Southern Tier Section 2

via bicycle from Phoenix, AZ to El Paso, TX

March 15 - March 23, 2008

516 miles with 22,067 feet of elevation gain and 17,799 feet of elevation loss

Date	Location	Miles
Section 2
March 15	Apache Jct, AZ	53
March 16	Globe, AZ	55
March 17	Safford, AZ	83
March 18	Lordsburg, NM	75
March 19	Silver City, NM	47
March 20	Silver City, NM - rest day	0
March 21	Kingston, NM	48
March 22	Las Cruces, NM	88
March 23	El Paso, TX	67

Remember, the first map is the Adventure Cycling map and shows our actual route except from Safford Woman Tours goes down to Lordsburg then up to Silver City in order to find a motel. For the 2nd map I used the AAA online mapping service to print a map that shows their suggested highway route to each night's stop--of course these highways are not always the best highways for bicycle riders and are NOT 100% indicative of our route but it gives you a good view of the area we are traveling and it does show us going down to Lordsburg.

Section 2 - I rode 416.7 miles

Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 Day 16 Day 17 Day 18

Day 10 - March 15, 2008

Phoenix to Apache Jct, Arizona - 53.17 miles

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

The weather prediction for Friday night was mostly clear, with a low around 48, and a southwest wind 6 to 10 mph becoming east. Saturday's prediction was mostly sunny, with a high near 77. East southeast wind 6 to 9 mph becoming southwest between 17 and 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. This sounded good to us.

It was not as chilly in the morning as it has been the last couple of days. On Thursday due to Reynauds I temporarily lost the circulation in three fingers and Friday one finger, but today I didn't have any problem. During our whole route today we were in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The route took us on busy roads through residential areas, the suburb of Mesa, the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Reservation, and finally to Apache Junction. Although the roads except those on the Indian reservation were busy almost all of them had bike lanes. The road through the reservation was a bad road that was very bumpy and there were some bad dogs. McKellip Road that we were to turn onto at mile 29.6 was closed due to flooding, but we had a map of the route and found 3 other possible roads that we could take to get to Power Road and Kathy and I decided to take the first one that was a good road and had a bike lane. It was an easy decision and we took University Road the 10 miles to Power Road. We finished early and our rooms weren't ready so several of us unpacked our computers and started working on them in the breakfast room as there were tables and chairs in there. Also Sue, one of the doctors in our group, removed the sutures from my eyebrow, and it looks good. She said the doctor had used a running stitch and had done a good job.

The estimated population of Phoenix in 2006 was 1,512,986, making it the fifth largest city in the United States.

Phoenix to Apache Junction route

elevation chart showing the insignificant 965 feet we climbed today

map of Phoenix

entrance to a gated community in Phoenix

Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix

this is how they prop up cacti that have a problem

view of the Superstitions from my room

several of us using our computers in the breakfast room

Day 11 - March 16, 2008

Apache Jct to Globe, Arizona - 30.6 miles (no one rode the entire route due to the weather conditions)

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

Weather prediction for Apache Junction was a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Southwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. And the weather prediction for Globe, our destination, which is only 55 miles away but is at a much higher elevation was 40% chance of rain showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. West wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Naturally we all dressed warmly. I wore my long bicycle tights, a long-sleeve jersey, and a jacket. I also put my warm waterproof covers over my shoes and wore my ski gloves. I took my rain jacket and rain pants but fortunately didn't need to use them. I was warm enough except for my fingers and I again lost the circulation in one finger. We knew it was a tough climb and with the weather we might not be able to make it, as most of us did not want to climb or descend the steep part in snow or rain.

We were riding on US 60 and had the first sag stop at a construction area, and the sag driver told Kathy and I that several of the riders had ridden on the new asphalt that was blocked off and not yet open to traffic and had called back and said it was open for a long way. Since the shoulder of the road had been terrible due to a rumble strip that went down the middle and frequently left us little room to ride, Kathy and I opted to try the new asphalt. It was great for about 5 miles. We had to walk over one short unfinished strip and rode over another short unfinished strip so when we saw the riders ahead of us pause, walk, then start again that's what we thought they had done and we passed up a possible exit point and continued. Unfortunately the asphalt section ended and soon even the ridable dirt section ended and we were walking our bikes. There was a gully between us and the old road so we walked our bikes for about a mile then rejoined the old road. Fortunately we were now past most of the first uphill section and had some downhill, but we no longer had a shoulder. We continued until we had ridden 30 miles and stopped at the Buckboard Cafe in Superior as planned just as the van and trailer loaded with bikes pulled away.

