Day 8 - Stretching the Legs in Payson, AZ

Daily Stats:

Time: 1h46m35s
Distance: 43.28km
Avg Spd: 24.4km/hr
Climbing: 651m

Today we took the bikes out for a little spin to make sure we still remembered how to ride.  We do.

Destination of today was a little stream of ice-cold water about 20km from camp.  We rode out there, played in the water for a bit, ate lunch and rode home.  There were a few great climbs on the route, and I got a chance to stretch out the legs after a few days of sitting around.

I learned the hard way that my glue-less patches don't withstand the heat all that great.   I repaired two flats yesterday caused by riding over some little bits of wire from the sidewalls of blown-out car tires.  I used these glue-less patches to fix them, but in the heat today, as our bikes sat and waited for us to finish playing in the water, the glue gave loose and my tube deflated.  I put a new tube in and good to go.  Flat count for me to date is now up to four (4).

I forgot my camera on our ride today, so didn't capture any of the fun from the river. If you are on Facebook, "Like" the Sea to Sea page to get a ton of updates and pictures to your news feed.  There are plenty of folks around here who are taking pictures for the group and keeping the world up to date.

Also, because it is Canada Day, there were a good number of maple leaf flags around camp, and we were treated to a pancake breakfast.  I have a feeling that on Independence Day (Thursday) the festivities will be a little bit greater than we saw today.

The fire danger is also quite high around here.  On Saturday night, a fire started in Rye, AZ a little ways south of town and a mobile home park was evacuated.  They created a shelter in the gym of the school we're staying at, but I've yet to see any of these people.  The Sea to Sea group is far away from these fires, and faces no immediate risk.

The danger will be when we near Colorado Springs and the forest fire burning near Wolf Creek Pass.  The fire is reported to be 90% contained and the roads are open for transit, however the campsite we were supposed to be staying in is occupied by the fire fighters so we'll have no place to stay.  The organizers are working on finding alternate accommodations or changing the route to bypass the area.  Keep watching seatosea.org for tour details and news about routes and our status.

Think that's about it for today...  might be a few days before the next post as we'll be entering the desert again and venturing to the middle of nowhere.

Keep the rubber side down.  And tell your friends about our crazy adventure.