Sunday, April 11, 2010
We are in a new time zone. We crossed in to another state today!! After approximately 50 miles of cycling this morning, we crossed in to New Mexico.
The terrain is pretty much the same, the weather is still as hot, and it is still impossible to find cold drinking water, but it feels like a change.
Let me briefly explain my cold water comment. Throughout our stay in the Southwest, we have found that no faucet or drinking fountain produces cold water. Literally, it is impossible to find cold drinking water. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with the plumbing or if the valves have been switched as some sort of cruel joke, but it is frustrating. The one place where you CAN find cold water in the Southwest, however (at least based on our experiences), is in the shower. Showers only put out cold water, drinking fountains only put out hot water. Makes sense, huh? Everything is backwards around here. I am beginning to think that I should fill my water bottles with shower water and attempt to shower in the drinking fountain…
Our route today was pretty straight forward: take interstate I-10 the entire way from Willcox, AZ to Lordsburg, NM. Pretty boring and uneventful.
However, around 17 miles in, our support team of the day, Team Lemon, deemed the shoulder of the interstate unacceptable for riding, so they proceeded to take us down another road. 
What road might this be? Well, I can’t remember the name, but it was definitely a dirt road with a large sign stating “Primitive Road.” 
Not so ideal for cycling. Glad we got to try off-roading with our brand new, high-end road bikes. 
Unfortunately, Primitive Road had it out for me from the beginning, and I got my first flat of the trip about half way through the 9 mile stretch. Boooo…
Right after lunch we passed the New Mexico state line. Much excitement and craziness ensued. We also lost an hour of our lives. The remainder of the trip to Lordsburg was relatively uneventful, with the exception of pretty awful shoulder conditions at times (but we were able to avoid further Primitive Roads). We are staying in the Lordsburg high school gym, which, as mentioned above, has very warm drinking fountains and ice cold showers.
As we were getting ready for dinner today, we heard a friendly, very exciting, high-pitched tune coming from outside of the gym. Katie and Megan had stalked the ice cream truck and encouraged him to come visit us at the high school. It was wonderful. We were like little kids all over again. It’s amazing how little things can make all of us so incredibly excited.
End of the eleventh day. And it was primitive.
We are in a new time zone. We crossed in to another state today!! After approximately 50 miles of cycling this morning, we crossed in to New Mexico.
The terrain is pretty much the same, the weather is still as hot, and it is still impossible to find cold drinking water, but it feels like a change.Let me briefly explain my cold water comment. Throughout our stay in the Southwest, we have found that no faucet or drinking fountain produces cold water. Literally, it is impossible to find cold drinking water. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with the plumbing or if the valves have been switched as some sort of cruel joke, but it is frustrating. The one place where you CAN find cold water in the Southwest, however (at least based on our experiences), is in the shower. Showers only put out cold water, drinking fountains only put out hot water. Makes sense, huh? Everything is backwards around here. I am beginning to think that I should fill my water bottles with shower water and attempt to shower in the drinking fountain…
Our route today was pretty straight forward: take interstate I-10 the entire way from Willcox, AZ to Lordsburg, NM. Pretty boring and uneventful.
However, around 17 miles in, our support team of the day, Team Lemon, deemed the shoulder of the interstate unacceptable for riding, so they proceeded to take us down another road. What road might this be? Well, I can’t remember the name, but it was definitely a dirt road with a large sign stating “Primitive Road.” Not so ideal for cycling. Glad we got to try off-roading with our brand new, high-end road bikes. Unfortunately, Primitive Road had it out for me from the beginning, and I got my first flat of the trip about half way through the 9 mile stretch. Boooo…Right after lunch we passed the New Mexico state line. Much excitement and craziness ensued. We also lost an hour of our lives. The remainder of the trip to Lordsburg was relatively uneventful, with the exception of pretty awful shoulder conditions at times (but we were able to avoid further Primitive Roads). We are staying in the Lordsburg high school gym, which, as mentioned above, has very warm drinking fountains and ice cold showers.
As we were getting ready for dinner today, we heard a friendly, very exciting, high-pitched tune coming from outside of the gym. Katie and Megan had stalked the ice cream truck and encouraged him to come visit us at the high school. It was wonderful. We were like little kids all over again. It’s amazing how little things can make all of us so incredibly excited.
End of the eleventh day. And it was primitive.
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