Climbing out of the desert

Today we left the desert and climbed up to Prescott, Arizona, transitting the Prescott National Forest along the way. Only 60 miles of riding, but about 7500 vertical feet of climbing. It was nice to have some variation in the terrain, and a change of vegetation. I could feel the effects of all the miles the past four days, plodding up the long climbs.

Prescott is a really nice town. We passed all sorts of interesting looking restaurants on the way in, including Indian, Thai, lots of Mexican, and a wine bar/brick oven pizza place. Very civilized. We even stopped at the local Starbucks, the true indicator of civilization. I also met a local bike rider when I was in the national forest, who was born in Massachusetts, but swears he will never leave here. Paradise. The elevation makes it a lot more comfortable in the summer than most of Arizona.

In the morning, before the ride, I spotted a peacock at the hotel.
This seemed odd, but then I realized that he was just looking to hang out with some of his own kind:

Hail Britannia!

2 Days, 2 Centuries

For those who don't speak bike geek, a century is a ride of 100 miles or more. We rode 102 miles yesterday, and 117 today. All of it through the desert, and a lot of it on Interstate 10. Usually, bikes aren't allowed on the interstate, but I-10 is the only road through this area, so we're legal. Lucky us. Your sense of distance changes in the desert. At one point, we could see a small town in the distance, so thought we'd be there soon. It was 23 miles away.

We crossed the border from California into Arizona today. As you can see above, they have a lovely welcome sign. We all felt like Arizona really wanted us to visit. We also felt quite secure, as you can see below.

What could be better than tanks and armored vehicles to make you feel safe and welcome. We understand the armor at the border is to protect against invasion by "furners". These are people who talk funny, which really worried the French Canadian in our group. Even the French think he talks funny.

Actually, the armor was outside the General George Patton Museum in California. Here's a shot of George:The museum is in the middle of nowhere. It's in the desert, just off the highway, with only a convenience store sharing the space off the exit. You might think that this was his birthplace, but he was born in Massachusetts. The people in the convenience store had no idea why the museum was there. We were too afraid of the tanks to go in the museum and ask.

We also visited the town of Hope, Arizona. Here's their version of the "You are now leaving Springfield" sign:Just because you live in the desert doesn't mean you lose your sense of humor. However, they may want to work on their grammar.

Today was the longest ride of the trip, and these past two days are by far the longest pair. However, it was fairly flat, and there's not much to stop and see, so you might as well charge right through it. We're in Wickenberg, Arizona, tonight, which is a really nice little town. If you're ever here, stop for homemade ice cream at the corner of Tegner and Rte. 60. When we explained our journey, they gave us extra scoops. It doesn't get any better.

Clean energy, and a boost for cyclists

If this picture were video, you would see the blades of the windmills spinning away. Winds were about 30 mph out of the west, and luckily we were travelling east. There are hundreds of windmills in this area of California (just west of Palm Springs), and if every day is like today, it's a great place to put them.

I've never moved as fast on a bicycle on level ground. At times, we were going 35mph without turning the pedals. It was loads of fun. One guy in the group tried to snap a picture while flying along, hit a drift pile of sand, and crashed. He seems to be okay, although he needed new wheels and a new helmet. To the scholars at Bridgeport Academy: Remember what you call a cyclist without a helmet - STUPID! If this guy didn't have a helmet on, the result likely would have been tragic.

Tomorrow we ride 105 miles through the desert. Yikes! We're all trying to drink as much as possible today, to be fully hydrated before joining the snakes and scorpions. They prefer their victims juicy.

From the Pacific to ...

The journey began today with the ceremonial wheel dipping in the Pacific. Being the excitable sort, I ran down the beach with my bike into ankle deep water, then turned around to have my picture taken. Being the Pacific, and not Long Island sound, there are things called waves. One arrived about 10 seconds later, soaking my bike shorts and the bottom half of my bicycle. I understand that salt water is good for mechanical parts, and a layer of salt in bike shorts makes them more comfortable. Lucky me.

Today was a very flat 79 mile ride. About 60 of those miles were urban Los Angeles. This is the definition of urban sprawl. Stopping at over 100 traffic lights allowed us to really enjoy the variety of fast food, tanning salons and auto repair shops. We've finally reached an area that might be suburban, which we can tell by the presence of Starbucks. The weather was perfect, which can easily be explained by the presence of a priest in our tour group.

I'm riding with a great group of people. We just met, but here we are pretending to be best friends:

The group spans the country - comng from Boston, Florida, California, Washington and points between. We also have a French Canadian and four from the U.K. However, they won't be us for long, since they are sure to be deported as soon as we cross the Arizona border.

79 miles ridden. 3336 miles to go. We're almost there.

The (hairy) challenge begins

The ride starts tomorrow, but the last use of a razor was Thursday.

Not one, but three generous people took up Steven on his matching offer, so I didn't even think about packing a razor. As dictated in the terms of the deal, I will regularly post photos of my pathetic attempt at growing a beard.

The trip began on an interesting note. My bike box was too big to fit through the security screening machine, so the TSA employees had to open it up and manually inspect it. I offered to help, since the packing of a bike is fairly complex, and my venture is completely dependent on having an intact bike at the start. I was firmly told to go away. I offered to just show how to open it, since they were puzzled by the six latches. I was firmly told to go away. I then tried to explain that there were three layers of parts in the box, so that they wouldn't just spill everything out. One TSA employee yelled out "security!" having deemed me a threat to the nation. I ran away, then circled around to a point where I could at least see what they were doing. I once again heard the shout of "security!" and ran to the gate.

The bike arrived just fine, but I'm probably on a Homeland Security watch list now. I'm worried that I'll be deported while transitting Arizona.

A REALLY smart group of kids

Today I visited the Achievement First Bridgport Academy. What an inspiration! These kids are incredible.

I met for an hour with the 7th grade. Keeping the attention of 80 7th graders seemed like a daunting task. However, my worries were baseless. They started asking questions almost before I could start. The level of intellectual curiosity in the room was really impressive. When I asked what slowed down a bike, and kept it from perpetually moving forward, one budding physicist quoted Newton's second law. When I asked why it was important to eat some protein, another scholar correctly pointed out the need for protein in the muscles. These kids are only in 7th grade. Wow!

However, what really got to me was the following:
"You're riding to support us. What can we do to support you?"
Smart and incredibly thoughtful.

Visiting this school is a glimpse into the future. Great things will result.

To the 7th graders at Bridgeport Academy - You guys rock! Send me some news while I'm on the road.

A Hairy Challenge

For those of you who know my good friend Steven Southworth, this won't surprise you.

Steven is generous, creative and slightly evil. He has generously offered to donate $50 per day of riding. The trip is 50 days, with a few rest days, assuming I make it the whole way. Do the math. He has offered to double the donation to $100 per day if someone else donates $50 per day.

However, there's a catch. (This is the creative and slightly evil aspect.) I can't shave for the entire 50 days of the trip, and I have to post pictures of myself periodically on this blog. I have a very light beard. It is also extremely patchy. Hence, I look like a diseased cat with only patchs of fur when I let my beard grow. Also, since it grows slowly, the itchy phase stretches on for weeks. However, I will endure the look and feel if someone takes Steven up on his offer.

Here's your chance to double your impact at the school and cause me grief. What could be better?