Back in action

Hello friends! I am back on the road and it feels great. The day before I was to leave for Phoenix I came down with a cold so it delayed my arrival by a few days. I made Red Beans and Rice for Benny and Alice's family. It is fun to meet family, to build connections, and share stories. Benny has the family Bible from the Mr Mike Donlan. It is a large Bible with a lather cover and silver buckles to keep it closed. Their house is one mile from the route! So I loaded up my bike and road from their house. It took me all day to reach the outskirts of Phoenix. It wasn't the best riding but it was better than no riding. That night I met up with a friend of mine who I know from the Teton Valley! Corey is riding from New Orleans to Los Angeles. It was great to see and hear of his adventures. He said that Texas was great! He said that people don't cross the boarder where our route takes us and there is a boarder patrol as well. There aren't towns across the boarder, it is big mountains with no water.  The next day I headed to Globe. It was hot and a huge hill but I got to town around 4 pm. I ate and then went to bed for 8 pm. I was up early the next day. I has 80 miles to ride! I crossed the Apache reservation.   More mountains are visible in the distance. Again I got to town, ate and went to bed. The next morning I had a conference call. When I glanced at the map I saw a campground 35 miles away and then another 80 miles to Silver City, I thought that wasn't too bad. Then I looked at the profile of the 80 miles and that wasn't going to easy. There is a large pass between Safford and Silver City. I ended up taking a work/ rest day. I got a good amount of work done. Now, it is Friday. I got out by 8am to ride 80 miles so I could two of the three climbs done before Silver City. This 80 mile section was steep. The little bit was by bike light but the road didn't many cars. As I pulled into the campground I met another cyclist!  He is on a crazy tour, he started in New York went to the Pacific down to San Diego and now over to Atlantic. He was laid off in May and always wanted to tour but couldn't because of work. We are going to ride for the next few days. Today, we arrived in Silver City. We crossed the Western Continental Divide!The weather is cooler now and I am loving it! My rear tire was worn out! Too much weight in the rear, so I got a new tire and talked with guys from the bike shop. They know the guy who fitted me for my bike, Jay. Jay holds the record for biking the Great Divide route, 15 days and 12ish hours from Banff to Mexico! It was nice having some down time in a small town. Went to the Co-op got some great Mexican. Diana, they an egg on the enchiladas! We are headed across the Gila Mts and ever eastward. Cheers from Nanland