We only had 40 or so miles to cover today to get us into Phoenix, which is probably why I spent far too long talking to the motorcyclists camping next to us (they are off to Joshua Tree today) and why Terry, understandably, got a bit grumbly with me.
But it got me thinking about the advantages of undertaking long distance journeys on motorbikes as opposed to bicycles. There are many wonderful aspects of pedalling, but one major disadvantage is that any diversion from your set route can add weeks to your journey.
For example, tantalisingly the Grand Canyon is only 263 miles to our north – and it would have been great to visit. It’s perfectly feasible on a motorbike, but on a bicycle we’d need eight days to get there and back, without including anytime to look around. I’m not ready to give up cycle touring just yet, but it got me thinking, particularly since Terry knows a thing or two about motorbikes. In truth he knows quite a lot about most things.
Anyway back to the pedaling which today would take us through two of Arizona’s top ten most populated cities – Mesa and Tempe, before we reached the state’s largest – Phoenix – which has more than 1.6 million inhabitants.
The entire 40 miles were spent riding through a dead flat urban landscape past endless gated age restricted communities with names like Sierra Heights, Palm View and Beau Vista.
Each one seemed to have its own golf course and I thought back to the pensioners I’d met back in Florida who lived in vast complexes totally dedicated to the elderly, with scores of restaurants just a short ride on a golf cart away.
There were a lot of snowbirds out there on the greens (the amount of water needed to keep the grass so lush in the middle of a desert was mind boggling) playing possibly their last few rounds before it gets too hot and they headd back to the cooler climate of the northern states.
“I didn’t realise you were doing it on bicycles!” he said incredulously.
Certainly very few of the old folk seemed interested in cycling. An immaculate cycle lane linked one community to the next along an endless and ever repeating strip, yet we seemed to be the only ones on it.
We stopped for brunch at Grandma’s Kitchen in Mesa where we got chatting to the locals about our travels across the Southern states. One of the customers came outside to shake our hands afterwards. “I didn’t realise you were doing it on bicycles!” he said incredulously.
Downtown Mesa proved interesting place with numerous street sculptures and galleries, but before long it had turned seamlessly into Tempe which then became Phoenix.
With a couple of lefts and rights we were in lower downtown and outside the home of Silverio and Susan who we’d be in contact with via the Warmshowers network.
The couple had built their adobe home out of straw bales and then built an identical one next door which they rented as an Airbnb but offered free to touring cyclists, so Terry and I had our very own house, just a few blocks from the centre of downtown Phoenix. Absolutely incredible.
The were a wonderful couple and we liked them instantly. They couldn’t do enough for us, which included taking us out for dinner at a cool Mexican pop-up restaurant working out of a van parked up nearby. Silverio, an ex-policeman, had cycled the Southern Tier a few years back, and was interested in our experiences on route.
The couple were incredibly community minded and were doing a lot of work to help those less fortunate than them in the surrounding neighbourhood. Their interest in traditional abobe homes had also led to them helping others to build their own homes in a similar style.
After the excellent Mexican street food we went back to their extraordinary homes, which seemed completely at odds with the steel and glass of downtown Pheonix just a few blocks away.
We continued chatting over home-made cake under a pergola which linked the two properties with topics ranging from Trump (they were not fans) to immigration, food and to their general philosphy on life which centred around thinking of others before themselves.
Tomorrow is a zero day and, with our appetites whetted by Susan and Silverio, we are eager to learn more about this fascinating city in the middle of the desert.
Today’s miles: 41.15
Total miles since Anastasia State Park: 2,644.55
