Tears In Safford

Despite being a night person, early mornings have become the norm recently. Like it or not, it’s a trend that I expect will continue as I work my east. The original motivation to recent early starts was to avoid some of the midday heat in the desert – although, that really hasn’t really materialized thus far. The other motivation for starting early is that the days keep getting shorter and I don’t have much interest in riding after dark.

Yesterday was first 100+ km day in a while. Well, my new streak of consecutive 100+ km days would end as quickly as it began as today was back to being another short ride. Not because I didn’t want to ride longer but because of geographic factors. A short day today would leave a somewhat long but manageable ride of about 160 km into New Mexico tomorrow. And with limited stopping options in between I was somewhat forced into a short day.

Given the short day there really wasn’t a sense of urgency to start early other than the fact that I had told my next Warm Showers host that I would likely arrive by 1:00 today. That almost happened.

The main reason for my delayed departure was that I was very much enjoying my visit at Jay’s Place. I was planning to get breakfast on the road but was invited to join Jay and his wife for breakfast at Denny’s. How could that be a bad idea? Clearly, it couldn’t.

Breakfast was a very good Meat Lover’s Omelette. While I was tempted to go with the Moons Over My Hammy, I wanted something with a little more substance to fuel today’s ride. The highlight of the breakfast though was the conversation. Jay and his wife were very interesting to talk to and we covered so many topics in such a short period of time. And the conversation continued once we returned to the house. Oh, side note, they even treated me to breakfast. Certainly unexpected but very much appreciated.

As much as I was enjoying our conversation, I also knew I should get on the road. But before I left Jay had a couple of parting gifts for me. Rocks. Now, you might think carrying rocks on my journey might seem like a bad idea but the rocks were small and very interesting. I’m pretty sure Jay said the first one was fire agate (which according to Wikipedia was formed about 24-36 million years ago). The other two rocks are Apache Tears. They’re interesting because they look opaque by reflected light, but translucent when held up to light. The name “Apache tear” comes from a legend of the Apache tribe.

Apparently about 75 Apaches and the US Cavalry fought on a mountain overlooking what is now Superior, Arizona in the 1870s. With defeat imminent, the outnumbered Apache warriors rode their horses off the mountain to their deaths rather than be killed. The wives and families of the warriors cried when they heard of the tragedy; their tears turned into stone upon hitting the ground. Legend has it that anyone who has any of the stones should never need to cry again because the Apache women cried enough tears for all who mourn. Some believe that the stones themselves carry spiritual and healing powers.

With my new souvenirs safely stowed away, I bid farewell to Jay and was back on the road.

The elevation map of today’s ride led me to believe that the better part of half of my ride would be uphill. While I’m sure this was technically true, it certainly wasn’t noticeable. The ride seemed pretty much flat the entire way. All that really means is that I still have no grasp whatsoever as to how to accurately interpret elevation maps.

The flat and straight roads made today’s ride rather uneventful. Beautiful. But uneventful. The biggest excitement occurred about an hour into my ride when I ran into Bob from Austin – a cyclist heading to San Diego. I can’t remember if he was actually FROM Austin but that’s where his ride began. We chatted for a bit and took a photo to prove that each of us wasn’t the only one pedalling through the desert.

With the short ride I had plenty of time to take some photos. I attempted to create a couple of more Photospheres but apparently my phone doesn’t want to do that anymore. At least, not today. Of the things that are reliable in this world, a Nexus 4 is not one of them.

I arrived in Duncan around 1:30 and made my way to my Warm Showers host. And that’s where I met Clayton who, along with his wife Deborah, own The Simpson Hotel in Duncan. It’s a B&B but they have a small trailer out the back for cyclists to use as they pass through. Today, that would be me. Clayton was very friendly and helpful. I only met his wife Deborah through e-mail but she too was also very helpful and welcoming. Another enjoyable Warm Showers stop.

With my early afternoon arrival, I had some time to get some writing done – of course, I didn’t get caught up. That would be asking too much. I’ll admit that part of the reason I didn’t get caught up is that I MAY have had a little bit of a siesta in the trailer. Did I mention the early mornings? They tend not to go well with late nights.

Refreshed from my siesta, I took a short walk into town. By “walk into town” I mean I walked around the corner. Duncan is a pretty small town but there were a couple of restaurants had I wanted to eat something. There was also the Duncan Theater. It would’ve been great to see a movie there but sadly it was closed. It’s been closed since the flood of 1983. I guess that would explain the “Coming Soon” poster: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

As mentioned in yesterday’s update, my short ride today would leave me a somewhat longer ride tomorrow. As such, I plan on getting a particularly early start tomorrow. To make that easier, I’m actually going to call it a day at a reasonable (or at least a more conducive) hour. Tomorrow’s ride should be about 160 km. Another reason for the early start is that as I make my way into New Mexico I expect to lose an hour. Technically, the time zone change should’ve happened in Arizona but since they don’t participate in Daylight Saving Time there hasn’t been a clock adjustment needed. That will change sometime tomorrow morning.

At the moment I’m not exactly sure where I’ll be staying tomorrow but wherever I end up I’m reasonable confident I won’t find a Thanksgiving dinner waiting for me. For those readers in the U.S., tomorrow is the Canadian Thanksgiving. While I don’t expect to have a turkey dinner, I will certainly think back to my early-Thanksgiving dinner I had courtesy of Jan and Rick in North Vancouver. As fond memories go, that’s definitely one of them!

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 72.37 km
Ride time: 3:19:22
Average speed: 21.78 km/h
Maximum speed: 48.79 km/h