Globe to Safford – Day 11
84.4 miles 2,646 feet of climb
By morning the rain had stopped and we packed our rain-soaked tents as best we could. At least it was not supposed to rain today, but as we gained altitude the temperature did get lower and hovered in the mid-fourties for the day. We got the climbing done early, for the most part and after a a series of short downhills, settled into a long, slow steady climb to Safford.
Geronimo was from the area we were riding through, which was the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. We spent most of the day riding on the shoulder of route 70. The scenery was beginning to change and the landscape had broader vistas. Vegetation was changing as we left the high desert. It was eerily empty with places far between. I found it starkly beautiful. However the day went on and on and continued with the long endless grade. We were riding on a shoulder with loose gravel and debris. (At the end of the day, Chuck had his fourth flat tire when he hit a shard of glass with his brand new Continental Gatorskin tire).
The day was hot and the grade went on and on for roughly fourty miles. Not a climbing kind of rise, but a steady shallow grade that was consistent and we had to grind out the miles. The landscape that I appreciated in the morning, gave way to “when will this ever end”? Each day seems like the worst yet, until the next day’s ride.
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