It was nice to sleep in until 6:15 this morning, and take some time before our 8:00am breakfast. The coyotes started their serenade around 5:30am this morning, with at least 5 or 6 animals joining into the chorus, all on key. Everyone really appreciated the R & R, as it allowed anything ailing to get a little break from the constant pedaling. After an egg and bagel breakfast, I headed over to the bike station, and spent some time washing the bike, cleaning the drive train, and lubricating the chain, derailleur, etc. Overall, the bike has held up really well, and I hope and pray my luck continues.
While I have visited the desert of Arizona before, it still amazes me how the temperature can change so dramatically from mid-day until evening. Yesterday, we had temperatures in the 80’s, and by sundown, the temps were in the low 40’s. I have no doubts that it dipped into the 30’s in the middle of the night. For sleeping, I start out in shorts and a T-shirt and cover with a light sheet. By 10:00pm or so, I’ve changed into long wool pants and a long sleeved wool shirt and knit cap, and have added a blanket and down-like sleeping bag quilt. I was a little concerned when the so-called “30 below socks” weren’t quite enough last night. In the middle of the night, I had to get up to add another pair of wool ski socks in order to restore the feeling in my toes. I am sure that by the time I acclimate to sleeping in this type of climate, things will get considerably hotter throughout both the day and evening, and become more consistent.
We have a really nice group of riders, with a wide range of experience. I believe there are three (3) medical doctors, retired software engineers, advertising executives, retired teachers, building construction engineers, etc…. We even have two or three Iron Man Triathletes, and of course ME, whose talents can be demonstrated by my ability to put together and take apart my camp chair. To be fair, I am moving up quickly on the learning curve, having “slashed” my assembly time to a speedy 30 minutes. (The legs are supposed to point down, correct?).
Tomorrow is a relatively “light” day, with about 50 miles of riding ahead. We move from the northern edge of Tucson to the south end, and have the luxury once again of sleeping inside a high school gym. To my surprise, the gyms aren’t that much warmer than sleeping outside, but it is helpful to limit the amount of unpacking and then repacking that is required when camping outside. Thanks to Josh and Julia, I think I now understand how to add pictures to the blog. Unfortunately, without a wifi connection, I’m not able to upload and download recent pictures from my phone onto the iPad. I’ll try to add a few more, but hopefully future posts will get more colorful.
The Walking Machine 