DAY 9 PHOENIX TO GOLD CANYON, AZ 58 MILES

It was very hot again today.  Apparently the temperatures are record breaking.  Our ride today was city/suburban and mostly flat but the 90+ degree heat really saps it out of you.  Fortunately the Best Western has a nice pool and the temperature is quite pleasant at night.
Every night after dinner we have our ride meeting.  The guides go over the next day's ride and hand out queue sheets.  Tomorrow's ride heads into the mountains and begins with a long 2 mile climb.
Then it goes up into a canyon.  I plan to ride the first half and take the van the second half.  At my hill climbing speed I would miss dinner.  I do have to admit the canyon riding sounds a bit terrifying!  The guides are very good at describing in detail the type of ride it will be.  At least it will be cooler. We have some very strong riders and probably about 10 out of the 30 will do the whole ride tomorrow.  
We have come about 600 miles so we only have 2,500 miles to go.

DAYS 6, 7 AND 8

 Arizona cactus

 Our first margarita party in honor of crossing a state line

 Looong stretches of road

 Lucy enjoying her view in Arizona

 Team Lucy: Carla, Brazil; Me; Cher, New Zealand, Helen, Wisconsin

Day 6 we rode from Blythe, CA to Salome, AZ., 64 miles.  It was our first state line crossing as well as crossing the Colorado River.  We spent almost 30 miles riding on I 10 which was actually a good ride as the shoulder is very wide.  It was very hot and we really had to work on keeping hydrated in this desert area.  Not too hard to stay on our route as there is really one way to go, East!  Our little group is not the fastest in the bunch but we have a great time and take lots of photos.
We stayed at the Sheffler's Motel in Salome which doesn't have too many stars (if any) but lots of character and neon lights.  

Day 7 was from Salome to Wickenburg which is a fairly good sized town.  We rode 64 miles through amazing desert landscape.
A very hot day again but good roads.
Day 8 we have ridden from Wickenburg to Phoenix, 66 miles.  We loved the cacti and wildflowers.  The saguaro are amazing.

It is quite a contrast to come to a big city with lots of traffic.  Our little group actually made it in in time to shower before dinner.
Our chef prepares our dinner from the van and we eat outside.  Great food out of an amazingly small kitchen.  
In general the rides have been hard with the record heat and the SAG (support and gear) has been busy ferrying water to us on the road and picking up the ladies who have had enough heat.

DAY 5 REST DAY BLYTHE, CA

North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area, CA

Nancy and Lucy in Brawley, CA 

Yesterday we rode 88 miles!  This bests my previous longest ride of 72 miles.  It took me 8 hours.  We rode through the Imperial Valley and then the dunes area, along rolling dips and hills with mountains all round, including the Chocolate Mountains.  After we rode through the dunes we entered the Palo Verde Mesa which is a valley fertilized by the Colorado River.  I rode with one other person and we kept ourselves on pace with rest stops and snacks.  
It is a long way between towns so the our support van stopped and prepared us a delicious lunch in the desert.  They take wonderful care of us and make sure we are all safe, hydrated and well fed.

Today we have a rest day in Blythe.  We cleaned our bikes with advice from our guides.  Our next rest is day is 8 days away.  I think I am beginning to get in shape but still have a few sore spots.

 Dipping my tire in the Pacific Ocean at Dog Beach, San Diego, CA

Peninsular Range in California.
As you can see we are all in full rain gear.  It didn't rain all day but it was heavy at times and cold.  The good news is that all my rain gear kept me completely dry but it was a very hard ride with long climbs.
Today we went from Alpine, CA to Boulevard, CA.  Again the weather was very cold, 40 degrees most of the day.  The hills were long and steep.  I only rode in the afternoon as I was very tired from the first day.  I did not get many long outside rides in this winter!  I plan to make up the 25 miles that I skipped today on my rest days.
We have a wonderful group of woman and everyone is settling into our daily routine.  

We are getting closer to Florida!
Thank you to everyone for all your support.

Here is Luc (Lucy) the Moose in the airport in San Diego.  Lucy will be riding on my bike and I will post her location.  She has already been called a reindeer by the JetBlue flight attendant.  The flight attendant was from New York.  Mainers know what moose look like.

The weather is cool and three of us went for shake-down ride yesterday.  Carla, from Brazil and Barb from Maine were my fellow riders after we picked up our bikes from Bernie's bike shop.

He instructed us on how to avoid a seriously steep hill to get up the road that would take us out to Point Loma and  Cabrillo National Monument.  Somehow the person (who shall be nameless) getting directions from Roger at Bernies managed to lead us straight up the hill which looked like something out of San Francisco.  Baptism by fire.  The rest of the ride went well.

It is four days away from my leaving for San Diego.  Barb and I leave at 6 AM from Portland.  We fly to NY and then to San Diego.
I have struggled the last few days with a stomach virus which may have been as much stress as virus but I am now feeling well and back to eating good food.

I contributed to my own stress by deciding to buy a rental property which was supposed to close (at the government's request) at the end of January and of course still has not.  I had to get a power of attorney for son Ben (who is renting said house from me) but everything is lined up. He and his cousin and a contractor will be doing some renovations on the house.  They won't have me to micromanage.  I also made a reservation deposit on a condo to be built this summer.  The snow really convinced me that my house is too big and the stairs to the back door just too much.

I had a wine tasting fundraiser with all my wonderful friends and family. They generously contributed almost $500.  What friends.   They also helped cook, clean and just have a good time.
It was a good send off.

I hope that I will be open to all that this trip will offer.  I came across this quote "Traveling lightly leaves room for mystery and miracle to happen."  (Fr. Anthony Oelrich).  I am not sure how "lightly" I am traveling but certainly I will be leaving  most day-today activities behind.  

Nancy and Barb K. at our bike class at Papa Wheelies, Portsmouth, NH

We start riding three weeks from today out of San Diego.  At least it won't be snowing (I hope) but we will be heading into the mountains on that first day.
My training is going well but now I am concentrating on getting everything organized at home before I  leave.

I am having a wine-tasting fundraiser next Saturday for my Pedal with a Heart fund.  I also wish to thank everyone who has contributed.  We are doing well, over $1,600 which will be matched 1:1.  If you haven't pledged, don't worry you can do so anytime during my tour.  I have a new pledger who is pledging 3 cents a mile but says  I can't sag.  SAG stands for support and gear and is a short way of saying that you can take a van/car ride if you need to.

Barb (a fellow rider on the WomanTour) and I took the first of two classes on bike maintenance.  We spent most of the time on tires.  I   discovered that my tires are very tight on my rim and I had a bit of difficulty with this.  I am sure I will get some more practice on the trip.  It was a very helpful class and we continue next week with work on our drive train. (Note to other riders on the Tour: Barb and I are not yet experts.)