They Have Arrived in Del Rio, Texas

Wendy and Gail arrived safely in Del Rio!  Unfortunately, they do not have access to wifi.  Their blog post is written and all ready to go, but we won't see it until they find that elusive wifi.  They will be up early and back on the road in the morning!  We wish them a safe journey!

Marathon to Sanderson

Today we left the beautiful Gage Hotel in Marathon for a 54 mile ride to Sanderson. There are some pix of the terrain we traveled which did not change much for the entire ride. The ride was easy and comfortable getting all ready for what's to come tomorrow. Tomorrow is the hugely anticipated 111 mile ride to Del Rio! Yikes! Tomorrow is also Easter Sunday. A group of us are planning to go to Sunrise services (7A) in a local park. Then we will be bumped up 40 miles to the rest of the riders. It's amazing how many over night converts there are😇!
We wish you all a very Happy Easter

 

Fort Davis Day Off

Well, our day off was looked forward to for the past few days. We're staying in the Fort Davis State Park and just chilled. Our room is very nice and perfect for our rest. There was a wonderful chef, Connie, who has upgraded the food immensely since the last tour came through. The area is really pretty with mountains surrounding us giving a peaceful refuge enjoyed by all. We spent the day doing laundry, cleaning our bikes and catching up on some reading. Our cell/computer service was sketchy so that part was sort of slow today. Tomorrow we're off for a 60 mile ride to our next stop in Marathon. Our place there, the Gage Hotel, is supposed to be very nice. We are now riding in the TX chip seal road conditions and will spend our rides bumping along these roads for the next 15 or so days😯.

Ft.Davis to Marathon,Texas

We had a wonderful 2days at Indian Lodge and today we a 60 mile ride to Marathon. The route was very rolling and flat with a little tailwind for the last 30 miles and everyone was in a good mood for having an easy day for a change. At about 37 miles,I was riding ahead of Gail when I spotted a large snake crawling the width of the bike lane. I yelled to Gail"Snake" and we veered out of the way of it. Gail said it was not a Rattler,but it woke me up. In Marathon,we are staying at the Gage Hotel,which is very famous as the old west hotel and very beautiful.
The dinner tonight was lasagne,salad,garlic bread,and strawberry shortcake. The cook has do all meals that accommodate people who are gluten free,dairy free,peanut allergies,vegetarians,and feed the rest of us meat eaters.

A side note,while riding on our route at about the 35 mile mark,one of the riders approached Gail and said "did you hear the UPS story". Gail said no and apparently while the Womantours van was parked in the town of Alpine,the UPS driver asked if there was a Gail Devitt with them. They replied yes and gave 2 big boxes to her to take to the hotel in Marathon.

Just before dinner,Gail opened the 2 boxes and found 3 boxes of Sheries Berries,which are chocolate covered strawberries. You should have seen the excitement of 30 women staring at the boxes and they will be served Sat or Sun night as our dessert. Tom Devitt was the wonderful person who sent this great gift to all the riders.

 

Van Horn to Ft.Davis

Today we started our ride on 39 miles of Interstate 10,where the speed limit is 80MPH!We finally got a little help with the wind and the road service was smooth. But you must watch the ground for tire treads,glass,rocks,and other debris. The traffic really isn't a problem until a semi that has 2flat tires and still moving at 10 MPH in your lane. He was just trying to take our same exit where we had a rest stop. We had to go around at mock speed in the traffic lane to get around him ,just another day on our tour. After the 39 mile mark,we exited Interstate and went the next 8 miles on our first chip seal road in Texas. Now I was traveling at approx 23 MPH on the Interstate with a tailwind and when I turned on the road to Ft.Davis,I dropped down to 7MPH. Let the suffering begin. Our lunch stop was 8 miles out on this road and it nearly took an hour to travel to our stop. We have been told that chip seal is the Texas road of choice. Our guides fixed a beautiful lunch of roast beef sandwich,3 bean salad,cookies,watermelon in the middle of nowhere. The rest of the ride was pure hell for the climbers of which,Gail and I were not doing. We took our first van ride together and we are staying in a beautiful lodge in Ft.Davis State park. We are looking forward to our day off.

A Celebration without Margaritas!

Gail and Wendy are trekking across Texas.  They are going to be trekking across Texas for a very long time!  It will be April 13 before they will experience another Margarita Party!  That's a long time to wait for a party so I think they should celebrate just to celebrate.  They are both so awesome and amaze me each day with their accomplishments!

