southern Tier, coast to coast.
The rest of my route through Tempe and Mesa were along roads with wide bike lanes. I was starting to realize that the area was really bike friendly. I also noticed that it was flat, so that too was a plus to cycling across town. My biggest observation was just how spread out everything was. I mean it was going to take me all day to get from one edge of town to the next.
In Mesa I stopped at a health food store to stock up on food which was starting to run low. I got a bunch of trail mix, granola, apples, bananas, yogurt covered pretzels, fresh ground peanut butter, and tortillas. You know, all the good energy filled cycling food that I had grown to rely on. While I was trying to fit it all in my bag a woman started talking to me, and asking the usual questions. Her name was Kim, and she too was a cycle tourist. She told me all about her recumbent bicycle, from Eugene, OR and a few of the trips she had been on. The conversation could've ended sooner, but it seemed like we both had more to say so we talked for maybe a half an hour. Before saying goodbye she mentioned a piece of land that her and husband have that edges up against the national forest. She said there was no water there, but no neighbors either, and that I was welcome to camp there for the night. I was super excited to stay there, and she said she wished she could have invited me to dinner or something but that she had other plans. I said a good camp spot was more than awesome and after getting directions we went our separate ways. It just goes to show that although everything in the desert seems spiny and poisonous, the people can be warm ad friendly.
Now that I had a destination in mind, I set off in that direction. The property was right on the border of Mesa and Apache Junction, and butts up to Usery Mountain and the Tonto National Forest. It got dark on my ride and even started sprinkling a little, but the sunset left a gorgeous orange haze over the entire horizon, even to the east which is the direction I was headed in. The final road up to the property was up a small hill that was a couple of miles long. It was so dark I had to use both my headlamp and my bike light in order to find the spot. There was a house on the property that was gutted, and other than the Saguaro cacti and a wide view of the town below, I was pretty much alone. After exploring the property just a bit I set up camp and fell asleep quick. The wind was blowing a little that evening, but I had found a good spot that kept me sheltered for the most part. I was super grateful to Kim for letting me use her land, and looked forward to watching the sunrise from the property.
Miles: 53 miles
RRD: A broken crib
-D
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