39.92 miles in 4:28.27...average speed...8.9 mph...maximum speed...27.7...1614 ft. elevation gain... 886 ft...descent.
When I was a younger pup, and I was out of shape, and I began a new fitness program, day three was always the toughest, and I was always sorest that day. Same thing was true when I was coaching. Some things don't change. This third day of my trip, found my legs, not in pain, but just out of gas, no spunk, no get up and go, no juice. The morning started out of Safford on US 70 and US 191 which were running conjoined. I'm familiar with US 191 because it's the way I rode into Silver City on my way up the Mogollon Rim on the way to Flagstaff. The headwinds were doing a decent job on me, and the first twenty miles were gradually, and sometimes not so gradually uphill. 191 turned off to the north, and with it, most of the traffic. There was scrub desert and distant mountains all around me, but absolutely no sign of human life besides a row of telephone poles. Miles 10 to 20 got more serious with the rollers, but nothing terrible, the wind was coming intermittently in gusts of 5-15, not terrible either. There was just no gas in the tank. Eventually I entered a new county, and like a much needed octane booster, the road went from unsmooth to smooth. The best shoulder I've ever ridden on it seemed. That made a huge difference in effort and a couple of miles per hour on the odometer. Then about ten miles from Duncan, I could see the town off in the distance, and a nice long descent into town, which is in the Gila River valley. A great reprieve for tired legs, but not enough to keep me from pulling into the Chapparal store and motel, and calling it an early day. The chest cold type thing may have been kicking my butt, but I think it was the day three thing I mentioned earlier. I showered, walked around town, stopped into a bar and had a Rolling Rock draft, and had a cheeseburger at the mom and pop greasy spoon, Hilda's I believe. There was also a forecast for a change in the wind, and a predicted tailwind for tomorrow. I could only hope a little rest, put day three behind me, and a wind push in my future.
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| Scenery between Safford and Duncan |
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| Same old high desert mountains! |
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| A welcome sight!!! |
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| Motel in Duncan |
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