Today they arrive in Ft. Davis after 90 grueling miles.  Personally, I'm thinking it's time for a tail wind, but one never knows what the Great State of Texas will provide for its visitors.  They will also be in Ft. Davis tomorrow for a day of much needed rest.   I wish them the best for each and every day of the entire trip and I will be raising my glass as a tribute tonight during wine time!

They both have crossed the Continental Divide--that's reason to celebrate in my book.  Wendy crossed it at Independence Pass last year and I have the picture to prove it.  Gail just sent me her picture crossing the Continental Divide on this journey.  I think it is appropriate to post both pictures at this point.  We can all raise our glasses while enjoying their pictures and think good thoughts about the weather and about their safe journey.

We salute you both!

Wendy at Independence Pass in Colorado!

Gail crossing the Continental Divide in New Mexico.

Ft Hancock to Van Horn, TX

Today greeted us with more head winds, yikes that's so hard! We're pedaling like crazy and going 7 mph! We did get to see lots of Boarder Patrol cruising up and down and lucky us we even saw a drug bust. And then it began pounding head winds where we couldn't even talk, now that's just not fare😉.
Our wifi here is slow so no pix. But you will all be thrilled to know that Wendy and I changed 3 flats and not one was ours. I know that's hard to believe but we did it. The ride was along interstate 10 again on a frontage road. At one point after I had just spoken with Carol the guide about continuing on my own (Wendy elected to sag in) I immediately made a wrong turn. This white pickup with 2 very nice ladies asked me if I was with WomanTours. Then told me I was going the wrong way and stayed with me until I was back on track.
Tomorrow we're hoping for tailwinds, keep fingers crossed😊.
I decided to add some pix even though they're not about today's ride. Just some fun shots.

El Paso to Ft. Hancock

Today was supposed to be a easy 46 mile ride,and we were told to stop at two of the local missions as there was nothing to rush to Ft. Hancock for. We stopped at mission Socorro and San Elizario and Gail will post them tomorrow. We also have a picture of plaque of Texas to prove we really are in Texas. Anyway back to the ride. We had headwinds most of the day and had lunch in Tornillo at a very friendly Mexican restaurant. But first we had a police escort to get there as one of the riders flagged him down. That picture will also be on the blog tomorrow. As far as the winds,think Woodland ride into the wind and you get an idea of what we ride. Except we don't get the tailwind back. We are still in good spirits,especially after we're done each day. We had 3 layers of clothes on as the temps are in the low 40's and 60 at the hottest. It will be cold again tomorrow and headwinds again. Yuk!

Take care and we miss you all.

Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX

Yesterday was our 67 mile rather flat ride into another new state, Texas! Which means, yes, another Margarita party. The ride was fun and we were able to get to another bicycle shop for some needed items. Wendy got a saddle cover, I have borrowed one from Marilyn and had my odometer checked out. These little items are very important since our directions are given in mileage amounts telling us when to make turns. Mine was not always working, I'm hoping that problem has been taken care of. We were doing just fine getting through El Paso on a quite Sun until the shoulder of the Interstate we had to on was taken away due to construction. What to do? The sag can only take 4 and we were a group of about 7 at that point. Wendy stayed for the sag to tell her the rest had taken the side road. I use get out my cell to show where we were. We all scattered but did find the hotel through back roads, another fun adventure! Sorry no pix they didn't come through here. Also tomorrow is way out and may not have service.

Silver City to Kingston, aka Emory Pass

Due to service in Kingston I was unable to post yesterday. Well, that's one reason the other was the ride. Yikes, it was really hard😱! The was about 47.7 miles, not very long but we climbed just under 5000 cumulative feet. So all we did was climb! I was going so slow I could study fallen rocks with great intensity. Helen joined Wendy and I and we called ourselves the 3 turtles, fun. Then came the downhill. It was 8 miles down. You can do the math to see how steep that was. There is a pix of Wendy at the top and also Emory Pass itself. One showing the marker that's a bit off, I was a bit tired there. The last is one of the lodge where we stayed, a funky fun place.

Kingston to Las Cruces

We had an eventful day today as we left our lodge in Kingston and heading 88 miles to Las Cruces. The winds were very strong and we had tailwinds and cross winds all day. The first 51 miles went fast and then lunch in Hatch,New Mexico. Hatch is known for red chilis and we passed many farms as well as Pecan orchards. We ate at a restaurant called the Pepper Pot(I think) and then the real fun started on the route. Because the winds were increasing during the afternoon,the dust from the fields would cross the road and the visibility went to nothing. We ate dust for a good 25 miles,and finally we get to the hotel. But it was across a busy highway and I yelled to Gail to stop as she was almost passed it,which she did. The only thing is I didn't stop and I ran into her and we fell to the ground. Our bikes were locked together and her foot was stuck inside her frame and I am still in the traffic lane. I finally got up before the traffic came and a nice lady stopped to help us untangled our bikes. We were okay and the bikes were fine and felt very bad running into gail. Maybe we need Life Alert buttons for this trip.
Hopefully it s a short day to El Paso Texas and another state line tomorrow.