We found out that several of the riders had ridden up to the Queen Creek Tunnel and a policeman sitting in his car beyond the tunnel told them that because of the weather he didn't want them continuing. So they turned around and came back to the Restaurant and spread the word. Thus, no one got to finish the ride. Michelle & Linda drove the first group of riders and their bikes in to Globe, unhooked the trailer, and returned to Superior to pick up the rest of us. We ate lunch, sat there and talked, and visited the smallest museum in the world while we waited. About two hours later Michelle returned to take the rest of us to Globe. All the bikes and women + one male rider from Denmark who was stranded and was riding self supported were loaded.

The Country Inn is nice, and we ate dinner in the Country Kitchen Restaurant next door because Linda didn't have any time to prepare a meal. She will supplement the motel breakfast tomorrow morning to provide us with protein. Whenever the motels don't include protein as part of their free breakfast, Linda cooks oatmeal and eggs.
It never did rain and weather wise we would have been able to make it, but as I looked at the highway as we rode in the van I saw that there never was a shoulder and the highway was only two lanes part of the time and there were a lot of traffic and a lot of curves. I would have liked to try the rest of the route and think I could have made it, but I don't think I would have enjoyed riding that road. The views, however, were great and there were a couple of great bridges.

Apache Junction to Globe route

elevation chart showing the 4,214 feet we would have climbed if we could have finished

Superstition Mountain

Buckboard Cafe

smallest museum in the world

2 interesting displays outside the museum

mountain range east of the Cafe

Day 12 - March 17, 2008

Globe to Safford, Arizona - 77.7 miles

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

Today was really cold! I wore everything I had worn yesterday plus I wore my rain jacket and rain pants even though it wasn't raining as an extra layer of warmth. I was OK until we reached the first long downhill--the fast speed increased the wind chill temperature and since I wasn't pedaling I wasn't generating any heat. I was getting VERY cold and was starting to shake. Fortunately the sag was parked near the bottom of the hill in front of a supermarket and as we arrived we were all going inside to use the rest room and to get warm. They didn't have hot chocolate and I don't like coffee or tea so I just drank hot water to bring my core temperature up. I also ran warm water on my fingers in the rest room, and they hurt as they warmed up. The rest of the day wasn't a problem as the sun finally came out and it warmed up some. I shed the rain coat and pants, but I kept the shoe covers, ski mittens, and jacket on.

At the 40 mile mark as I was standing at the sag we saw sage brush tumble high into the air as a semi came by and created a big burst of wind.

It was still cold in the evening so Linda cooked the dinner in the trailer, but she brought it into the motel breakfast area for us to eat. It was delicious split pea soup with ham, several kinds of bread, a salad, and two kinds of cake--lemon and chocolate.

Globe to Safford route

elevation chart showing the 2,314 feet that we climbed

Day 13 - March 18, 2008

Safford, AZ to Lordsburg, NM - 60.5 miles

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

Last night when she gave us the maps for today Michelle explained that we would be deviating from the Adventure Cycling route. It is about 125 miles to Kingston and WomanTours had been staying at a small place along the way that had cabins that slept 8-10 to a cabin in sleeping bags but it closed so last year they deviated from the route and went through Lordsburg and it worked out well. It made us happy as we wouldn't have liked bringing sleeping bags for one night.

We knew we were going to have another cold morning as the weather prediction for Safford was a low around 33 the night before. .However, it was suppose to be sunny with a high near 70 with a northwest wind between 7 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. In Lordsburg, however, the prediction was a high of only 62 and winds as high as 32 mph.

So I washed my clothes so my cold weather clothes would be clean and wore them again. I didn't need the rain pants and rain jacket very long as I was wearing them only as another layer of warmth and the sun warmed things up quickly. I also took off my ski gloves and put on my SPF protection gloves before I reached the first sag stop at 20 miles and at the sag I removed my shoe covers.

