Day 5 - 68.9 miles - Salome, AZ

I must say that it is a pleasure being on the bike in the middle of the night. I was out there again at 4:30am with temps around 70. I wish it would just stay like that all day. That's not going to happen, at least around here. It was in the first 5 miles that I had reached the Colorado River. More important is that the Colorado River is also the Border of California and Arizona. It was just turning light as I reached here and I was excited to be in my second state of this trip. The bad news was that I had 3 mountain ranges to cross today. They are the Dome Rock Mountains, the New Water Mountains, and the Granite Wash Mountains. So I knew I had some climbing today. Once again the temperature rose quick. You guess it, 100 degrees by 9am. I guess some things never change. A lot of today's ride was on Interstate 10. Out here in the west, you are allowed to bicycle on the Interstate only where there are no other frontage roads. In this case there were no frontage roads. Super wide shoulders makes this no problem. Yes, lots of traffic but I had no choice and I am following bicycle maps from Adventure Cycling. I liked it so much that I missed my turnoff for Route 60. I didn't realize it for miles. I had to make a 6 mile detour just to get back on my route. I made it to my destination by early afternoon which is exactly what I need to do to avoid this dangerous heat. When I stopped the temperature was 104. As I was checking in to the Shefflers Motel, two other bikers pulled in for the night. They are brothers, and going to New Mexico.

Photos - Welcome to Arizona - Desert Plants - Biking over the Granite Wash Mountains - Railroad crossing near The town of Harcuver, AZ