By the Time I Get to Phoenix....

"Hi friends, here we are with just a hair over 400 miles to go. Amazing. I've told my co-conspirators this, and now I will tell you our precious blog followers. I liken this entire trip to how I felt on my wedding day, thrilled and wanting to savor every moment but its all happening so fast. Today we made" it past Phoenix.
If I could sum up this Pony adventure in one word, I would have to choose the word "humbling". Essentially all of my riding experience has been on the pastoral rural roads of my lovely Ohio. So with my limited experience I projected this trip would be a lot like what I had experienced previously. The cycling itself has stretched my capabilities every single day, distances, terrain, grades, descents, traffic, surfaces. I have much to learn. If not for the continued assurance and encouragement of my two amazing riding partners and our exceptional support team I could not have made it this far.
We are now on the official Adventure Cycling Association southern tier route and I see loaded tourers struggling up 8% grades and it boggles my mind to imagine it.
In short, I am so grateful to be able to participate in this adventure. My respect, admiration and appreciation of every member of this team grows daily. We depend on your prayers. Not everyone on the road is happy to see us hugging the right side of the road and trying to navigate through "their" roads; though by far and away those we meet are gracious and accommodating. "

So today's blog started with the musings of Colleen. The ponies started the day with the tunnel and a terrific downhill. Colleen decided to sag this first part and so I gave her my iPad to take pictures of the tunnel. I must say, I created a monster and I have to warn Greg and the kids that she's gonna want one for Christmas! All that to say, the pics today are courtesy of Colleen and Evelyn. Here is the video that we shot going through the tunnel and then here is one that Wynn shot on his helmet cam...

I also want to put a bunch of photos up from scenery along the way.

I loved the cacti along the way and the huge rock formations and bridges. One of the fun things we saw was a family of wild pigs called Javelina. They were along the side of the road and stopped quickly. Ev and Colleen jumped out with cameras and tried to get a shot off. I will include the best shot of the day. You should have seen those little piggies run all the way home.

We also had a good time taking a few pics of the tunnel. Dan went through with a couple of trucks for company, but Wynn mostly went through alone.

Then we got a call a little further up the road and Wynn had a flat. He had one on his bike when he got up in the morning and had changed out his back tire. Then this was on his front tire. We arrived with the better pump and they changed out his front tire. When he got back on the bike, he felt his back tire go out again...he must have hit something with both tires. So, he changed three tires today. It would have been easy to be irritated and complain, until he thought about all the climbing and descents and the tunnel that he safely rode through today and how harmful it could have been if the flats would have happened at any of those times. God is good! Ev and I easily found a bike shop and stocked up, buying ten new tubes. Hopefully we will continue to be safely covered throughout the rest of the trip.

The day ended with the team riding for 5 hours and 46 minutes. They rode 82.4 miles at 14.3 mph. A lot of today's route was through the cities of Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix. They actually rode right through the heart of Phoenix. We picked up the riders as traffic was starting to pick up and sagged them back to the hotel in Tempe. Tomorrow we hope to beat the majority of traffic out of town and will head toward Wickenburg. The team was sitting at a QuickTrip gas station under this sign...

Indeed we have been in a safe place all trip long. Keep up your prayers as we finish the last five days. Tonight, Wynn and I had dinner at the Olive Garden with Wynn's cousin, Todd. What a wonderful visit we had sharing a meal and conversation together. We got back to the hotel and found that Ev had also been able to connect with her second cousins that lived in Tempe. Perfect timing for us all. Tomorrow night we plan to meet up with Todd's folks, Uncle Herman and Aunt Marian, in Wickenberg. It is such fun to meet up with company along the way. The riders enjoyed a hot tub at this hotel and we are all ready for bed. I'll end with a couple of short videos that Wynn shot in Phoenix. Good night for the team!