Today was our longest ride (117 miles with approximately 2,500 vertical climb). We started the day early riding over the Colorado River into Arizona! The first 25 miles were on a newly paved wide shoulder of I-10 climbing two gentle hills through Quartzite, AZ and exiting onto Hwy 60 to Wickenburg. Shortly after we entered Arizona, we also left the Mohave desert which is marked by its creosote shrubs and entered in the Sonoran Desert giving us our first glimpses of Sahuaro cactus.
This was a day for small trains of riders who grouped up and sailed across nearly 60 miles of flat, almost perfectly straight stretches of nice highway with broad shoulders. It was a day for thanking riding buddies all around for the great view of their back tires running within a few inches of yours. But it was a long day and as far as I've been able to discern, not a single photo was taken.
However, at the end of the day we smuggled 30 people into town for dinner in the back of the big truck. Rich Crocker decided that surf dancing was the order of the trip and soon everyone else joined in the party. Border Patrol would have had a great time finding 30 raucous people crammed into the back of an enclosed truck.
Getting Ready for the day's ride
Sahuaro Cactus in the Sonoran Desert, AZ
Highway 60 into Wickenburg, AZ