When we got into Las Cruces,we checked the weather,the wind was 41MPH with gusts between 45-50MPH.

Silver City

Yea, today was our second rest day of the trip and really needed by all! Both Wendy and I needed to have our bikes looked at. There are 2 bike shops in town and i had left mine in town after yesterday's ride and walked the 1/2 mile or so to the hotel. The walk really felt good. Then I walked back to town with new friend Evelyn and Wendy rode her's to the other shop this morning. We spent the day walking around and eating in different places, yumm, waiting for our riding machines to be finished! They seem to be in good working order, my clunking sound is gone and Wendy has all of her gears back. Mostly we've rested and are getting ready for tomorrow's ride over Emory Pass. It will be a goodly climb for all of us. We may not be able to blog tomorrow due to connection problems. No pix today due to the same problems. Our next rest day will be Mar 27. At least that's not as long as this one was.

Lords burg to Silver City

Well today I hit the wall of being tired. Our ride was 48 miles and mostly climbing and that would be doable,but no one told us about the high headwind. I only made it ten miles and I was exhausted. I got into the sag for the day,but Gail was one tough broad. She found 3 other tough broads to ride with and was able to finish. At some point in the ride,the speed of travel was 3mph,and the wind was 30 knots. I don't know the conversion of knots to MPH,but, some people were whipped around on their bikes. I think only half of the people finished the whole ride.

Gail put her bike into the bike shop this afternoon as she has a noise that can't be fixed as of yet. I have 2 gears not shifting,so I will do the same tomorrow and clean and lube the chain. Our bikes are taking a beating with all the terrain,oil,glass,tire shreds,and rocks.

We finally have a day off tomorrow after 8 days of riding and we will be looking for a real breakfast. We are getting tired of the hotel breakfasts and the search for real coffee is never ending. Gail is going to send out her picture of her going over the Continental Divide at a later time. The picture taking is less and less as the ride gets longer and longer.

Our next day of riding is Friday,where we take on Emory pass,which is the highest point of the trip.

Oops!

Forgot the cute cat pix and my bro, sister n law and me.

Stafford, AZ to Lordsburg, NM

Our 2nd State crossing! We're now in NM which means we had a Margarita Party to celebrate our latest state crossing. But I did want to show you my brother and sister-n-law's motor coach. They picked me up in Gold Canyon, made me a wonderful dinner and I even got my clothes washed there. TC their cat is shown sitting in the front window watching over all. A great evening! Today was another long day of riding, 70 miles for me. I took a 5 mile ride in the sag and found Wendy. It was sort of a sage brush, desolate area where there was 1 town in 75 miles! We had lunch at Old Joe's Cafe where a bunch of us met up at the same time. It was a really cute place and you can see Wendy outside pointing at the .5 coffee sign. Then about 7 miles we have a pix of the NM sign. We did get a wonderful tail wind into town. So fun to hardly pedal and go 22 mph! Then to top it all off our motel tonight is all one story so no carrying those bikes upstairs after a long day's ride. Now tomorrow should be interesting as its a total climb into Silver City!

Globe to Safford

Today was such fun talking live on our cell phone to the Sun City bicycle club. We had a great tailwind all day for our 78 mile ride with a few rolling hills and left at 7:15am and got in at 3:00pm. We even stopped for lunch in Pima,Arizona at Taylor Freeze and had burgers and root beer floats. Then we only had 10 more miles to Safford. The weather has cooled to the 80's,which I am greatful. I want to say as a side note that we had alarms on Gail's cell phone so that we would not forget to call you during the club meeting. We also had to find a clearing in the hills to get the right reception. We also made a video in the morning before we left in case the cell phone call did not work. We miss our friends and families and also our pets. Tomorrow we cross another state line into New Mexico and you know what that means to all the riders?Margaritas for everyone.

Nancy & Dave Were There!

It was an exciting moment for everyone!  Dave & Nancy were in Arizona and arranged to meet with Wendy & Gail along the road.  It all came together beautifully and the gals got a special visit with people from back home and the coveted can of ice cold diet Coke!  The timing was perfect and they were able to meet during a rest break.  Nancy & Dave took pictures and shared some of them with us at the Cycling Club meeting this AM.  Enjoy!

Wonder if they were thinking about climbing in the back of the car and riding home with Nancy & Dave.

