Safford, AZ to Buckhorn, NM - Thursday

Thursday's ride was the hardest of our entire trip.  We left Safford at 7:25 AM and had to hurry to reach Buckhorn before dark.  We rode 82.6 miles with two big hills averaging 9 mi/h .  The second hill had miles of steep switchbacks.  Just before we crested the second hill I hit the wall and found myself with no energy.  I mixed up some sports drink, which helped but the last 30 miles were a real struggle.

The day started very cold so I was wearing socks over my gloves for mittens but we warmed up fast.  We rode through farmlands, desert, craggy mountains, forest and ranchlands.  We ate lunch at a little grocery store in the middle of nowhere and a snack in the Apache National Forest.

And we crossed the border into New Mexico!  Woo hoo!

The temperature was dropping fast so we were overjoyed when our campground hosts told us we could roll out our sleeping bags in the warm laundry room!  Lows have been in the 30s so once again we avoided sleeping in freezing weather.

The truth from Ruth:  Wow!  What a day.  At lunchtime we were surrounded by a dreary desert.  As we rode through it, I tried to guess where the big climb would be.  Jeff pointed to a path high on a huge mountain, and I said, "No, that can't be it."  But awhile later, there we were, climbing the biggest hill I've ever ridden up in my life.  On the other side were amazing cliffs, then a forest.  The scenery was spectacular.  I'm so glad I came on this trip.  Even though I was completely worn out, it was worth it.