Day 13 - Safford to Three Way

Today is in theory an easier ride. Just over 30 miles with a decent climb just before we get to Three Way.

For me the day started out with me having a hard time eating. I managed to eat some breakfast but it was difficult. I fixed my flat from the prior day. An extremely small hole that required immersion in water to find. I'm not sure of the cause. I found one slit in the front tire, but it didn't look like it went all the way through.

I was the last one out. As soon as I hit the road I found that we had the same headwind as the prior day. When we got to the point that 191 turned off the wind became somewhat of a side tail wind so it was an improvement. 

I knew as soon as I started riding today that I was not fully recovered from the prior day. The route north was somewhat uphill with an obvious up tick in the grade in the visible distance.

Looking back down the hill. Probably about 3/4 of the way up.

I made frequent stops along the way and was not making the kind of progress that I thought I should. Just before I hit the hill I noticed an SUV with a bike rack on the back slow down as it went past. After climbing the first bit of steeper slope I noticed the same SUV on the side of the road. I stopped and talked to a very nice lady Judy who was doing support for her husband and another rider that are doing the Southern Tier ride without carrying all their gear on their bikes.

She offered me water, Gator Aid, and food. I initially declined, but then thought better of the Gator Aid and took her up on the offer.

After chatting for a bit I noticed one of the riders approaching the bottom of the bit that I had just climbed. I decided that I would move on, thinking that they would surely catch me before the top some several miles of climbing ahead.

They never did, but what did happen was that I felt like I was strong again and the hill went smoothly after that. On the other side I stopped at the store in Three Way and had a soda while talking to Hal and Shelly who were hanging out at the store. The camp site is visible from this location, about 100 yards to the south.

Here is Judy with her support vehicle in the background.

While hanging out there an interesting guy in a beat up old pickup rolled up and started talking to me about the solar panel on my bike. It turns out he is off the grid with his own solar powered set up where he lives. He gave us a couple of pomegranates and as he was leaving Judy and her husband Roger rolled in. I bought him a soda in thanks for the help.

We also see a fair number of these quite colorful grasshoppers along the road. This one is about 2 inches long.

She is also blogging about the ride here.

The day is almost done. Dinner was excellent and we are going to the store for ice cream for dessert.

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