Arizona Mountains

The day started much cooler than previous ones, and as we climbed the gradual 1-2 % grades up in to the Arizona mountains, the temperatures stayed in the 70's and low 80's for the morning.  The first mountain had an elevation gain of about 3000, and we had already climbed about 2000 feet just getting the 20 or so miles from the hotel to the mountain.  

We had fun with the climb, stopping to take pictures of each other, and the scenery.  The highlight for me was the tarantula crossing the road just infront of my tire.  I swerved to miss the nearly 6 inch long hairy beast.  I stopped my bike and got close 

enough to touch the spider and take this picture.  The white strip that the spider is on, is nearly 12 inches wide.    Later in the day, another one crossed the road in front of me.  In addition, a giant centipede sped out across the road, and I ran right over it.  I thought my tires would cut it in half, but it just wiggled alittle and scurried back to the ditch.  This centipede was 6 inches long and as wide as my thumb with armor on its back.  Wild creatures.

The second mountain was much more difficult for me.  The 1-2% grade for 10 miles leading up to it felt like I was riding on a bike with 2 flat tires.  You just feel like you should make better progress because the grades are 

so long, that they look flat.  We climbed about 2000 more feet with in the mountain up to 7400 feet in elevation, for a total of about 8500 feet for the day.

My body is beginning to feel the pain.  Hydration was the key the first few days.  Now the key is pain management.  Parts of me ache that have not ached in a long time.  I am h

oping for an easy day to let my legs rest a bit, but I don't expect to get one tomorrow with more AZ mountains on our way to Winslow.