Day 15 - 1/28/02
miles today 50.68
climbed today 1,140'
LAST DAY ON RESERVATION
We slept in the shadow of Kit Peak observatory last night. We are now on the way to Tucson. Myron is very happy about that. He has not had a cafe in several days now and he is going thru withdraw. Myron doesn’t eat to ride. He rides to eat. He truly loves his cafe stops. Shortly after getting started we saw a blue car in a tree, more like wrapped around it. There was a face print on the windshield where the driver hit his head. We truly hope that this will not be the sight of a new memorial. Later on a cyclist Peter Borowski passed us. We caught up with Peter at a store about 5 miles down the road and we had a wonderful chat. Peter is touring the southern States. He lives in Arizona and invited us to stay with him when we get to his hometown. After our conversation we headed out once again (in search of a cafe). As we were riding all if a sudden we heard sirens behind us a white car flew passed us with a Sheriff behind him and the reservation police behind him then two unmarked Silverado pick up trucks with sirens and tail light strobes. I turned around and said to Myron "there goes your black duffle bag" We laughed but it could very well have been a drug runners with the black duffle we had found yesterday.
Hot Damn, Tiny's! Tiny's cafe & saloon. We stopped and gorged ourselves. I had 1/2 rack of ribs, beans and coleslaw for the small sum of $4.50. What a find. We were about 12 miles away from Chris. Chris invited us to stay with him at the Redroof inn. It was about 12 miles away, the perfect distance to work off our "Tiny" lunch and work up an appetite for dinner. It was great to see Chris again.
Day 16 - 1/29/02
LAY OVER DAY IN TUCSON
We didn't do much except to run around town for supplies.
We did however, have a wonderful evening with Rigo, Michelle and Louis. Michelle is part of my extended family. Rigo is her husband and Louis is their 13 month old son. Rigo is a Sheriff in Tucson and Michelle is in Sports Medicine. She over sees the sports games at the local high schools. Michelle was kind enough to receive packages for all of us and let us attend a local high school basketball game tonight. We really had a great time. I liked Rigo's police stories and Michelle’s Basketball game.
Rigo and Michelle - Thank you, for everything you did for us.
Myron, Chris and Jim
Day 17 - 1/30/02
LAY OVER DAY IN TUCSON
Chris left today. He rented a car and drove to El Paso, Texas where he will continue his trip cycling the Adventure Cycling southern tier route. - GOOD BYE CHRIS. We wish you happy, safe travels.
GOOD FORTUNE - Quite by accident we met Todd Sadow at a bike shop here in Tucson. Todd is the Marketing Director and General Manager of Epic Rides. Todd promotes 24 hour mtn. bike races. You can find more info at tsadow@epicrides.com. Todd also introduced us to Richard De Bernardis. Richard has also cycled the perimeter of the United States in the 1970's. Richard has done a lot to promote cycling in the United States. He hosts many events you can find more info at: www.pbaa.com. Myron and I had a wonderful 3 hours talking with Richard and Todd. It goes to show you that you never know whom you will run into while touring.
Richard and Todd - Thank you for a lovely evening.
Myron & JIm
Day 18 - 1/31/02
Miles today 15.1
climbed 800'
SHORT DAY
Not much to say except that we got a late start and we just wanted to get on the outskirts of town. We are tired of motels and we want to camp.
Day 19 - 2/1/02
miles today 26.6
climbed today 4,050'
MY WORST DAY
Today was my worst day yet. It began off good enough but, it was windy and cold last night and I didn't sleep well. We had planned to cycle about 55 miles today not knowing however that we had so much climbing to do and that there would be so much damn wind. We had head winds of about 40 mph and gusts upwards of 50 mph. With our best effort we can only do about 3 mph against the wind. My mind was in a bad place. I wanted to quit. I hate the wind even though I know I'll have days like his, I don't have to like them. Myron on the other hand was fine. Nothing bothers him, as long as he can cycle. I wish I had his outlook and positive thinking. At 4:30 I couldn't take it anymore, so Myron suggested we pull of and make camp. I was all too willing. We found a clearing out of the snow and camped. Oh yah did I mention it snowed.