At the beginning of the ride we had a great view of Mt. Graham which is the third highest mountain in Arizona with a peak reaching 10,720 feet and is also home to the Mt. Graham International Observatory.

At about mile 25 Linda passed me in the van and since I didn't give a thumbs up signal or a pat on the head because I didn't see her in time, she stopped a short ways down the road. I had meant to keep riding, but when she stopped I decided to ask her to bump me up to the lunch spot (Ol Joe's at the 40 mile mark). In a short time we passed Jeanne and she did give the pat on the head signal and Linda picked her up also. We crossed into New Mexico shortly after I started riding after Ol Joe's at mile 41, and I remembered that we were losing an hour today because New Mexico is on daylight savings time while Arizona is not and was glad I had cut 15 miles off of the long day.

It was a pretty ride and it was relatively flat, but I got very tired. I know the elevation chart looks like we climbed a huge hill, but you have to realize that it took us about 23 miles to climb that first 2,000 feet. We were riding at a 1% or 2% elevation most of the time with an occasional increase to 3, 4, or 5% and even occasionally a zero or -1% grade.

The last 15 miles were really fun as the wind picked up and we flew!

Dinner tonight was very good--we had tamale pie--but we ate outside and I was too cold to really enjoy it. We had a very short route meeting and no entertainment tonight as everyone just wanted to get back to their warm room, and we are not eating breakfast until 8:30 tomorrow morning because of he cold and the shorter day.

Safford to Lordsburg route

elevation chart showing the 2,502 feet that we climbed

Mt. Graham in the Pinaleno Mountains

the ONLY place to eat lunch on route & fortunately it was at the halfway point and was good

as you can see Ol Jo's had our business

at approximately mile 41 we entered New Mexico

Day 14 - March 19, 2008

Lordsburg to Silver City, New Mexico - 46.4 miles

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

Our later start worked out well because by having breakfast at 8:30 and leaving at 9 o'clock the sun was out and the temperature was in the low 40's. I wore my bicycle tights and my long sleeve jersey, a jacket, and winter gloves but not my ski mittens and I was comfortable. Eventually I removed the jacket and switched to my SPF gloves.

We climbed 3,858 feet today--our second highest amount so far since none of us finished the day into Globe because of the weather, and we crossed the Continental Divide at 6,355 feet. I couldn't use my lowest gear from about mile 18 on because it kept jumping out of gear, but I managed without it; there were two long climbs after the Continental Divide where I sure wished I had it, but I even went up the last one in my 3rd lowest gear instead of my second because I got confused as to what gear I was in. The shoulder was excellent most of the way, but toward the end it deteriorated, and I couldn't stay in the shoulder for descending some of the last hills as it was too rough.

In Silver City we turned onto Hwy.180 for the last .6 of a mile and this was a bad construction zone. There was sometimes barely enough room for one car and no room for bicycles so we had to assert ourselves and take the lane and some of the drivers got upset. I didn't have any problem, but some of the riders did. I was very tired and unfortunately got assigned to an upstairs room. I almost fell trying to get my bike up the stairs so one of the workmen carried my bike up for me. I didn't have any problem with the suitcases--one of which I think is heavier than the bike, but the bike is awkward to get a hold of.

We had curry, broccoli, salad, and cheesecake for dinner tonight. Then we had our usual after dinner entertainment by some of the riders, and Michelle passed out the maps for our next riding day. Pat, Sue, Ellen & Carol performed a very cute chipmunk song complete with hand motions then we all joined in for one round.

Lordsburg to Silver City route

elevation chart showing the impressive 3,858 feet we climbed

as you can see we crossed the Continental Divide today

the open pit Tyrone Copper Mine is being reclaimed on both sides of the highway

close up of the west side of the reclamation project

our next mountain range to cross

Pat, Sue, Ellen, & Carol performing the Beaver song after dinner

Day 15 - March 20, 2008

Silver City - rest day

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

We had our second rest day today after the longest series of riding days on the tour--we rode 8 days without a break and had some very cold days, a long day, and some big climbing days so we needed the break especially since the next day will be our biggest climbing day to date!

