Adventures of A Unicycling Sailing Whitewater Boater

Managed to get up a little earlier than usual expecting high winds later in the day.  Drove 17 miles east of camp to pick up where I left off.  The day started off with rolling hills for the first 12 miles keeping me in low gear most of the time.  The terrain was rolling but my legs felt flat.

Climbing a 3% grade in high gear I felt a twinge above my left achilles heal, got off and switched to low.  At 9 mile out I ran across Joan pulled off on the side without a coffee shop in sight.  I advised her I just didn’t feel very strong today.  I rode on and she drove on in search of coffee.

Route 60 flattened out, I kicked the KH in high gear and after a while on got into rythem.  Some times the shoulders were acceptable and sometimes they were peppered with cracks that felt like mini speed bumps all the way up to my bum.  I weaved in and out from shoulder to street and back as needed depending on traffic.  The tough part was crossing the rumble strip every time.

By 11:30 am I had cruised 28 miles and stopped to eat lunch in Fort Thomas.  Joan called and said she was in Safford about 22 miles ahead of me where she found coffee and wifi.  She was going to head my way about noon.

I set my sights on Pima 13 miles away and started breaking the ride up in short bursts.  I would stop by a mile mark so I could keep track how far I went between butt breaks.  Then the mile marks jumped 10 miles.  I should have come across mark 316, but the next mark was 326.  I must have hit the wrong button when shifting and hit warp speed.  Maybe I need more hydration.

Joan had promised there was an ice cream place if I made it to Pima.  Battling some gusty cross winds in the end I rode into Pima to the ice cream place at 1:30 pm and there was Joan.  She arrived 10 minutes before I did.  After 41.6 miles we called it quits.

For those of you who are concerned I may not be getting enough to eat and since I forgot to eat my banana this morning I finished the ride with a banana split.

Replenishing the 1034 calories I burned on the ride in on fell swoop.

Tomorrow will be a layover day (185 miles in 5 days) as we meet up with Phyllis and Mike in Globe where they are delivering my spare tires and tubes that were mailed to their house.  It will be great to see them one more time.

Stats for Day 22:  41.64 miles at 11.6 mph, Max=15.1 mph, Ascent=804, Descent=1040, Ave heart rate=103, Max heart rate 140, max elevation=3101, min elevation=2562.  Gamin claims 1034 calories burned.  Ave temp=77.9.  At one point today a mysterious thing floated across the sky and I could no longer see my shadow.

Day 21 was a test day to see how well I recovered from my climbing.  My legs were a little stiff and weak but no real pain.  I started descending where I left off a several miles west of  Miami.  I had to hold back using the brake much of the time so it was slow going at first.  When I rolled into town I was able to use high gear on the KH much of the way.

Miami bleeds into Claypool, which runs into Globe.  It feels like one long town.  I climbed a little leaving of town then began a gradual descent along a smooth (as long as I stayed off the shoulders) route 60.  I was able to use high gear until the cross winds and hills around Peridot had me slog along in first.  I managed to ride a ways west of Peridot.

Some Native Americans staged at a pull out called out to me to stop.  They asked me questions about my ride and said they have problems with diabetes and filmed me while I talked about the benefits of eating right and getting plenty of exercise.  They were going to show it to kids to encourage better habits.  Those poor kids.  Then they took a picture of me with a guy dressed as smokey the bear.

Stats for Day 21:  38.9 miles at 9.9 mph.  Ave heart rate=100, Max heart rate=134, Ascent=1394′, Descent=2651′, max elevation=4253′, min elevation=2599.  Garmin claims I burned 1073 calories.  New bench mark now over 500 miles for the trip.  522, about 1/6th of the way.

Day 20 delivered on the promised climbing.  It was  physically my hardest day yet.  I rode from 7 miles east of Tempe, to 5 miles west of Miami all on route 60.  The first 11 miles I was able to push the high gear on my KH and averaged over 12 mph.  The last 20 miles was all low gear and brought my average down to 8.7 mph.  All I kept thinking was what I wouldn’t give for a few nuisance traffic lights to rest at.

I rode farther than I thought I would but when my support crew rolled by I gladly hopped aboard.  The real test will be how my legs feel tomorrow.  Knucklehead refused to find and maps to calculate the route.  Luckily there were no changes in the route.

Climbing the hill.  I gradually climbed into Superior then the route took off the gloves.  Much of the time the road up the hill had no shoulders.  When I came to the tunnel I rode as fast as my heart and legs would go.  I was passed by 6 vehicles while riding through all but a motorcycle moved to the other lane for me.

View of the Tunnel before I worked up the courage to race through.

When I finally reached the top, NOT.  I came to a sign that made it seem it would be all down here from here.

The Fictitious sign that led me to believe it was down hill from here.

I went down hill only to climb another one.  I also raced across a bridge spanning  Pinto creek.  The view would have been spectacular if I had opened my eyes.  I just wanted to get across before any big vehicles squeezed me closer to the edge.

Uni admiring the view from near the top of the hill.

