I’m two weeks I to the trip now, have covered 546 miles, arrived in Phoenix and finished the 1st of 7 map sections of the trip. I’m slowly getting into the rhythm of bike touring and very slowly getting used to the heat!
Its been a while since my last post so I’ll give you some highlights of my last week on the road.
After a 3rd day of climbing I finally got to the descent 6 miles of -6% down the interstate was pretty intense. I got up to around 45mph before my bottle gave out, trucks going 75 on one side and a large drop on the other will do that to you, the bike would have gone much faster had I let it! I lost around 3000ft in about 30 mins and immediately noticed the change in the heat, it was like an oven. I entered the Yuha Desert.

You're welcome to it!

This was supposed to be an easy day but I was soon struggling with the Garmin reading 37°c. That evening I had arranged to stay with my 1st warmshowers host, generous people allow travelling cyclist into their homes, many provide food and laundry facilities and expect nothing in return. I called Bill to let him know id be later than expected, he was great and gave me route advice, restaurant suggestions and even offered to rescue me if the heat got too much! This kind of kindness repeated itself many times over the following days. I finally made it to Brawley and had a very pleasant evening with Bill and his wife Theresa.
The following days ride had been on my mind for a while. A long 70 mile stretch through the Imperial sand dunes with no shade and only one store to replenish food and water. A strong headwind made it hard going but I got very lucky with some cloud cover that kept the worst of the sun away.

Dunes

I stated with Nancy that evening who again went out her way to make sure I was looked after, even driving me out to the Colorado river so we could watch the sun set and an impressive lightning storm

The next day I had my 1st ride in the rain, it was pretty refreshing after the last week and the smells that it produced in surrounding areas were incredible. I achieved another milestone today, I crossed my 1st state line into Arizona. Only 6 more to go!

Another days riding and I arrived in a town called Salome, Nancy had given me a possible host for the evening. When I arrived I was welcomed by George and Tracy, an American Indian couple who run a cafe and jewelry business. Once again the kindness they showed me was amazing, there is a pattern emerging and I hope it continues for the duration. I ended up staying an extra night in Salome  and will definitely be coming back so George and I can explore some of the abandoned gold mines in the area.

The Mystic Wolf Trading Post

Another couple of long 65+ mile A-B with nothing I between type days and here I am in Scottsdale for a few well earned days off. I met up with the official ACA guided tour group doing the same route, I’m very jealous that they get their kit transported for them and I’m sure they’ll pull ahead of me in the days to come but it was good to spend some time with other riders.
I would like to thank everyone that has helped me over the course of the last week, it has really been eye opening. I hope you enjoy the blogs and continue to follow me on this journey.