Day 24 Sanderson to Del Rio, TX

Best of Day: We rode 111 miles (95% of group completed route)!!

Worst of Day: Flat tire at 13 mile mark (Kerby was friend extraordinaire and we changed tire in record time!)

Quote of Day: Carol (Guide) at lunch "You have the winds in your favor and the temperature is 20 degrees cooler than usual, no reason not to finish!!"

Day 23 Marathon to Sanderson, TX

Best of day: Tailwinds brought us in early

Worst of day: Motel owner's collection of snakes in glass cages

Quote of day: Patti saying that she might trash her bike when she gets to St. Augustine!

Day 22 Fort Davis to Marathon, TX

Best of day: Receiving more mail at the beautiful Gage Hotel

Worst of day: Crosswinds all day

Quote of day (at coffee/bakery in Alpine): "Didn't know they had ice cream w/ hot cinnamon rolls?" "Nope, it's butter!!!"

Day 21 Rest day

Best of day: Laundromat in town, bike cleaning, power nap, & yoga

Worst of day: No phone connection

Quote of day: "How many more days in Texas?"

Day 20 VanHorn to Fort Davis, TX

Best of day: Staying for 2 days at beautiful Indian Lodge

Worst of day: Patti's flat tire on I-90 (picture) then I had one half an hour later at our lunch stop.

Quote of day: "Thought Texas was flat!"

Day 19 Fort Hancock to Van Horn, TX

Best of day: Sun, warm air, tailwinds

Worst of day: Infamous Texas chip ' seal roads

Quote of day: Carol (Guide) "Tomorrow will be your hardest day yet." (Cue sheet attached)

Day 18 El Paso to Ft. Hancock, TX

Best of day: Short AND flat!

Worst of day: Hotel w/o services!

Quote of day: Husband on phone (biking buddy): Have u found my special trip gift yet?

Day 17 Lax Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX

Best of day: 3 states down and 5 to go!

Worst of day: Riding 8+ miles on the Cesar Chavez Highway that parallels the "wall" (What's wrong with this picture?)

Quote of day: No "Welcome to Texas" sign....hmmmm...."Does that say something about the road we're on or the state we're in??????"

Day 16 Kingston to Las Cruces, NM

Best of day: Lunch in Hatch, NM, the "Chile Capital of the World" (Picture is of my bike, brand name Salsa Casserole, who has found her home away from home!) (And yes, Jay, it's not the Trek 520, a long story that will have to wait for another time!)

Worst of day: 28 degrees leaving Kingston (downhill) with crosswinds, crisscross winds, headwinds, for the first 26 (of 88) miles

Quote of day: Gentleman sitting across from our table at lunch who asked where we were "headed" and said, "You should call a TV station, or a TV show, or someone who could make a sitcom out of this ride you're doing, with all your personalities, and all your adventures, such as the Discovery channel and I can think right now of 50 questions to ask you, like your families, and how they feel about your being gone so long, etc. etc. etc.!!!!

Day 15 Silver City to Kingston, NM

Best of day: Reached our highest elevation of the ride. Emory Pass at 8828 ft.

Worst of day: Snow/rain squall with cross winds on 8 mile steep downhill into Kingston.

Quote of day: "It's magical." (At Emory Pass we looked at a most spectacular vista. We sat there, ate lunch (pb&j) and snow began to fall.)

Day 14 Rest Day

Best of day: Slept 9 hours, bike mechanics session, post office, Verizon store, massage at spa, Veggie deli, art stores, Mexican restaurant (attached picture with Patti and Kerby)

Worst of day: Not long enough!

Quote of day: (super bikester in response to new phone) "You've been droided!"

Day 13 Lordsburg to Silver City, NM

Best of day: 4 mile downhill into Silver City

Worst of day: Uphill Uphill Uphill (3700 ft)

Quote of day (family member): "Do you know what the Continental Divide is?"

Tomorrow is day off after eight straight days of riding!! We are soooo happy!!!! xxoo

Day 12 Safford, AZ to Lordsburg, NM

Best of day: 2 states down and 6 to go!!!
Worst of day: 30 mph headwinds resulting in riding only 65 of 75 mile route because we ran out of time!
Quote of day (bikester colleague): Headwinds mean...."pedaling in low gear at 7.5 mph downhill"

Day 11 Globe to Safford, AZ

Best of day: Competed 78 mile route despite 20 mph headwind

Worst of day:
One more bikester flat (I took picture)

Quote (and/or idea) of day:
After riding through (and eating Indian taco for lunch at roadside stand) San Carlos Apache Reservation: "Every non-native American should be mandated to visit a Native American reservation in order to maintain their citizenship."

