(Thurs, 2/27/25; 41 miles, 653 feet of climb)
Wow, was it windy today! Even at 7 am, the palm trees were shaking and swirling. Lynn and Teri offered to drive me partway to Tempe today due to the conditions, but I reserve that only as a last resort (like a 6000-foot climb with no towns).
The winds were even worse in other areas — another guy biking the Southern Tier reported that they actually shut down Interstate 10 in southeast Arizona, and diverted traffic through the small town he was in, so he needed to take a day off.
Lynn and Teri made me a great breakfast: fried eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, grapes, berries, croissants, and fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, my favorite!
After breakfast, with the lighting better than it was last night, I conducted a couple of interviews. That’s really my favorite part of watching other people’s bike videos, and I have not done as many as I wanted to so far. Lynn talked about their “Thankful Thursday” weekly family chats, and also about what he learned when he read the entire Bible last year.
Teri talked about how they come up with a family mission statement, which is very interesting. She is a former educator and principal, and now does coaching. You will see these videos when I make the fulll-length YouTube videos later.
I got on the road at 9:30 am, much earlier than yesterday, but still a little later than unusual. The wind hit 24 mph from the northeast, even at that morning hour. My path zigzagged east and south, so when I was heading south, I was easily going 20 mph without much work. But when I turned east, I slowed down to 7 mph despite a lot of effort.
At about mile 10, I finally hooked up again with the ACA trail that I had left two days before. The ACA has a knack for picking great routes — this one was along a canal for 20 miles. I got to ride right through the heart of the Phoenix metro area without ever having to stop for traffic!
I was disappointed that I could not fly my drone today. First of all, it was way too windy. But I figured that the timing was okay, because I was also near the no-fly zones for Luke Air Force Base and Sky Harbor, Phoenix’s main airport.
However, at 2 pm, a miracle occurred: the wind temporarily settled down to only 10 miles an hour, and at the same time, I found myself in a narrow band between the no-fly zones. So I actually did get to fly the drone! The streak continues.
Overall, it was pretty tough biking today compared to the last several days. Even though the wind calmed down a bit, it shifted to a direct headwind from the east. I averaged only 9.7 mph for the day, my slowest average speed since Day 4 in the California mountains. I was relieved to make it to Tempe just before sunset.
The hotel prices were crazy –– all the mid-tier name brands were over $250 a night! I heard it was because of baseball spring training. I found an old-fashioned motel for cheaper, and it seems fine. I’m just glad to have a place to sleep tonight.
Tomorrow, I hope to head to REI, and then over to my next host in Fountain Hills. After that, I am in the wilderness — this time mountains instead of desert.
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TRANSLATIONS/BACKGROUND: “CANTBIRD” = CA-AZ-NM-TX Bike Ride, my own nickname for the 1000 miles on the western half of the Southern Tier Bicycle Route, using maps from ACA (Adventure Cycling Association). (I did the 1500-mile eastern half in March 2024, which I called GUMBIRD [Gulf of Mexico Bike Ride].)
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LINKS:
Old-fashioned BLOG if you have friends who don’t use Facebook:
“Old Scouter” Facebook page if you want to follow big adventures with more pictures and video clips (but not unrelated personal posts):
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066334039590
“Old Scouter” YouTube page (when I get time to edit after the trip):