You would think that after forty days of train horns sounding we could sleep through it now, but we can’t. When the time came to get up for breakfast it felt a few hours too soon. Breakfast was served in the small Mexican restaurant across the car park. It was advertised as a hot breakfast, building it up to be something better than most free breakfasts, so we were a little disappointed at the choice.
1 Pancake and 1 Sausage or
1 Pancake and 1 Omelette or
2 Pancakes
Plus a coffee OR orange juice OR apple juice
The plus side of breakfast was that we were finished in about 3 minutes. The bikes were already packed, so after a room inspection before receiving my room deposit back (yes, we stay in such classy establishments) we were ready to hit the road.
Today was to be a short day of 40 miles to Winslow. The next town after Winslow is Flagstaff, a further 60 miles down the road. As we are not able to pull off a 100-mile day due to lack of lycra, Winslow has always been on the plan as the pre-Flagstaff slog staging post. The other reason for not trying to tackle more than the 60 miles to Flagstaff in a single day it that it is all uphill.
In order to make the cycle a little more interesting the Adventure Cycle Association offer up two options for the cycle between these two towns. There is the Route 66 option, which is primarily along the hard shoulder of interstate I-40 or what they call the ‘Winslow Alternative’. Wanting to limit cycling on the I-40 as much as we possibly can, we opted for the latter.
We stopped at the Safeway’s supermarket on the way out out of town. I needed a new watch battery and a pair of laces for my walking shoes. I hunted around the shop for a few minutes before giving up and headed over to the customer information desk.
Me: Could you please tell me where I could find shoe laces and batteries
Customer Service: The batteries are at your knees.
Me: (looking at my knees) Ah, there they are. I’m looking for a 2032 cell battery, but I don’t see one.
Customer Services: I have never heard of one of those. Will a AA or AAA do instead.
Me: No, they won’t fit into my watch.
Customer Services: You will need to go to a watch repair shop then.
Me: Okay, I’ll do that. Do you sell laces.
Customer Services: Yes.
Me: Could you tell me where I can find them?
Customer Services: Have you tried looking for them?
Me: Yes.
Customer Services: We do sell them, but I don’t know where they are stored so I would need to look for them too and I can’t leave this desk. Sorry.
Me: 🙄 Thanks
When I came out of the store and started to get ready for the off we got talking to Carlos. Carlos, a resident of Holbrook, was interested in the bikes and what we were up to. Like many people I have spoken to he seemed to like the idea of what we were doing, but thought it beyond him. I said to Carlos, as I have said to countless people over the past six weeks, while it’s not for everyone if you are interested in cycle touring give it a go. If we can do it anyone can do it.
The then had a quick visit to Holbrook’s Route 66 claim to fame, the Wigwam Motel before hitting the road.
The first 10 miles of the day took us through the town and out into an area of desert with residential plots spread along the roadside. Some of these residences were better than others, but most appeared run down with some no more than a caravan or trailer in a fenced off-field. Some weren’t even fenced, which was a problem as every one of them appeared to have a snarling dog as standard.
We eventually reached the start of the ‘Winslow Alternative’, a stretch of almost 20 miles of unpaved road. Flashes came back of our time on ‘unpaved roads’ in the Santa Fe National Forest, but what was presented in front of us at the end of the tarmac was something that actually resembled a road, albeit an unpaved one.
While there was the occasional hole and ‘washboard’ stretches, the road was quite easy to cycle on as it undulated through desert plains. With only the occasional vehicle on the track we cycled side by side as far as the conditions allowed or until another photo needed to be taken by the nominated Route 66 cameraman, i.e. me.
About two thirds along the track we came to what looked like a pile of rocks, breaking the monotony of the desert, which on closer inspection turned out to be a mini canyon.
