Day 6 distance: 52 miles
Total miles: 326.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 760 feet
Map of today's ride:
There was a pretty sunset last night in Dateland but it came too late to make yesterday's blog, so I am including it today:
Sunset at Dateland, Arizona on March 9, 2016. |
Today we rode for 35 miles on the shoulder of Interstate 8. It is legal to ride on the shoulder when there are no alternative parallel roads, which is usually the case when riding across vast expanses of deserts. Today more time was spent on the interstate than will be for the entire remainder of the C2C ride. I don't mind riding on the interstate as I believe it is much safer than many of the shouldered secondary roads we travel. The traffic is only going one direction in wide lanes, and there is a rumble strip to warn drivers and bicyclists if a car is entering the shoulder. However, there is a downside, and that is the high speed noise of continual traffic passing does wear on one's nerves.
Because we did spend so much time riding in the desert today, I only took two pictures as more would just be a repeat of the same thing:
This picture was taken from our first SAG stop at a Rest Area on I-8, about 17 miles east of Dateland. |
These are the first Saquaro cactus I have observed on this trip. In the days ahead, they will become much more common. |
This is Margie Skaggs, our traveling massage therapist from Louisville, Kentucky. She has been with Bubba since 2012. Not only is Margie a great massage therapist, but she is also a great hugger! |
LINK to Day 5 of my 2015 C2C blog.