Tomorrow, legs permitting I will take up my spot creeping down the hill into Miami.  The road is too steep and shoulders too narrow for high gear so the going will be slow, unlike the latest cross country cyclist group who raced by me going down hill at mach 2.

Joan had a hard day also.  She said her foot is cramping from pushing in the clutch on the truck.  Maybe I should switch places with her.

Stats for Day 20:  31.81 miles at 8.7 mph, Max=14.8 mph, Ave heart rate=118, Max heart rate=158. Ascent=3392, Descent=978, Max elevation=4600′, Min elevation=1810, Ave temp=79.1, Gamin claims I burned 1430 calories.

Day 19 peppered the ride with more traffic lights and traffic, but I am finally done with Phoenix.  Of course I had mostly light head winds and a gradual climb all day.  I switched shoes and am able to shift the KH 36 better and pushed high gear much of the day.

We are spending our last night with Joan’s friend Phyllis so I knocked off a little early after 35.5 miles.  Back on route 60 tomorrow toward Globe.  I will be climbing most of the day depending on how far I ride.

I have been thinking about altering my course to ride whatever direction puts the wind at my back until I cover the 3000 miles and call it a crossing.  It would be very interesting to see where I actually end up.

Stats for Day 19:  35.5 miles at 10.8 mph, with a max speed of 14.7.  Ave heart rate 109, max heart rate 135, Ascent=810′, Descent=125′, max elevation=1787′, min elevation=1097.    Garmin gives me credit for 1108 calories burned.  Ave temp=84 degrees.  And oh yea it was sunny today.  452 miles pedaled to date.

Day 18 I rode 38 miles from Surprise a norther suburb of Phoenix, to the southern suburb of Tempe.  Progress was slow stopping at many intersections.  I just couldn’t time most of the lights and had to dismount  and remount numerous times.  Consequently my butt never got very sore, but my ankle took a beating from shifting.

Back again in Maricopa tonight to stay with Joan’s friend Phyllis. Yesterday on my layover day I hung out with Phyllis’s friend Mike who is my age and also rides a unicycle.  He has a little 20′ uni, and after taking a spin on my 29″ he is considering something bigger.  I also received a tire and some spare tubes.  I put a heavier duty tube back on the KH 36″ Schlumpf, and a tire and heavy duty tube on my Oracle 36.  I now have 2 spare tubes but am waiting on some spare tires.

Phyllis’s friend Mike trying out my 29

There a seven maps that route the Southern Tier route I am taking and I finished the first map today.  Wahoo!!

On Tuesday I will be battling street lights again most of the day.

Day 18 stats:  38 miles logged at 9.4 mph, Max=14.7, Ave heart rate 106, max heart rate 138,  Ascent=541, Descent 571, max elevation=1252, min elevation=1078, Ave temp 87 dgr.

Day 16.  The winds confer.  What have we got going on today?  One rider heading ENE through Wickenburg then turning SSE toward Phoenix.  The East wind says to the South wind “I’ll take the first shift then you take the second shift”.

With light breezes on the nose I set off from 7 miles West of Wickenburg then turned the corner toward Phoenix.  The route seemed mostly flat but was a steady slight down hill most of the day.  So despite the conspiracy of the winds the riding was some of the smoothest easiest roads so far.

Once I turned the corner in Wickenburg on 60 I put the KH 36 Schlumpf in high gear and rolled along.  In Wittman I spied a little country store and bench in the shade.  I eat lunch and replenished my water supply.  My crew called asking where I was, but we couldn’t hear each other.  I only had one bar of signal, so we began a texting volley.  I was moving on and she was touring a museum.

I set out again trying to ignore my butt, and rolled along until I reached Surprise.  Route 60 is four lane highway there and was fairly busy.  When I saw a light ahead turn red, I would slow down and almost come to a stop just before the light turned green.  I had the misfortune of catching 4 green lights in a row following this method, and butt started to complain.

I took a break in the shad of some bush pretending to be a tree, when my crew called again.  My cell signal was at full strength but we couldn’t here each other again.  Then I discovered the blue tooth in my pack had switched on so that’s why we couldn’t hear one another.  Isn’t technology great?  By the way Knucklehead was useless today claiming not to be able to find maps for the area.

It turns out Joan was calling to check where I was.  She was a half mile behind me.  I called it a day at 42 miles and she picked me up.  We intend to stay at Joan’s friend Phyllis’s  house in Maricopa south of Phoenix for a couple of days, so I may not hit the road again until Monday.  Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

Stats for day 16: 42 miles at 11.5 mph, max=15.1 mph, ave heart rate 109, max heart rate 138, Ascent=217′, Descent=1650′, Max elevation=2642, Min elevation=1201, Calories burned according to garmin=1149,  Ave temperature=82 with a max of 95

Day 15 held a lot of promise, with a light tail breeze predicted, a day of rest on my butt, and   a flat smooth road ahead I was hoping for another big day.  There was no breeze when I started at 8:30 AM and the heat was sleeping in more than I did.  Then a light breeze started heading me and stayed that way most of the day.  Obviously the breeze failed to listen to the weather report before starting out this morning.