We had just finished exploring on foot and about to hop back on the bikes when a white car pulled up, asking directions to Rock Art Ranch in a very English accent. Here we were in the middle of nowhere with an English lady, Lorena, asking two cyclists from Scotland directions to a desert ranch. As it happens we had just passed the turnoff a few miles previously, so was able to give reasonably good directions, even if I say so myself. Lorena was over visiting her parents for a week, Ronda and Ted, who now live in Southern California, taking in some of the natural wonders of Arizona. They plan to visit the Grand Canyon tomorrow, three days away by bike for us… assuming we make the right turn ourselves when we get to Flagstaff.
We cycled a little further along the road and came to a bridge over the canyon, stopping for another photoshoot. While we were surrounded by a natural wonder, it appeared that there were a number of people that felt that it was missing something, so had added their mark with an aerosol can. While almost every train carriage that has passed us over the past six weeks has had graffiti on it, this was the first time we have seen nature defaced in this way.
As we continued the final 10 miles to Winslow there were a number of pull-offs next to sandstone stacks, but everyone was covered in graffiti and surrounded by broken glass. It was sad to see such beauty defaced in this way and we can only hope that it is a one-off around the town of Winslow and not something that is going to become the norm as we head west.
We reached Winslow just before 2:30 pm, stopping at a service station to buy a drink to clear the dust from our throats. We then cycled the remaining mile to the cheap as chips hotel that we booked through booking.com last night.
Checked in we settled down for a relaxing afternoon and early night so that we can hit the road early tomorrow morning.
It’s time for some Eagles music. “@Standing on the corner, in Winslow Arizona it’s girl my lord in a Flatbed Ford”
I’ll need to look that one up Larry… LOL
The story about the Safeway customer service actually made me laugh out loud. Classic!
Glad you all are still chugging along , despite the dearth of brain freezing drinks. Hopefully Flagstaff can remedy that. Thanks for all the postings; it’s really nice to keep up with your travels, and I’m curious to see what you decide about whether to do the Grand Canyon detour….
Flagstaff will remedy the brain freeze as it’s going to be below freezing at night for the next week, with daytime temperatures not much better.
Grand Canyon will be decided tomorrow based on weather. There is a severe wind warning out and it looks like temperature are going to plummet… We can cope with most things, but very strong wind and possible snow would be a challenge too far.
Glad you are following. Hopefully your own adventure is as fun/ more fun.
Hey Bob. Mum and Grandad say Hi! Thanks for the directions to the Rock Art Ranch – you really missed out by not doing it. Absolutely spectacular and the real old Cowboy was the most wonderful person I think I’ve ever met. The beautiful canyon you mentioned is his (well, on his property) and is filled with petroglyphs from various native tribes with some dating back as far as 8000 years. And Cowboys home is filled with the most spectacular museum pieces that he’s collected since he was a child – he first discovered Indian pottery and artefacts on the ranch over 70 years ago and has been searching for them and collecting them ever since. Along with anything remotely interesting – from genuine pioneer furniture and horse paraphernalia to miniature glass bottles. He’s setting up a museum in Holbrook too.
After 4 hours there, we returned to Flagstaff for the Lowell Observatory – though missed Meteor crater after we got there 11 minutes too late for last entry so they sent us away 😢 And got to GC at 5.30 the next morning after Mum’s spectacular driving avoided a large pack of deer, about 30 individual suicidal rabbits, 4 micey things, and a skunk. And then when returning to Las Vegas she had to look out for Coyotes after Roadrunners kept running across the I-40 😆. The temp at GC was -2.2C when we arrived and was around 25C when we left 4 hours later (we could have spent at least 2 days there). So if you do make it – you may well both freeze and roast within a few hours…
Anyway, nice pics (especially of me 🤣 ) and really interesting blog. I look forward to reading your daily exploits…
Thanks Lorena. It was lovely to have met you and your family and my apologies for the rubbish photo. Thanks for yours of us… I’ll add it to the website when I get a minute or three.
Great to hear you had a epic day after our meeting. It would have been lovely to have joined you, unfortunately that would have left us in the Middle of the desert with nowhere to stay for the night if we ever do this again using motorized transport I’ll be sure to add it to our list.
Best wishes