Day 10 Apache Junction to Globe AZ

Best of the day: Sun, 60 degrees, Tailwind, Spectacular rock formations and view from route (when we dared to take our eyes off the road and look)

Worst of the day: No shoulders on road, heavy traffic, Buckboard Cafe for lunch (no Harley? not welcome!! We waited one hour plus for food!)

We sagged 3 miles of a steep (6% grade)/narrow/2 lanes/no shoulder road. Ascent to 4600 feet. We rode 45 miles of our 48.2 mile route. Yes!!!

No one is able to remember the quote of the day but when we do I will send...

We all arrived safe and sound....xxoo

Day 9 Phoenix to Apache Junction, AZ

Best of day: Leaving Phoenix and having Gerald and Kelle with us for breakfast and taking lots of pictures!

Worst of day: Discovering my phone is totally defunct (although the battery is o.k.) Kelle went to Verizon store for me and ordered new phone to be overnighted to our Tuesday stop. I'll try to borrow pictures from other camera/phones to add to blog until I have a phone.

Quote of day: Guide speaking in hushed tones about "Emory Pass."

Love reading everyone's comments. Thank you!!! Hugs to all!

Day 8 Wickenburg to Phoenix, AZ

Best of day: Kelle and I riding our bikes with the WomanTours cohort of extraordinary women! We rode to the first Sag stop (16 miles) then turned around and rode back to the hotel to get her car. We drove to Phoenix (stopped at Starbucks!) Gerald came down to Phoenix on shuttle from Flagstaff and they both joined us for dinner.

Worst of day: Fighting the Phoenix traffic on expressways. Long time since I've been in a city!

Quote of day: Another rider as one person was holding everyone's camera and taking a group picture with spectacular cactus: "Wonder when we'll figure out we can share pictures!"

Day 7 Salome to Wickenberg, AZ

Best of day: Lots of "bests" today.

1) Small coffee shop for "extraordinary" women in Wenden AZ
2) changing tire for another rider in the coffee shop




















3) sweet potato fries at the Coyote Cafe in Aguila
4) Discovering if I took the battery out of phone and cleaned it the phone would turn on again
5) Kelle driving down from Flagstaff to meet us!

Worst of day: None

Quote of day: Another rider: "This is the ride I signed up for!"

Day 6 Blythe, CA to Salome, AZ

Best of day: Crossed the Colorado River into Arizona (one state down and seven to go!)

Worst of day: Arriving in Salome AZ to see my phone with a blank screen and no internet connection (or computers) at motel

Best quote of day: Changing tire on I-10 for another rider "How many women does it take to change a tire?"

Day 5

Last day in CA & rest day for cyclists.

Bike maintenance in parking lot of capital
suites took priority (following a yoga class)!

Best of day: Sunshine & rest

Worst of day: Nothing!!

xxoo

Day 4 Leaving Brawley

Leaving Brawley on way to desert. Kathy kirby (chicago) biking buddy & linda baldwin our esteemed chef!


Best of day: sunshine

Worst of day: 91.14 miles


Best quote: two cyclists w/ full touring gear:: where are you going? Florida. Great! So are we.

Hugs 2 all

Day 3 Jacumba to Brawley

Best: Sagged (all but 2 riders) down a ten mile 3000 ft descent in rain w/ potential high winds.

Worst: rain again all day.

Best quote (rider): weather today gives new meaning to 'what was I thinking??'

Best quote (Guide) at rider's meeting: Be aware of some 'terrain features' in today's route!

Luv to all

---

The WomanTours van, trailer, & SAG car that carry our luggage, provide a kitchen for two meals a day, and when needed at any time, carries our bikes & us! We have a chef & a guide along with 4 volunteer SAG (support & gear) drivers.

Day 2

best: no rain in am
worst: rain all pm & ascent to 4000 ft.

Passed border control & we could see the wall from our route.

luv

Day 1

Day 1
San Diego to Alpine, CA
best: great weather--

worst: 2000ft climb --

funniest quote from rider: has anyone ever walked their bike to St. Augustine?

Message: think I look anxious in picture or what?
Soooo happy to be on the road at last!!
Luv 2 all...

Rain in San Diego rates almost on the scale with snow in Texas! Thanks so much for the great messages. You guys are the greatest!! Loved Scott's picture!
Arrived on Tuesday and spent two great days with my college roommate (Alby) who lives in Encinitas. She and I worked on posting the family Christmas picture on the profile.
I'm now at our hotel and today is the official "Day 1" of the tour. We get our bikes delivered from the bike shop (Bernie's) this morning, rider meeting at 1 p.m. and send off dinner at 6:30 tonight. The famous "back wheel dipping" in the Pacific will take place tomorrow morning.
Hoping for sunny weather and gentle winds from the west. Love to all.......