Paul and Siona's travels

• DAY 38: Wednesday 6th April 2022 – Silver City NM to White Signal NM
• Distance: 28km
• Elevation gain: 380m
• Accomodation: Ridge Park RV

A very short day today – 80km to Lordsburg along (yet another!) hilly road seemed a bit ambitious, especially since another windy afternoon was forecast, so we decided to break it into 2 parts with a night at an RV Park. Since we had stayed East of downtown, we started the day cycling through Silver City on busy roads (with a stop for supplies at Walmart) before getting onto NM90 heading south.There were still plenty of hills, but the gradient was much more manageable than recently so we made quick progress. We passed through some very pleasant countryside which started to look more desert-like again as we gradually lost some altitude out of the mountains. We passed more copper mines at Tyrone (apparently the 2nd largest copper deposits in New Mexico) and arrived at the RV site rediculously early and for once not exhausted by the ride! The RV park had one of the nicest tent areas that we have seen and the lady running the place was very welcoming. We took advantage of the early arrival to spend a pleasant afternoon sitting around reading. For once we even had decent camp food as we had brought yesterday’s leftover pizza with us! We had an interesting chat with a lovely lady called Karen who was travelling around in a campervan. She had travelled a lot and it was great to chat to someone interesting rather than the usual people that we seem to meet who want to go on about the state of the country and how “the illegals” will accost us!

• DAY 39: Thursday 7th April 2022 – White Signal NM to Lordsburg NM
• Distance: 49km
• Elevation gain: 310m
• Accomodation: Holiday Motel

We had a great start to the day when Karen made us breakfast and coffee – she even gave us some decent coffee to take with us! If you happen to read this Karen, thank you so much for your generosity – it was really appreciated! The cycling was good today, along a relatively quiet road to Lordsburg NM. The first part of the day had a couple of hills at a reasonable gradient, the top of the first hill marking the Continental Divide. We also crossed the Continental Divide Trail – a 3000 mile hiking trail from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. It seems so hard to make progress through this huge empty landscape on bikes, it is unimaginable how difficult it must be on foot! We then had a downhill for over 20km (at last) dropping out of the hills to a flat desert plain. The wind increased (it always does) making the last few kilometres tiring, so we were glad to reach Lordsburg NM in the early afternoon. Tonight’s motel looked a touch rundown, but the guy running the place was very friendly and the room is nice enough, so all is good!

• DAY 40: Friday 8th April 2022 – Lordsburg NM to Duncan AZ
• Distance: 58km
• Elevation gain: 80m
• Accomodation: Chaparrall Motel

A nice easy day’s riding today. We quickly got out of town and followed US70 through a very flat and featureless desert landscape. A lot of the road was flat or slightly downhill, so we made quick progress. There were a fair few trucks on the road, so we rode along the shoulder which was smooth for the first half of the day but got more uneven later, slowing us down a little. The desert landscape was beautiful and made for a very pleasant day – an early start meant that it didn’t get too hot. 10km from the end of the ride we crossed the state line into our 3rd state, Arizona. Thrre then followed much confusion as our electronics updated the time to an hour earlier – we knew that the Pacific Time Zone was still a fair way to the West, so couldn’t understand why. It turned out that Arizona doesn’t have Daylight Saving Time (apparently the only state in the continental US that doesn’t!). The time change, early start and fast ride meant that we arrived ridiculously early at 11.15am. We treated ourselves to lunch at the Ranch House Restaurant in town – we usually end up eating out of supermarkets as the cost of restaurant meals soon adds up, but the beef and gravy sandwich with curly fries was amazing and well worth breaking the budget! We were then lucky to get the last room at the Chaparrall Motel (which is a combined gas station, convenience store and motel) and were able to check in really early. The room is fairly basic but a luxury compared to camping!

