Today we woke up to the squawks and wing beats of half a dozen bird varieties. First light peered through a gap in the mountains and over the beautiful lake we camped beside.
I’ve got to say I like being on the eastern edge of a time zone, it feels so much more productive to have the sun wake you up at 5:45. It also leads to some uncomfortable thoughts about having clocks control your life, but brush those thoughts aside because we have to break camp!
Breakfast, stretching, and breaking camp went smooth as always. We didn’t see anyone else until we hiked up to the road, only heard cars passing on the ridge line and bridge above us.
The first order of business today was getting Ryan’s bike wheel centered again. It ended up being a more serious issue than just an off kilter wheel. The “Problem Solvers Universal Derailleur Hangar” purchased in Austin to replace the broken integrated frame derailleur hangar had broken internally. In hindsight a spare definitely should have been purchased. Instead the derailleur had to be removed and the chain shortened, Ryan’s bike will be a single speed for the foreseeable future.
In a true comedy of errors, as soon as the derailleur problem was sorted out it was revealed that the bolt holding Ryan’s front rack in place had snapped in half. There was a hardware store 15 miles away but until we purchased a replacement bolt there, we had to rearrange all of our gear and Ryan had to Kung-fu-grip his handlebars to not flip over due to the lopsided weight.
The mechanical problems of this morning might have been a real low point in the trip, but we really came together as a team and laughed it all off. Riding 40 year old bikes across the country has been an exercise in patience, one that I’m proud to say we have begun to master.
The ride to the hardware store followed the western edge of Roosevelt Lake, a huge beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and giant cacti. At the Tonto Basin hardware store, prices were reasonable and we refilled our water as this was the last “oasis” for 60 plus miles.
Riding was somewhat hilly and completely gorgeous for the rest of the day. Saguaro cacti and wildflowers cover the landscape as red and purple mountains fill in the distance.
The dry air has us going through moisturizer and chap stick almost as fast as pop-tarts. The lack of moisture is totally worth it though once the sun sets and there are no clouds to interrupt the stars. We are camped a quarter mile down a bumpy trail north of the intersection of highways 188 and 87. The highway is still slightly visible, but all other signs of civilization are nonexistent. We have eaten and are preparing for another peaceful night under the stars. I hope everyone out there is doing well.
Route info for interested readers:
188 then left on the 87!
There and Back Again 