Down and Out in Duncan!

Hi all,

OK, we were ALL really tired after yesterday's journey. I decided, with my pajamas on by 7:00 pm, that depending how I felt in the morning, I would ride for a while and probably hop a ride on the SAG for the afternoon to get in early for a change and relax. No sense pushing those achy knees and sore muscles too much. We still have two more days before our rest day.

We planned an early start, and after an english muffin, juice, and a boiled egg, packed our trail mix and were ready to hit the road by 7:05 as the day was predicted to be warm, in the 80's. Susan had picked a thorn out of her tire the night before, but when she went to pump up her tire in the morning there was a slow leak, so she changed it in the parking lot before we left.

One of the images of the morning that I remember the most as we cycled out of Safford was the symmetrical rich chocolate brown moist furrows that had just been plowed . In sharp contrast, the very very asymmetrical ruddy colored mountain of Mt Graham topped with snow at 10,ooo feet loomed in the background. As we traveled a few miles, there was very little wildlife, no bird songs or butterflies flitting about as before. The terrain was drier with tufts of dried green or golden grasses that reminded me of the Troll doll I had as a kid . (I cut the hair off to even it out, thinking it would grow back!)Oops!

After about 25 miles or so, some of us were drooping a bit so Susan thought we could flag down the SAG driver as she went by and get a boost up to the next stop at at town called Duncan where they had a cafe. I felt like we were playing hookie, but it was a nice change for 15 miles or so to be in a car and looking at the landscape. There were more golden hues, plants were short and scrubby. Once in a while you would see a cow or two and mountains all around.

At our fuel stop, I had cottage cheese and rye toast and was ready to roll. A few hundred yards out, I came across a railroad crossing, caught my tire in a groove and went down. My helmet hit the pavement and I have a few little scrapes on my elbow and leg but overall am fine. My brand new helmet has a crack in it, but better the helmet than my head! After a while, I did get up and pedal some more to get to the border of New Mexico about 7 miles away. Yeah, two states crossed and several more to go! I decided to call the SAG for a ride but there was no cell reception in that area, so I meandered along for another 12 miles or so before we made contact. Even though I felt OK, I was very emotional, and thought I'd better take it easy for the rest of the day.

Carol picked me up and we went back to see the other riders behind me to see if they needed water or help. Liz, who I thought was right behind me, ended up having a flat, changed it, pumped it up, took of the pump and the valve stem came with it causing another flat. By this time she was ready to be picked up and joined me. We went further to fine Marilyn, and she had also fallen in the same tracks I did, and was taken to a clinic for evaluation. She had more bruises and bangs than I did.

By the time we made it to the hotel, it was already fairly late in the afternoon and most of the other riders had made it in.

Things you might hear on the road:
1. My bike shorts are beginning to irritate me!
2. I've gotta have a Bag Balm stop.
3. I hope that shiny stuff in the road is mica and not glass.
4. Do you see the crest in sight?
5. Does anybody have any 50 sunscreen?
6. What day is this?
7. How many days in a row have we been riding?



Everything is fine, really.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
Love,
Robin