Day Nine – In Which I Make My Escape From the City

1 April 2011 (posted a day later). I left the Dalrymple’s place at Chimney Rock fairly early—to try to beat the heat. The forecast for Phoenix was 99°F (and I heard tonight that the city tied a record of 100°). I got off by 7:15, after a packing and eating a bowl of cereal.

The trick was getting down to where I would pick up the Adventure Cycling route. The night before I had checked Google Maps and figured out what seemed like a good route. I started out just fine—riding downhill, then getting on one of those canal paths. At one point, though, I seemed to get off the route I had scouted, so I just tried to head east and south. Even without a compass, that’s pretty easy in a place like Arizona, where most streets are either north-south or east-west. In the morning, either you’re squinting into the sun, or it’s hitting the side of your face, sneaking past the edges of your sunglasses.

I was also enjoying those trails instead of city streets. There were others I found, passing through some parks. At one point, though, I was blocked by some massive lake or river and large overpassing highways. The trail I was on, which had been going east, started heading more north. But I was able to circle around those obstacles and continue on my east and south, zig-zagging route.

Street naming in greater Phoenix seems a bit odd. It took me a while to figure out that the numbered avenues (40^th, 30^th, and so forth) become numbered streets further east, and it’s not uncommon to be on, say, 46^th Street, then have a 46^th Place turn off of it. Keep an eye on those distinctions: street, avenue, place, drive, court….

The bigger surprise was just how far you can go and still find yourself still in the city. By mid-morning, I was starting to get hungry and told myself, as I passed one strip mall after another, punctuated by corner fast-food joints and gas stations, that if I didn’t find a real place to eat by the time my odometer turned 30 miles for the morning, I would stoop to a McDonalds or Taco Bell meal. I was in Mesa, at nearly the eastern end of the megalopolis. Just as I was getting to that point—very hungry and needing to stop—I spotted a classic diner. Perfect spot.

I went in and checked the time: only 10 am. Fortunately, they were already serving lunch items. I had a huge black-and-white milkshake and a Southwestern Chicken sandwich (with fries). Though I had thought I was hungry, I couldn’t finish it all.

I was on the road again by 11, and shortly got onto Route 60, which I had been on coming into Phoenix. It turned out that I got on a little too early. The entrance ramp said no bicycles or pedestrians. I knew that would be different in a few miles—because that’s where the Adventure Cycling route re-joins 60 (referred to here as “The 60”—like in California). So I rode on 60 illegally for a few miles, before the “Expressway Ends” sign. I had my excuse worked out if I had gotten pulled over.

Route 60 here, where it’s four-lane but not a real expressway, is pretty bicycle-unfriendly. There are bumpy shoulders (that’s all right), but every time there’s a gully crossing or something, a section of guard rail pushes out to the edge of the shoulder. Maybe it’s the “Arizona Squeeze.” Not so good for us bicylists.

Later, when a lane was dropped, the shoulder got much better. Even the climb up to Gonzalez Pass wasn’t all that bad. Someone had tried to convince me to take an alternative route that skirts around Gonzalez Pass. I’m glad I didn’t; without a GPS, I could easily have gotten lost on those dirt roads on the other side of the mountain. I made the right choice.

After cresting the top, there was a long, gentle ride down toward Superior, where I’m sitting up in my bed at the Copper Motel, typing this blog.

Before reaching the town, though, I came across the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, three miles before reaching Superior. I had been told about the place. Since it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, I decided I could afford some time there. Great place! There was a Sonoran Desert trail, a Chihuahuan Desert Trail, a gardening exhibit with lots of information on dry-land landscaping, and examples of desert plants from more exotic places: Australia, South America, Africa, and elsewhere. It always makes me a little nervous to hear about exotic plants being planted, but I suppose they know what they’re doing.

 

My favorite part of my explorations there was walking past the landscaped area and checking out the natural Sonoran Desert beyond, especially where it backed up to some dramatic rock outcroppings.

Neat place. My brother Chris and brother-in-law Stephen would love it.

At 5 pm, I left and biked the last three miles to my destination. Refreshed from a shower and with clothes hanging to dry I went next door to have a bit of dinner. I think I would have found something better—there’s supposed to be a historic part of the town with restaurants and such—but the location of this place was just right—about 50 feet away.

I’m only able to get the wireless signal outside the motel office. I sat there and posted yesterday’s blog. I’ll hope to do the same with this tomorrow morning before heading off.

My plan tomorrow is to bike a relatively short 24 miles to Globe, Arizona, but there’s a lot of climbing involved. Right out of Superior, I’ll climb about 2,100 feet (compared with the roughly 700 feet climbing over Gonzalez Pass today. That will be a lot of work. A number of people have warned me about an uphill tunnel I have to pass through a few miles out of Superior. I need to fix my rear LED light, which came unglued, before attempting that!

After Globe I’m not exactly sure how I’ll do. It’s about 76 miles to Thatcher and, just beyond that, Safford, the next towns with any real services. And then, from Safford, it’s 117 miles with a lot of climbing to the next sizeable town—which I think is Silver City, New Mexico. (Maybe I should have read these descriptions more carefully before deciding on this route!)

Meanwhile, my knees are fairly sore. I may end up taking a rest day in Globe—or perhaps even here in Superior.