Gila AZT/GET, day 3

Breakfast was at Los Hermanos. I could have eaten twice what the waitress brought out.

We were heading back to our starting point on Freeman Road. Time for some pavement. HWY 177 is known to roadies for its big hills. But perspective is everything. Compared to yesterday’s rollercoaster jeep road extravaganza, these hills are nothin’.

We debated about dropping down Battle Axe Rd to lay some more tire tracks on that fan-tab-ulous piece of AZT on the river.

“I really want to head back down there, but I want to keep today from becoming epic even more.”

We coasted down to Kelvin, past the giant crater of the Ray mine.

Keeping a watchful eye on Kelvin.

We crossed the Gila River, bursting with yellows. Fall comes a little later to a place named Kelvin. It was plenty warm as we started climbing Florence Kelvin Road.

I wrote that yesterday’s effort felt more like racing than touring. It was a satisfying feeling to be thoroughly cooked. But it made me wonder how today would go. Was it a good idea to even be riding at all?

As is so often the case, a little faith goes a long way. My legs felt great on the initial pitches, and judging by Lee’s speed, he felt the same.

Our enthusiasm was tempered by a cold headwind once we got into the meat of the climb. We had a good 1500′ to climb, but I smiled as I scanned ahead on my GPS. I confirmed what I already knew, we’d have some tail / cross winds for the majority of our trail time. Just had to get there.

We followed a route Lee and I had invented, seat-of-our-pants style, some four years ago on a similar return trip from Superior. At the time I had my black and white GPS and we were both blown away at the little 2-tracks that showed up on it.

It worked even better this time, and kicked us right onto:

We rolled the tail end of the Ripsey segment, gaining some more familiarity with it. Then it was on to the Boulders, with an opposite wind pattern.

Sometimes you’re just lucky. Though we were both fighting a persistent headaches most of the day. Dehydration, I figured, so I tanked water all day despite the wonderfully cool air.

I’ve written before about the rhythm we seem to always fall into after a few days on the trail. Today was no different–truly at ease with what we were doing, supremely comfortable with the universe and our place in it.

Makes me wonder about the wisdom of taking such “short” trips. It does seem like we are hitting a good rhythm earlier these days, though. Experience is getting us there. Neither of us stressed over the packing and prep for this trip, making the transition smooth. Overconfidence may be our downfall here, but time will tell.

They don’t call it cat’s claw for nothing. AKA, “wait-a-minute” bush.

Two days out, one day back, with a little time to spare. We drove back to Tucson.

At home I began the process of digesting the visuals and memories, both in mind and on computer screen. Music was played loudly and sleep was deep.