Here's the cactus picture we promised a page ago.

Paul, riding out of Parker, Ariz.

That pile of dirt ahead really did look about half a mile away.  Two hours later it still looked half a mile away.

We think Sun City, Arizona, put this billboard up just for the BikeBoys comin' to town.

Lackluster effort, slow-moving action, lackadaisical spring work ethic -- and the Mariners weren't very good either, losing 2-5. 

Nice day in the sun and on the grass past the outfield, though. Tomorrow the work begins again and two or three days after that, the hardest days of the entire trip -- maxing out at 8300 feet in altitude.

Fifty flat miles to a KOA campground in Apache Junction, Arizona.  This will allow us to begin the most strenuous part of the journey. Bob has joined us for two weeks.  Having finished just after noon, we had lunch and later visited Frye's with the intention of cooking our dinner in camp.  We enjoyed steaks and broccoli, plus carrots provided by Bob.  French bread and sugar-free (by mistake) Girl Scout cookies completed our fare. The campsite overlooks a tableau of saguaro cacti and the Superstition Mountains, where a huge gold mine is said to be out there -- lost by a Dutch miner who died and left an indecipherable riddle about where to find his motherlode. This town is also notable for being the spot where Geronimo surrendered -- or so said the poster at the KOA.

So far, except for wind, we have had absolutely gorgeous sun.

                                      33* 24' 2' N / -111* 31' 48" W

Sun and gentle wind helped us pedal out of Apache Junction, past the jutting Superstition Mountains, and into the copper mining town of Superior. Sagging Paul found us a lunch at Los Hermanos (the only place open) --and then came the uphills. (One tourist, walking past the bikes parked at Hermanos muttered to his wife "Boy, they're ambitious.")  From Superior you could see the high ridges we would have to cross, in a terrain of jagged red rock cliffs and later huge sandstone boulders. One of the scarier moments was pedalling uphill through a long, dark tunnel with no shoulder and going uphill. The noise of grinding trucks and roaring traffic was so loud in the tunnel it hurt the ears.

Finally some nice downhills to Globe, about 50 miles from our start, at about 3400 feet in elevation.  Paul found us free camping at the community center park about a mile past town.  It was a pretty exhausting day so we went to bed immediately after dinner at De Marco's Italian restaurant in Globe. Next morning we awoke to frost -- at this elevation the mornings are sub-freezing.

                                  33* 23' 46" N  / -110* 47' 15" W

We hope to update photos tonight -- after an 80-mile ride we will look for a motel sowe can freshen up ourselve and consolidate pix.

John, Bruce and Bob had a long day bicycling through Apache territory (Geronimo's homeland), stopping for lunch at a rest stop on the Apache Nation reservation. We chatted with a couple of kids and fed leftovers to an Apache puppy. Then on through rolling terrain until reaching the Gila River. Farmland suddenly appeared -- a novel change from desert --but much of the farmland had signs reading "For Sale: Zoned Light Industrial or Commercial."

Safford, a copper mining town with a new copper mine going in, is sprawling along the highway, with new shopping centers, motels and homes being built rapidly. The 80 miles seemed relatively hard, but the next day was a real test. After several initial climbs, Hwy 79 entered the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and became a Category 1 climb == so recognized in bicycling circles. (Cat. 1 is at the top of toughest ratings even for the Tour De France.) After a couple hours we reached the top OF THE "EYE OF THE NEEDLE" at 6,200 feet, followed by the New Mexico border and a long drop toward the town of Buckhorn, NM. Another 80-mile day.

After dinner at the ramshackle "Last Chance Liquor" (the only commercial establishment for dozens of miles) we slept at the Buckhorn RV Park and prepared for an easier day to Silver City. The legs were tired, but John, Bill, Bruce and Paul climbed another 2,800 feet to the Continental Divide at 6,230 feet (recapturing the elevation lost during our drop at the end of the prior day.) Then we dropped again into Silver City, a historical mining town of about 13,000 people. The town is set among lovely hills covered by pinon, yucca, small oaks and cedar, plus century plants. It was just a 39-mile day and a couple of us wanted to visit (by car) the Gila Cliff Dwellings Monument 40 miles north. But inertia set in instead and we lazed around the Super 8 motel, did laundry, visited a bike shop, had lunch, napped. Tomorrow (Friday) should be possibly the toughest climbing day of the tour. If you are following by long/lat: Buckhorn -- 33* 02' 06" N/ -108* 42' 35" W. Silver City -- 32* 46' 56" N / -108* 15' 53" W (Our actual stopping places.)

The climb over Emory Pass (in the Black Range) is rated Cat. 2 by biking standards (on the hard end of the scale) but what's so hard about an elevation gain of just 2,400 feet from Silver City (at 5,800')? 

For one thing, the climb is 16 miles long. For another, the route has many steep downhills, which meant after a rugged climb of 1,000 feet or so, you would lose it and have to start all over again-- several times.  For yet another, the steepest climbing occurs near the top of the pass, at 8,200 feet and the breathing is tougher. We recorded a total of about 7,000 feet of overall climbing for the day.

But the toughest climb of the tour went well, and the downhill with 126 curves was exhilarating as we dropped into the Rio Grande River valley. We lunched in the former mining town (now a tiny arts community) of Hillsboro -- the Barbershop Cafe -- then headed south on 27 against wind to Wendy's ranch 12 miles south of town. Wendy is the sister of one of Bill's friends, and was kind enough to feed and house us at her lovely log cabin next to a dramatic rocky canyon. Prickly pear, Ocotillo and other cacti surrounded her home.

Next day featured a 73-mile ride along an old mining stagecoach route to Hatch, and then along the Rio Grande to Las Cruces.  Bill's bike needed repair and he was happy to find a shop in the small town on the Texas / Mexico border.

Wind continues to be a powerful factor, but we have so far avoided rain or even cloudy weather. Tomorrow we pass through EL paso, luckily on a Sunday.

32* 17' 27" N / -106* 47' 17" W