They really are out in the middle of the desert!  Where are all the trees?  :-)

Time to get back on the road!  They have plenty of miles ahead!

Just In Case!

We were prepared this morning during our monthly Cycling Club meeting.  We were planning on chatting with Gail & Wendy on Face Time, but we weren't sure they would have service or be able to connect at just the right time!  So, they sent us a video.  As it turned out, we chatted on Face Time and watched their video.  I thought I would share it with those of you who are following them on their adventure.

We Send Our Best!!!

This morning we had our monthly cycle club meeting.  We were right in the middle of the business meeting when my phone started buzzing--not a even a quiet buzzing.  Everyone knew exactly what that meant.  Wendy and Gail were on Face Time!  We were so excited to see you in real time--even if it was across the phone lines!  Everyone was still talking about it later in the day!  It's another long day for you, but you could tell from all our smiles that we would be right there helping you along with all our good thoughts and prayers.  Have a good ride!

Have a beautiful ride!

Here they are again on another day another ride! Enjoying coffee and a bagel or two. Of course the conversation is about Wendy & Gail's ride. They will be anxious to hear all your real stories when you get home. Another video by Jack E.  Jim V. was on the wrong side of the group so you a special greeting from him!

While you two are off traveling the roads across the southern states, our SCRCC members carry on with their daily rides in beautiful weather. They checked out Starbucks at Creekside while you were on one of your long grueling rides. We love and support you both in your journey

Phoenix to Gold Canyon

I know we we didn't blog yesterday,but Gail got to see her brother Tom,who lives in Apache Junction. It was 20 minutes from our hotel in Gold Canyon and she got a home cooked meal,laundry done,and mailing some clothes as well. Tom and his wife picked up Gail at our hotel and no blog done.
That day was a 55 mile flat course,winding around Phoenix and through Mesa. We did go around some exclusive homes and gated communities and then Mesa was the poor side of town. Although,there tons of Senior motorhome and Trailer parks in Mesa. We felt right at home with some of the drivers around us. The dinner was a chicken stew over brown rice and peas,marinated cucumbers,pineapple,and 4 different kinds of dessert. Cheese cake,lemon tart,carrot cake,and flour less chocolate cake.

Wickenburg to Phoenix

Today was a great day as we got see Dave and Nancy Axthelm on Hwy 74,about 20 miles outside Wickenburg. We had been emailing each other as they were driving from Scotsdale back home. They had ice cold Diet Cokes and power bars for us and it was our sag spot,so they could meet some of the other riders. We finally got a tailwind today and we get into Phoenix on a 66 mile day at around 2:00pm. Several us went to the bike shop and Gail had a clicking sound and the shop took care of it. I sat on the couch,which felt very good. The scenery doesn't change much,cactus everywhere.
Yesterday on the blog we had pictures of the hotel we stayed in Salome and the white building was our room. Apparently,in the 1800's,our room was a justice of the peace for weddings. There was also an expended shotgun shell on the ground near our room.

We have been eating at McDonalds for lunch,as it is quick,and the temps were again 102 degrees with the ground temps. I am always worried about heat. Gail is not bothered by the heat. But today wasn't to bad. That's all for today. We are getting your emails and comments and love them.

Wendy and Gail

Salome to Wickenburg

Where to start? Yesterday was so huge as we cycled into another state - AZ!! That brings out the Margarita celebration. There's a pix of Wendy feeling a bit loss of energy going through the dry dessert. Then came today where temp highs were broken, it was 101, yikes! But back up to last night. There is a pix of how we have dinner outside in a circle, last nite was spaghetti, salad and pie, yumm! A few days back we ran into the man shown on a unicycle. He found us again, we're using the same cycle maps, at dinner. His story is he plans to do the cross country on the unicycle!! He left San Diego Mar 1 and plans to arrive FL. mid June. Wow! We're meeting such nice people along the way. A waitress at one of our eating stops ( we do stop to eat ) after asking about our bike trip thanked us for letting her and the other diners be part of our trip! Tomorrow is going to be hot again and it's going to be a 66.7 mile hot day🔥.

Blythe to Salome

We had a late start today as the guides wanted to let the morning traffic pass on by. So we didn't leave until 845am. Which was not a good thing as the today was in the 90's and I suffered. We spent 30 miles on the interstate 10 and several people had flats because of the thin wires on the ground from the truck tires treads. It was a 60 mile day and 2714ft of climbing and everyone was affected with the heat. We are staying at a motel out of the 1950's and it has the look of the bates motel. Tonite we had homemade spaghetti,garlic bread,Ceasar Salad,grapes,and pie from "Darlene's" in Quartzsite. We met a senior citizen group having a 4:00pm dinner at a diner we stopped out just outside of Salome. They were very funny and were already doing cocktails and were shocked to find out we were going to Florida. Because we crossed a state line,we had a margarita party and this blog was written after that indulgence.

