March 15, 2023: Tombstone to Douglas, AZ. 50 miles 20th 2,425 feet of climbing

Despite the relatively low mileage, today was a difficult cycling day, thanks to all of the climbing outside of Tombstone. The climb came early in the day, which helped, however the long, slow pulls really seemed to take a lot out of all of the riders, myself included. Today marked the highest elevation achievement of the entire tour. At the apex of Mule Pass, we took a turn to view the erroneously marked Continental Divide Obelisk, which was labeled 6,030 in elevation. The road we followed to see the marker was constructed in 1913 and 1914 by prison labor. The marker claims that Mule Pass was right on top of the Continental Divide, the invisible line separating the watershed of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The true line lies about 120 miles to the east, along a low rise in New Mexico. The rains that fall on Mule Pass eventually empty out into the Sea of Cortez, and into the Pacific Ocean. Despite the faulty claim, it felt like a pretty big accomplishment to reach the top. Once there, we sped down the other side and into the town of Bisbee.

Bisbee is 90 miles southeast of Tucson, and 7 miles north of the Mexican border. If any of you get the chance, I would highly recommend a stop, even if only for 3 – 4 hours. Bisbee is an “artsy” town, with a number of retail and art shops, outdoor performers, and a very quaint residential district, with homes that used to belong to copper miners. It reminds me a little bit of Galena, Illinois, with the addition of an absolutely HUGE copper mine that is truly spectacular. The different color hues along the create layers of this mine are truly something to see. We stopped at a small coffee shop after climbing for most of the morning, and then “flew” down the other side of the mountain. Within about an hour and a half, we entered Douglas, and found our place for the evening, the Gadsden Hotel.

The Gadsden Hotel was designed by an architect named Henry Trost, who apparently was a very noteworthy architect who built a number of buildings in El Paso, San Angelo, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Tucson. The Gadsden opened in 1907, and quickly became a meeting place for cattlemen, ranchers, miners, and businessmen. In 1928, a fire swept through the hotel, leaving nothing but the elevator car cabin, the marble staircase, and marble columns. The hotel was immediately rebuilt, using the same architect but on a grander scale. The elevator, a novelty at the time, is one of the oldest manually operated elevators still in use west of the Mississippi. The hotel was also one of the first to feature individual bathrooms in all 160 rooms. The staircase inside the front of the building is made of Italian marble, with columns hand layered with 24 carat gold leafing. There is a window at the top of the grand staircase, essentially a stained glass mural depicting the southwest desert. It runs 42 feet long and 6 feet tall. This is one of the few hotels we will be staying on our tour, so everyone is really making the best of things, while we can.

Tomorrow, we ride another 53 miles, and leave Arizona to enter New Mexico. We will travel to Rodeo, NM, with another 1,226 feet of climbing. This is one of our last “short” days, as the next day, we are scheduled to ride 92 miles, and the following day another 73. After completing these 73 miles, we will be in El Paso. Hello Texas!