More about the desert

We are. Currently in Cottonwood, AZ.  I have posted only a brief note in the past 3 days,in large part due to the demands of the biking.  I mentioned the desert in my last post, over 3 hundred miles in 3 days, a personal record for me, in temperatures we don't do in Canandaigua or Rochester, NY.  It doesn't get to 100 there,and if the temperature is in the mid 90's I would generally not bike.  I did train extensively for this trip, logging over 2,000 outdoor miles since the beginning of the year, and was gratified and somewhat surprised that my legs were not sore after the first 3 days on the road, 2 of which were desert days, but it hit me on the third day of desert riding when about 90 miles into it my legs felt completely sapped of strength.  The support crew of CrossRoads were very helpful and attentive, checking on me frequently, and riding much of the last 25 miles with me. With about 10 miles to go Dana, one of the CrossRoads owners was riding with me and said, " It may be all downhill from the crest of that next hill to the hotel, I can't remember.".  As we got to the crest of the hill, it clearly wasn't downhill the rest of the way home, and I stopped for a few bites of bike food as Dana went on ahead ahead.  I wasn't sure if he couldn't remember if this was the day with the long downhill, or, hopefully, or if there was definitely a long downhill and he just wasn't sure if this hill was wheee it started. Fortunately, it the latter and I coasted to the Best Western in Wickenburg, AZ and survived T-Mobile another day.

Ice Socks:  another lifesaver
These are in fact tube socks filled wth ice. 2 of these are then tied together and they are draped over your shoulder with one on your chest and the other on your back. These little desert delights were served up out of the back of the support truck at lunch or SAG stops.  Maybe I could have crossed the desert without them, but they were definitely a little slice of heaven when it was hot as Hades.

I should mention that we have been blessed in that the prevailing SW winds have prevailed for the most part, sometimes impressively.  We had about a 20 mile stretch in the desert where we were blown along at 20-30 mph with little or no pedaling.  It is virtually always windy I that area, and there were miles and miles of wind turbines.  If that wind had been turned around 180 degrees, I can't imagine completing 100 miles, and apparently one year the tour did face headwinds of that magnitude in that region.

It is getting past my bedtime, so I will wrap up.  I will try to post again tomorrow after we reach Flagstaff, AZ and summarize our first 3 days of biking the mountains of AZ