Day 48...Journey Through The Tunnel

Start of Day 48
Peridot, AZ

The sun greeted us early this morning but it was still a bit chilly. We had a tough climb ahead us. 

We would leave Peridot, AZ and the San Carlos Apache Reservation into Globe, AZ then to Miami, AZ. From Miami, which is located on the slope of the Pinal Mountains, it would be about an 8 mile climb up through the mountain pass and then down to Superior, AZ where we would grab lunch. 

Strip mining fields
Miami, AZ

Miami, AZ was only established about 100 years ago and is a classic Western copper boomtown. From the base of our climb all the way to Queen Creek tunnel we had a grand view of the mining fields.  

It was a tough climb and I quickly went from being a bit chilly to dripping with sweat. Yes, this is a common theme these days and a byproduct of waking up to 30 degree temperatures, layering like crazy then climbing thousands of feet and descending again. Cold. Hot. Cold. And repeat.    

Climbing up....

...to the top of Signal Mountain

Once we reached the first summit we zipped up and prepared for our descent down through Devil's Canyon. 

...down towards Devil's Canyon

The road plateaued for a while then we climbed for a second time. After reaching the top we sailed down, past a few bends in the road until we saw brake lights ahead. There was a line of traffic forming to get through the Queen Creek Tunnel, a tunnel through the mountain! They were allowing only one direction of vehicles through the tunnel at a time so we had to wait for about 5 minutes before we could enter.

Waiting to go through Queen Creek Tunnel

Approaching the tunnel

In the tunnel!

Once we exited the tunnel we crossed over a spectacular bridge and then began our final descent into Superior, AZ where we had some excellent Mexican food for lunch!

The bridge after Queen Creek Tunnel

Our last 25 miles today were essentially downhill and full of warmth and sunshine. At last! We rode out of Superior up a small climb called Gonzales Pass then down past Florence Junction and finally Apache Junction where we met Jim. During our afternoon ride we were passed by a line of decked out VW's, we rode past enormous cacti and soaked in the rays of sunshine.

VWs!

Today we rode 79 miles from Peridot, AZ to Apache Junction, AZ. Jeff left us today and we will miss him dearly! Thanks for all your help Jeff.

Tomorrow we ride through the heart of Phoenix which might be a test of will + patience.

That little dot in the distance is me ;-)

Day 47...Apache Country

Jim helping me before take-off
Day 47, Arizona

The morning was a brisk 35 degrees but sunny and temperatures were expected to climb to about 60 degrees, which was 10 degrees warmer than the previous two days. We deserved at least a small break from the brutal cold.

Start of our ascent into The Black Hills
Day 47, Arizona

Last night I felt pretty beat up from being so cold –  shivering takes a lot out of you. I know this from working in Alaska (on the Iditarod). Add thousands of feet of climbing and 75+ miles/day in the saddle and its easy to understand how sapped of energy I was. But I woke up this morning feeling better and ready for a few miles of descent I knew would start our day.

Prior to taking off Kevin received a text from Jeff’s wife (and Kevin’s cousin), Koral. She wrote: “After finishing an hour spin class I’ve reached the conclusion when you get to San Diego that you and Emi should skip the spa, massages, etc and head strait for the mental health clinic! Better take Jeff and Jim with you.” Ha! Isn’t that the truth! Well put Koral!

Through the pass, descending towards Safford, AZ

We sailed down the road for the first 8 miles, averaging 24 mph. That’s when we hit our first and biggest climb of the day.  We rode 3 miles almost strait uphill then 6 miles through to the pass of the Black Hills.  I was saturated with sweat at the top and knew the descent would be another cold one. It was. For the rest of the day I went from being cold to hot to cold. That’s the trouble with climbing mountains on cold days I suppose. ;-)

Arizona

Our day was originally meant to end around 75 miles but the day was young by the time we reached Jeff and so we decided to carry on. We stopped just shy of Peridot, AZ and have entered the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. We finished up the day with 93 miles in the bank leaving us just over 500 miles to San Diego. Looks like we are ahead of schedule by a few days! Woo hoo!

San Carlos Apache Reservation