I slept in a little then went down and ate breakfast. After working on my computer for a little while I went down and cleaned my bike and had Michelle fix the gear that I was having trouble with and adjust my left brake cable. I then tested the bike by riding it to Wal-Mart--a 2 mile round trip with a couple of hills along the way. Then I dropped by the Comfort Inn to drop my purchases off and pick up some items I wanted to mail and rode my bike down to the post office . I went the back way to avoid the construction zone, but it was VERY hilly and this was suppose to be my rest day so I walked one hill. Next I stopped at the bike shop to get a new rear view mirror, but they didn't have any; however, he was able to drill some holes in the mount for mine and fix it for a small labor charge. I then walked through some of the historic downtown area, but I had forgotten to take my camera so I don't have any pictures. I then decided I preferred the construction zones to the hills so I came back via the highway. Luckily I ran into Kat as I was entering the motel and she helped me carry my bike upstairs.

Day 16 - March 21, 2008

Silver City to Kingston, New Mexico - 39.5 miles (I sagged DOWN from the pass 8-9 miles)

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

Today was a hard day, but a very rewarding day as I met my goal and made it to the top of Emory Pass located in the Black Range of southwestern New Mexico midway between Hillsboro and San Lorenzo. A century ago, this was the summer lands of the Chiricahua Warm Springs Apaches and Geronimo was their leader and shaman.

After the long climb to the Continental Divide my knees had hurt at night. They were fine when I was riding, but bothered me at night. I was glad we had the rest day. They were fine last night, and today to help prevent any more problems I wore my Futuro knee braces. They worked fine as I had no problems after today's ride.

I started at 7:30 am, and we were climbing as soon as we exited the motel and turned onto US 160 East. At about mile 9.2 we passed a Highway Marker which pointed out there was a rock formation near the summit of the Santa Rita Range known as the Kneeling Nun and shortly afterwards we passed a viewing area for the Santa Rita open pit copper mine, owned by the Phelps Dodge Company. There was signs describing the mine and an unparalleled view of this awesome hole in the earth—one of the largest open pit mines in the world. At the village of San Lorenzo Highway 152 crossed the Mimbres River and State Highway 35.

The climbing continued all the way to the top, but there were a couple of good downhills and there were always places were the grade decreased to zero or 1% for a short time or praise the Lord maybe even -1% so you could get some relief and even stop and get some rest. I found that I can stop and get started on a 3% grade so I'm definitely stronger. At one point we had a long downhill into a valley that I resented because it lowered us below our starting elevation which meant we had to reclimb all the feet that we had already climbed plus a whole lot more to get up to the 8,228 vista point, but that's what makes the landscape beautiful. We passed several campgrounds--the Lower and Upper Gallinas and Iron Creek--and we also passed Wright’s Cabin Picnic Ground.

The mileage on the elevation chart is about 9 miles off so the group last year must have stayed in a different motel in Silver City. We started the serious climb to the top about mile 24 not 33 and it continued with the usual brief rest reprieves until mile 40. In fact about half way we got stuck around 7,000 feet and kept gaining and losing altitude on the ups and downs that continued for several miles. Then we entered the "horseshoe" curve section of the road through the Mimbres Mountains where the road would change direction as it curved around. At one point the speed limit for cars was 10 mph and it happened to be a down hill section and I was going 14 so I was speeding. On one horseshoe near the top I came around the curve tired and saw the hill going steeply up when my GPS registered 11% I gave up mentally, braked, unclipped, and walked to the top of that one which fortunately wasn't far but that's the only one I walked.

After negotiating numerous horseshoe curves and climbing, climbing, climbing I reached Emory Pass at 8,228 feet, named for Lieutenant W. H. Emory, who chronicled the U. S. Army of the West expedition through the pass in 1846. In those days, the land still belonged to Mexico. At the top I rode the short distance to the vista point and was rewarded with a tremendous view to the east. My pictures below weren't doing the view justice due to the bright sunlight so the last vista picture below I imported from the Emory Pass Vista site of the National Scenic Byways Program.

The sag wagon was at the crest when I arrived and at that point I decided that I was too tired to negotiate safely an 8-mile descent on horseshoe curves on a 2-lane road with no shoulder especially since we had been told that there was some gravel on the road in a few places.