Uni patiently waiting for rider to get his sore butt in gear.

Despite the contrary breeze I was able to keep it in high gear on the KH 36 Schlumpf until I rode about 22 miles,  then I noticed my tire was losing air.  I had pumped it up before I started out, so I figured I must have a small puncture.  Not an easy thing to do the durable Knight rider tire.

I took out my little tire pump to see if I could put some more air in and see how fast the leak was.  That 36 x 2 Knight rider tire took one look at my little pump and just started laughing.  I huffed and puffed as I pumped and pumped, and managed to pump the tire from 14 psi to 2o psi.  I was five miles from the next town so I slogged my way along.  It was a very cushy ride.  I made it to town and called my support crew, sat down and ate lunch and waited.

Joan was shopping about 20 miles away, but took little time to get to me.  I decided to pump up the tire with a real pump and see how long it would hold air.  Joan and I played leap frog for the next 34 miles and the tire never seemed to get soft.

Racing an RV

Today I drank the most fluids for a day, about 6 liters.  I finally had to pee five hours into the ride.  I barley wet the ground.  I think it was evaporating before it hit the ground.  The pee was a little to yellow for my taste, so I continued to drink as much as I could until my water was gone again.  Max temperature recorded today by my gps was 100.4.  The average temp was only 86.

Stats for Day 15:  Longest day yet at 46.2 miles averaging 11.9 mph, max=15 mph, Ave heart rate 121, max heart rate 138.  Ascent= 900, Descent=75. Max elevation= 2660, min elevation=1885.

Day 12 (riding day 11)  The last two nights we stayed at the Mitchel Family Camp Association.  They had their own golf course.  I didn’t have my clubs or should I say club.  It appears all I would need is a sand wedge judging by the fairways and greens or should I say sands.

Mitchell Family Camp Association Golf course. Hole 12

After leaving Blythe CA I headed toward Quartsite.  I had light NE breeze, but good roads.  My legs felt the 40 mile day before, so I only pushed high gear when it was flat or down hill.

Knucklehead discovered a new trick.  It would not calculate the route I uploaded stating there were no maps for the area.  I was on my own for today, and for anyone who knows how gps dependent I am knows that this is a recipe for confusion.  I crossed the Colorado River and entered Arizona hooray!! a new state.

I got on Interstate 10 and rolled along uphill in first gear, downhill in second.  In a few miles I pulled into a rest stop, eat lunch and merged back on to I 10.  Seven miles later I exited I 10 to get on a Dome Rock Road to Quartsite.  I studied my map, rode under I 10 up a hill onto rough pavement.  In a half mile the pavement turned into a dirt road.  I rode a 1/4 mile on the dirt road and decided this wasn’t the way.

I backtracked and went the other way and realized on was headed up the ramp to I 10 West.  Glad I caught that before I found myself back in San Diego.  I headed back down the up ramp, and went back under I 10 and found Dome Rock Road.  By this time I felt like a baked potato.

The road to Quartsite was relatively flat and relatively smooth so I cruised along conservatively in high gear.  Then my phone rang.  I hadn’t seen my crew all day so I guessed it was Joan wondering where I was.   We agreed to meet in Quartsite.  I found a Burger King, told her where I was and sat down and waited with a chocolate milkshake.

Quartsite Burger King

A fella in the Burger King walked up to me and saw me riding this morning in Blythe.  He was amazed.  By this time I had covered 30 miles.  I decided if he was amazed I was done for the day.  We camped at Scenic Road RV Park.  Thanks so much to Shawn and Randie Farish who donated our camping fee to the cause.

Scenic Road RV Park. Life in the slow lane, that’s for sure.

Camped at the Scenic Road RV Park Where the donated our site to the cause.

Stats day 12:  30.14 miles (most of them in the right direction), Ave speed 10 mph, Max=14.2 mph, Ave heart rate 114, max heart rate 140, Ascent 1119′, Descent 443′, max elevation 1217, min elevation 254.  Calories burned according to Garmin 1101.  Ave temp 84, max temp 93.

Day 11, (riding day 10)  The day started out with a quadruple dip of Chocolate Mountains.  They were a bit tastier than the day before.  The breeze was lighter but still head and cross currents.  The dips made going slow at first, but then the route flattened out.

Second Day of riding around the Chocolate Mountains.

I kicked the KH 36 Schlumpf into high gear and was able to ride most of the day that way. Riding geared up takes more of a toll on me but the speed trade off was worth it.  The smooth flat roads despite the breeze enabled me to have my longest ride to date at 40 miles.  Now if I could only figure out a way to keep from getting saddle sore. 🙂

Finished the day just short of Blythe CA.

Stats for the day: 40.15 miles for the day averaging 10.9 mph, Max=15.8 mph, Calories burned according to garmin 1818, ave temp=75 degrees.  Ascended 525′, Descended 1335′. Max elevation=1082, min elevation=224′