Day 7: Mesa to Safford, AZ

Distance: 95.8 mi
Cumulative Distance: 596.7
Average Speed: 15.5
Climb: 5,331
Cumulative Climb: 35,178
Flats: 5 (4 previous and 1 today)

We prepared to start the day with a hearty casino breakfast, however, when we knocked on Dave’s door at 7AM a groggy Dave appeared at the door after having been awoken from a sound sleep. It turns out he did not set his alarm properly. He managed to appear at the restaurant in record time (without a shower) and got packed up in record time, so we got off on our ride without any delay.

It was another beautiful sunny Arizona morning with light winds from the north. The winds stayed that way most of the day and we even enjoyed a little tailwind for about 15 miles of the ride. The scenery was spectacular again, all day, and we arrived, 68 miles later, at our motel for the

evening in Stafford (another Best Western - we are in a Best Western rut). En route, we experienced flat tire number 5 - Gaby this time. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in one of our motel rooms and then proceeded to turn what had been a relatively relaxing day into another hard one

by riding an additional 27 uphill miles to a mountain pass that was on tomorrow’s route to Silver City (after getting to the pass, we then drove back to Stafford). This planned extension will make tomorrows tough ride to Silver City a bit easier, by cutting off 27 miles and one climb.

At the conclusion of the day we enjoyed our customary beer or two as we went over plans and strategies for the next day.

Und wieder ist ein schoner Tag zu Ende. Das Wetter ist gut, wenn auch der Wind nicht immer in die Richtung blaest, die wir es gerne hatten. Nach dem dritten Abschnitt kamen wie zum Hotel, wo Lee unsere Zimmer bestellt hatte. Wie schoen ware es gewesen, den Nachmittag hier zu verbringen. Aber nein, wir mussten noch 27 Meilen fahren und es ging nur bergauf. Da muss man sich schon zusammen reissen, aber es ist ein tolles Gefuhl, wenn man es geschafft hat. Und…. Morgen geht es weiter.