Tomorrow we go to Wickenburg.

By the way,We might see Dave and Nancy Axthelm as they leave Phoenix on Friday and we are riding to Phoenix from Wickenburg. We are emailing to meet on the road. I will let you if this happens. We watched the video from the group who had coffee at Starbucks today. Thank you very much,we were laughing.

Brawley to Blythe

Our first day off has been great! But first let me tell a little something about the road trip here. It was long and hilly, still 😥
We saw long roads in front of us with what were called dips, we would call them climbs!
Then our sag would be there with drinks and snacks for all. We came up to it the second time and had to stifle smiles and chuckles as the sag vehicle had the flat! We passed the Chocolate Mts and the Imperial Sand Dunes, very impressive!
Today was spent doing laundry, cleaning bikes (we had a clinic by our guide Linda) and a trip to Rite Aid for needed items. We had a nice lunch around the pool with riders showing up and just relaxing.
Tomorrow is going to be very exciting as we'll make it into AZ! Wow, biking into another state. So after a Mexican dinner tonight we'll pack up for an early departure.

2 tired riders

Gail is going to post on the blog tomorrow as it is a day off in Blythe. We are very tired after a 87 mile day. Take care everyone and thanks for all the comments and emails.

Trying photo

A humorous moment! Love it

Wendy sent me this picture of Gail. The caption said: "Wendy told me not to use too much". Since I frequently overdose on sunscreen, I laughed over this picture! It's fun to see the humorous moments along the route! Thanks for allowing me to post it!!

Boulevard to Brawley

It was another hard day today,but Gail and I made the whole 77 miles to Brawley. We had a grind of 13 miles to get to Interstate 8 for the 10 mile downhill. This was a fantastic ride through the rock formations and a speedy downhill. But the guides warned all the riders the night before that was a dangerous route because of the high winds. 15 of the 30 riders did not do that section,and started at the 26 mile stop. We also all stripped off our warm clothes and now we are in the 80 degree area. We had 20 miles of awful headwinds,but Gail and I took turns blocking the wind. We sure miss Curt Taylor to hide behind. All the riders spread out over the course of the day,with a sag veh waiting at 20 mile marks with water and snacks. Pictures have to come from Gail's camera,as I seem not to be able to put them on the blog. We have received some of your comments and we want to thank you for all your support. Don't forget to light candles at church for us.

Boulevard!

We made the huge climb of 4400 ft today! So stopping for pie in Pine Valley was OK. We've already met interesting cyclists doing our exact same ride. First a couple from the UK totally self contained, tent and all. However, in last nite's rain they did find a hotel. Then a few hills later another Brit! A darling young man who left San Diego today and planning on arriving FL April 1. Sort of glad to ride with him only a few miles, lots of energy there. He doesn't even have a tent, just a sleeping bag of some sort. Wow!
We did find snow on the sides and have a pix. Tomorrow we'll be below sea level so that means it will be warm and lots of descending miles; as in 3000 ft in about 10 miles! Yikes, hang on!

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We made it to Alpine

What a day we had. It started with rain at the ocean for the tire dipping ceremony and we had rain off and on all day. Including a little thunder clap over our heads as we were climbing the umpteenth hill. We did 3000 ft of climbing and got in around 2:00pm and just ate snacks,no lunch. The mileage was 37 miles and we are tired. We immediately went to Carl Jr's for a burger and hot coffee as the temperature had dropped into 40's in Alpine. No pictures as we were just trying to survive today.

Visiting the Midway

Today Gail and I took a short spin along the harbor and rode past the Midway ship. Very impressive and got back for our orientation meeting,tire changing class,and 30 introductions of all the riders. We have to have are luggage downstairs by 6:45am tomorrow and all the luggage gets weighed and you must meet a 50 pound limit between 2bags. Luckily Tom Devitt will be there to take back anything We can't have. Then it is breakfast and a short 3mile ride to the ocean where we dip our rear tire. The ride is then 34 miles east to Alpine and the forecast is rain,thunderstorms,and high winds from the west at 15-25mph.Which I hope is a tailwind.
More stories to tell you in tomorrow's blog.

Roseville to San Diego

We made it! Here we are in San Diego meeting our new friends and anxious to get started. But first I wanted to show a send off picture from in front of Wendy's and then some of our new friends and Tom enjoying the bar scene😄. Tomorrow should be a wonderful day with our friends and relaxing before we start pedaling away on Friday.