We stayed in a B&B in Kingston--the Black Range Lodge. The Lodge fixed us a turkey dinner with all the trimmings for tonight and will fix breakfast in the morning. Kingston was a booming mining town of 7,000 people in the late 1880's, but the depression of 1893 sent silver prices plummeting and Kingston died as suddenly as it had been born Today there are 32 permanent residents.

Silver City to Kingston route

elevation chart showing the 5,605 feet we climbed - largest # to date!

kneeling nun (on the left of the upper part)

Santa Rita Copper Mine

view looking back at mile 27

Emory Pass

scenes at the Emory Pass Vista

homelands of the Chiricahua Apaches

Black Range Lodge

Day 17 - March 22, 2008

Kingston to Las Cruces, New Mexico - 88 miles

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

Kingston weather: Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 30. North northwest wind around 7 mph. Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. North northeast wind at 8 mph becoming west southwest. Las Cruces weather: Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 75. North wind around 6 mph becoming southwest. (We start out going east and then go mainly south and a little east.)

I made a small mistake this morning, but it worked out OK. I had worn shorts yesterday and prefer them as they have pockets and the long tights get hot later in the day. Based on the weather prediction I decided to go with shorts again this morning; however, I forgot we would be descending for a long time--basically 28 miles--which meant I would be going faster with a lower wind chill and wouldn't be using any energy. I quickly learned, however, and changed my usual pattern--instead of simply coasting when going downhill, I pedaled to create some heat in my legs and it worked! Also the sun quickly warmed things up.

It was a beautiful ride! We passed through several very small communities and saw a lot of agriculture along the road. Basically they grow pecans, chilis, cotton, and onions in this part of New Mexico. We saw grove after grove of pecan trees--they frequently lined both sides of the highway in neat diagonal rows. They are harvested in the winter.

We stayed in a Hampton Inn tonight, and it was the best inn of the whole trip to date. The staff was super nice and efficient, everything was very spiffy clean, and they had a welcome cake (see picture below) and ice cream for us after our dinner.

Kingston to Las Cruces route

elevation chart showing the 1,257 feet we climbed

we STILL have mountains in front of us

the bridge at Percha Creek

mining in the region

our first view of the Rio Grande

a pecan tree orchard on both sides of the road

red chilis in the market

Candice in front of the Valley Cafe

Candice fixing a flat with Dawn holding the spot where the thorn penetrated

one of the unusual mountain shapes we saw

the Three Sisters

the Rio Grande again

Organ Mountains visible outside our motel and for a long time before we got to Las Cruces

the Hampton Inn gave us cake and ice cream

Day 18 - March 23, 2008

Las Cruces, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas - 20.4 miles (I sagged 46 miles because of wind)

info (back to beginning of section 2) weather

My day started with a brief 6 am Easter service arranged by two of the riders. Debbie explained the greeting the early Christians used with one saying "He is risen" and the second replying "he has risen indeed" then we used the same greeting. She then read from the scriptures and Clark passed out two song sheets and we sang the first two verses of the first song. Then Debbie read some more scriptures, we said the Lord's Prayer, and closed by singing the first two verses of the second song--Crown Him with Many Crowns.

The BIG problem today was the wind. The prediction was mostly sunny with a high of 64 degrees with a mix of clouds and sun with gusty ESE winds at 20-30 mph.

Everything started out fine and I took the short 2-block detour to see the old Mesilla square. I was cruising along at an easy 14-15 mph when wham the wind increased. Depending on which way the road turned it was either a cross wind or a head wind. When it was a head wind, I had to reduce my gears and work hard to ride 5-6 mph. When it was a cross wind I had to work hard to keep the bike on the road. After twice nearly being blown off the road I decided this wasn't fun any more and decided to sag in. I made it to the first rest stop at mile 20 where I and 3 others waited for the van to pick us up. It had also picked up 4 others along the road so there were 8 of us in the van. Later when the wind let up a little Sue got out and started riding again, but Kat joined us in the van.

When I saw the roads we had to ride to get ALL the way through El Paso to the Comfort Inn we are staying at near the airport on the eastern side of town I had another reason for being glad I was in the van and not riding my bike. The big advantage is that El Paso is mostly behind us when we head out in the morning. Also the high is expected to be 74 degrees and the wind only 5-10 mph which is quite an improvement. I pray that is a correct prediction.