Welcome To Arizona

This morning began with the sound of rain on my tent. Yes, rain. Actual precipitation. Falling from the sky and landing on my tent. Yes, I realize that’s generally how precipitation works. The puzzling part is that when I went to sleep last night I was in the desert. Or at least near the desert. And yet this morning there was rain. Okay, so it wasn’t a torrential downpour. That would be ridiculous. That said, after 32 essentially rainless days in California I just kind of accepted the fact that it never rains here. Especially in the desert. Perhaps the skies were crying because today would be my last day in California.

Just to clarify, when I say this morning “began” with rain, I mean there was rain at 4:00 am. When the time came to actually crawl out of my tent, the rain had stopped and everything was pretty much dry. Things were back to normal in California.

Unlike last night, there were no locals socializing on the patio this morning. It was only 7:30 am after all. In fact, there were no people around at all. As such, I had to settle for a few photos of the empty area before pedalling off without a photo with my hosts. Truly unfortunate. I also left without eating much of a breakfast. I don’t know why. Well, I sort of know why.

My pseudo plan was to stop at a grocery store and hopefully grab a sandwich. Yes, there’s a Subway in town but it was a bit out of the way (suddenly 1 km is “out of the way”). The sandwich plan didn’t really work out as there were no sandwiches to be had. It was a bit early for ice cream so I settled for yogurt which I knew would go well with the granola I bought the other day. Despite having yogurt and granola, for some unknown reason I opted to ride off without eating it. I don’t understand myself sometimes (then again, I’m probably not the only one).

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was more than a bit sluggish this morning. Maybe I should’ve eaten breakfast. And yet I pedalled on. Perhaps my focus was on reaching the border. If so, the border crossing didn’t exactly live up my expectations – or at least hopes.

Google’s route out of California and into Arizona had me crossing a bridge. Generally, that wouldn’t be noteworthy except in this case crossing the bridge meant following a pedestrian path along the north side of the bridge (ie. against the flow of traffic). That meant the sign marking the Arizona State Line was on the other side of the bridge. As such, I crossed the California/Arizone State Line, looked back and had to settle for a photo of the California State Line sign. It was a bit disappointing.

My route continued along the “wrong” side of the highway, so I also couldn’t get a very good photo of the big “Welcome To Arizona” sign which was on the main highway. First world problems strike again.

Despite having officially crossed into Arizona, my sluggishness continued for about another 45 minutes at which point I arrived at a Rest Stop. Normally I wouldn’t stop so early but clearly I needed some energy. The energy would come from the yogurt and granola I should’ve eaten earlier. I still didn’t have the energy I did yesterday but I certainly felt better.

Days like yesterday (glorious tailwinds) you simply enjoy because they just don’t come along very often. On the other hand, days like today you just have to push on and power through. It’s not always pleasant on the road but you keep at it with the hope that eventually your legs will get the message that it’s not a day off. Today, that took about 80 km.

I was actually pretty surprised when I first checked my average speed today. As mentioned before, I felt like I was more than a little sluggish so to find that my average speed at that point was even approaching 20 km/h was a pleasant surprise. As an added bonus, the final two hours were very much like yesterday’s entire ride and, as such, my average speed increased considerably.

While I found myself getting stronger as the day went on, it was clear that finding WiFi was going to be my next struggle. This was my new concern because I was still unsure where today would end. I had sent a Warm Showers request to a woman in Aguila but had yet to get a response when I left Blythe. Now, 100 km later, I was no closer to knowing where I would be spending the night. As usual, I pedalled on.

I should mention that as I passed through Quartzsite I was greeted by a Subway. Given my lack of a real breakfast I figured making a quick food stop was probably for the best. And it was. I definitely noticed a welcome boost in energy.

It was about 4:00 when I arrived in Aguila and it was immediately clear that there wasn’t much in the way of services. I wasn’t liking my chances of finding WiFi – or a place to stay. There was good news and bad news that followed. The good news came from the Family Dollar store where I found out there’s a library in town which has WiFi. The bad news was there was still no reply to my Warm Showers request. I was still homeless.

With afternoon rapidly progressing, I consulted the map and considered heading to the next town. That option disappeared about as quickly as the sun was setting. I was one hour from the sunset but two hours from the next town. Moving on was not an option.

My remaining options were either wild camping or the one motel that I discovered. The motel was the Burro Jim Motel. It was only $40 (cash) for the night but, given the motel, that seemed a bit much. Fortunately, the owner was sympathetic to cyclers – or at least, this particular cyclist – and he allowed me to set up my tent up beside the motel for free. I was very much appreciative.

The rest of my evening was spent in my tent, writing updates and editing photos until the battery in my laptop drained completely. With no WiFi connection to use, the dead battery didn’t really matter. If all goes well I’ll be in Phoenix tomorrow. I anticipate WiFi being much more available there.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 155.05 km*
Ride time: 7:05:51
Average speed: 21.84 km/h
Maximum speed: 44.24 km/h

* My 2015 journey is officially my longest tour ever. I’ve now travelled 9,372.82 km since June 1st.