Greetings from cold Flagstaff. Short ride today, 80 miles but most of it in temperatures just above zero. I wore my wool hat and big mitts the whole ride. Locals tell me temperatures will get warrmer!
Big climbs today. The first 17 miles just me and the original Route 66 out of Seligman. It looked like this.
However the rest of today’s journey was on I-40. Mostly good shoulder, safe but after hours, the noise of the trucks was a killer.
As I turned onto the interstate I met today’s beautiful person, Rob. He was driving a huge yellow Harley and flashed a big smile.
We talked about how stupid we were to be riding in this cold. Rob laughed and said his mother always advised - “If you are dumb, you better be tough”. Rob was cycling around America visiting friends and headed to Sedona to visit one. Before leaving he asked if I believed in Jesus. I said “I believe his words and spirit”and Rob asked if we could pray together. Arm in arm Rob prayed and asked for our safe journeys and health.
Just one of many beautiful people out there.
I continued on and had this huge breakfast before my hours of climbing, up and up.
I hit 2,400 m. and at that altitude, you get a little “heady”, out of breath. The road mostly looked like this. I loved seeing trees again! Snow and snowbanks greeted me in Williams, a cool mountain tourist town.
The bike is holding up. Maybe it will succeed and the Walmart bike challenge will be successful. Lets see. Tomorrow it is downhill. Lunch in Winslow and then it is moving on to New Mexico!
Enjoy the presentation about bikes. I’ll pontificate on it another time but if cycling, movement, Route 66 represent anything it is the nomadic drive in us all. Humans have always moved from place to place, constantly. Even pastoralists. Our own sedentary, “civilized” lifestyle is something that by neglecting our latent urge to wander, brings many ills, especially of the mental and physical kind. I’d recommend reading Bruce Chatwin, he did a good job in his essays and in his short life, describing this process.
Tomorrow, more beautiful people, in more beautiful places!
Share this post