Today turned out a whole lot better than it started. It was so cold last night that when I woke up at 2 am and needed to go to the bathroom, I could not make myself get out of the tent. So I talked myself into holding it until 6am. When I did get up, our tents were the wettest they have ever been. The condensation was unreal. No biggy except when taking down the tent and handling cold tent poles and stakes, with the cold temps, my hands became numb, just like the other day riding in the rain.
I have a routine in the morning as I take down my tent and checking my tires is part of that. And today my rear tire was flat. I really didn’t need that on a cold, wet morning. It was to be a long day so I immediately became frazzled. I called upon Mark to help me again. Bless his soul. Flat tires just send me into a tizzy fit. As a result, I forgot to fill my water bottles and forgot to take my vitamins. I ate breakfast on the run. Never did find anything in the tire but I’m sure it came from the interstate. Since that rainy day a couple days ago, my flat was the 12th one in the group.
Of course, we had to ride the interstate again today, 40 miles, and I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn’t get another one. I always check my tires whenever we stop and I did pull a wire out of the front tire. There is so much debris on the interstate shoulders from trucks that have flat tires. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to avoid land mines.
As I rode through Winslow, I had to take a picture of two corners. You should recognize them.
As we rode out of town, you could see where we were headed. Look carefully for the snow capped peaks.
That was from over 50 miles away. This next one is half way there.
Notice the terrain didn’t change much in 30 miles. Pretty boring riding until the last 10 miles.
Once we all got in, Jared took some of us to the REI in Flagstaff to get some much needed items. I got a pair of Gortex mittens to fit over my cycling gloves so hopefully my hands will stay dry and warm when we have rain again.
60.8 miles today . 5678.1 total
BikerAl Across America 2018 