Day 5-8 In Payson, AZ

All the bikers were sent forward to Payson, 4-5 hours by van and chartered coach bus. Julie and I had Jerry and Steve Groen ride with us and we were asked to stay in Quartzsite to help load the 80+ bikes into a rented freight trailer, to get them to Payson. We didn’t quite know what we were getting into, as it took until after 3:00 p.m. for 6 of us guys to get them all safely packed away. The temps in the trailer had to be over 120 degrees and we needed to take breaks every 15 minutes or so to cool down. It was as strenuous as having to ride bikes for the day. You could hardly hold the bikes, as they were so hot from the sun.

Our tired bodies were not allowed a nice ride, as our van stalled in rush hour traffic in downtown Phoenix. We sat for about an hour in 112 degree temps, until a traffic patrol office stopped and helped us get it going again. We have had gas flow issues on and off since part way out to California. It is going into a Ford dealer on Monday morning in Payson to try to resolve the issue. We were able to complete the ride to Payson, barely making 40 mph up the mountain climbs to 4,800 feet here in Payson

The temps are better here, but still 100 today and 101 for tomorrow. Everyone is catching up on their wash, sorting things out, swimming, shopping, blogging in air-conditioned spots, like Starbucks, Macs, or as we are doing, at the library. There is a concert in a local park tonight. Many bikers volunteered to paint a house today for Habitat For Humanity.

We will be here until we resume the tour on Tuesday. 2 new cyclists will be joining this weekend and 12 dropped out as scheduled. It was tough to see them leave and we were all pretty emotional because of what we had experienced together. I will miss Don Zuidema of the Chicago area whom I rode with several days.

On our ride to Payson, we rode the route up the mountains that would have been our cycling ride for next Monday. It would have been near impossible in the temps we have been experiencing. It had very difficult climbs and descents. That was part of the decision by the staff….to not have to move the camp twice and get us to Payson as the next starting point.