Day 2: Sunday

Distance: 100.76 mi.
Average: 14.0 mi.
Maximum: 34.5 mph
Time in Motion: 7:10:01
Temperature: 25-45 °F

This morning, our toilet wouldn’t flush. The pipe froze! After putting on all our cool weather gear, we had breakfast at a gas station and headed up the hill. Here are snapshots of Jesse and I as we leave Superior.

It was grueling. The first three miles took us almost half an hour. And the climb continued beyond that for quite a distance. Eventually, we reached the Queen Creek Tunnel . That was not pleasant. Even on Sunday morning, the traffic was heavy. In the tunnel, I pedaled as fast as I could. The traffic behind me and the buzz of the lights in the tunnel meshed into a deafening roar. Cars backed up behind me. Jesse and I reached the end and pulled over, panting and exhausted. [Note: I believe this was the worst part of the entire route. If you start in Phoenix like we did, don’t get discouraged. It gets better.]

Soon, we passed through the mining town of Miami: . A few minutes later, we were in Globe and had lunch at McDonald’s. At this point, we considered calling it quits 7 miles east of Globe, at the San Carlos Apache Casino & Resort. As it was, we would have to race the sun again to reach Safford. After Globe, the fast downhill convinced us to go on for an additional 75 miles to Safford. We got here just as the sun set, and I am tired.

The scenery today was amazing. We crossed several impressive bridges, one of which is pictured above. Otherwise, it was more of the same: huge cacti, rock, and mountains. As we got closer to Safford, the mountains fell behind us and we had smooth riding for a change.

Tomorrow worries me. There are no motels along the route until Silver City, 117 miles east of here and on the other side of high mountain passes. At least the forecast is calling for slightly warmer weather.