• DAY 41: Saturday 9th April 2022 – Duncan AZ to Safford AZ
• Distance: 64km
• Elevation gain: 310m
• Accomodation: Economy Motel

Lovely cycling today continuing west along US70. The first part of the day was uphill but the gradient was always manageable. The road shoulder was a bit variable as it always seems to be, but traffic was mostly reasonably light (for a US highway anyway). The desert scenery was lovely with distant mountains and colourful wildflowers along the road. After 30km we got a long downhill for the rest of the ride so made rapid progress.We dropped to the lowest altitude that we have been at for weeks, but the temperature increased correspondingly, getting close to 30C by the middle of the day. We finished the day in the wide Gila River valley and the desert was replaced by a green agricultural landscape that was a complete contrast to earlier in the day – there was even snow on the nearby mountain top. We arrived at tonight’s motel before 1pm and were very happy to have the AC – it will be tough in these conditions when we go back to camping after Globe.

• DAY 42: Sunday 10th April 2022 – Safford AZ to East of Globe AZ
• Distance: 114km
• Elevation gain: 740m
• Accomodation: Apache Gold Casino and Resort

A 4.30am alarm today to get an early start on what will be our longest day’s cycling ever due to the fact that there is a whole lot of empty desert between here and Globe. We left at first light, 5.45am and got off to a great start, covering 45km in less than 3 hours (this is extremely fast for us!). The cycling was very pleasant with an almost empty road (normal people are still in bed at this time on a Sunday morning) and the rising sun shining on the mountains. For the first time in a while it wasn’t even cold a this time of day. We did get slowed down by a puncture (we are now 1-1 on punctures, not bad for 1500km on rough desert roads). We stopped for snacks and cold drinks at Red’s Convenience Store which was a little oasis in the middle of nowhere. We then entered the Apache Reservation which slightly disappointingly didn’t look any different to anywhere else that we have seen. It was here that things started to go a bit wrong. The traffic, wind and hills increased dramatically. By the time we reached Peridot, 90km into the ride, the road was horribly busy and we were struggling up hills in a vicious crosswind on a road shoulder that was rough, narrow or non existant. Huge lorries and RVs hurtling past way too close made the cycling feel more dangerous than anywhere else so far. We got cold drinks at a shop in Peridot and pushed on for the last 25km. I realised at t This final stretch started with 15km continuously uphill into a headwind which didn’t help. We gave up any hope of reaching Globe and stopped at a casino resort 12km short. The road flattened out but we were still in bottom gear crawling into a headwind. We were relieved to turn into the resort and find that they had rooms available. We had a couple of beers in the casino bar and Siona got busted by security for trying to take a beer outside. We also had a nice chat with a bunch of Apaches who had been ejected from the bar altogether for being too drunk – they seemed OK to us and were lovely, shaking our hands and wishing us well on our trip. We then had a sandwich from the gas station and went to bed – about as action packed a night as we could manage!

• DAY 43: Monday 11th April 2022 – East of Globe AZ to Globe AZ
• Distance: 11km
• Elevation gain: 170m
• Accomodation: Days Inn Motel

A very short day today into Globe.The road was still busy and there was still a headwind but somehow it seemed easier than yesterday afternoon, despite the fact that it was all gradually uphill. We arrived ridiculously early and went for an early lunch at Burger King before turning up at the motel in the hope of an early checkin. We met the stroppiest motel receptionist ever who clearly wasn’t impressed at our early arrival (people on the booking.com reviews complained about her specifically, so no great surprise), but the guy cleaning the rooms was lovely and cleaned our room first so that we could get in as early as possible. We then had a much needed relaxing afternoon sat out by the pool.

• DAY 44: Tuesday 12th April 2022 – East of Globe AZ to Globe AZ
• Distance: 11km
• Elevation gain: 170m
• Accomodation: Days Inn Motel

A relaxing rest day at the motel today, planning out the remainder of the trip to San Diego. We now have less than 3 weeks until our flight back to the UK, so now is an ideal time to plan out our remaining time cycling and how we will get back to Miami for our flight home.

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Useful Links

https://ridgeparkrvcampground.com/