DAY 5: 9/24 Wellton, AZ to Gila Bend, AZ

DAY 5: 9/24/21 Wellton, AZ 91 miles to Gila Bend, AZ in a high today of merely 92! –

Editor's note: for those following along, day 4 was a rest day, so there was no blog post. Welcome back!  

After our previous setbacks, we were determined to attack the heat today. For one we started out at 5:08am. Most of our riding was due east on either old state highway 80 or Interstate 8. After a quick gas station pit stop to top off our liquids at 6:30am, we rode directly into a beautiful sunrise. In the mountain range in front of us there was a notch seemingly cut out straight ahead where the sunlight shone through. It was also wonderful to reason that we would cross through these mountains at the notch without intense climbing. Phew!

Sunrise through the notch 

A quick note on hydration: it’s not like we didn’t think about hydration in our planning. Before leaving home I had replaced our water bottles from standard capacity with oversized ones that carry 32 ounces, bought two one liter foldable Platypus containers to store extra water in my paniers, and brought a starter supply of gels and Gu’s and NUUN brand tablets which are easier than powder to add to water to replace lost electrolytes. I had debated using a cycling camel/backpack type bag which I rely on when hiking but opted not. Each liter of water weights 2.2 pounds so it’s a bit of a calculation on how much to carry at the outset vs. pick up along the way. Just another of those daily decisions that depends on distance and terrain to be covered, as well as services available along the route for restocking. Today I added two electrolyte replacement packs to my liquid arsenal. 

Packing extra ammo

A bit after 9am we paused in a rest area where I saw the sign warning of snakes and insects. I confess that I had already thought of this on previous days during the various times that one of us lay in the side of the road, but I was desperate then and so had pushed the idea of being attacked by a venomous creature out of my mind. That mind trick would now be harder to turn. 

No more naps in the dirt....

Shortly after, we arrived in Dateland, AZ more specifically a place I’ve been dreaming of for months since I first read about it - The Dateland Travel Center, home of the famous date shake! I happen to eat Medjool dates near daily and at the office it was a favorite snack of mine. I even tried putting dates in my morning smoothie after first reading about this place. 

Dateland Travel Exit: the long anticipation is over

How often does the reality of an experience fail to live up to its over-hyped anticipation? Thankfully this is not one of those times!! The shake was rich, thick, sweet and one of those food items I will savor and think back on for years. No joke about the for years part. My kids laugh at (or is it ridicule me?) how I still occasionally talk about how amazing the drinking water was at the Bass Lake Marina near Yosemite from a trip there 12 years ago. Seriously it was the best glass of tap water ever! 

Date shake

Date types; I will definitely be doing some mail order of the dates from here. 

After eating a date and oatmeal cookie and buying date bread for the road, it was time to get going. We still had 60 miles to ride in the heat. We were then approached by an older couple, Millie and Dave originally from Hartsdale, New York, not far from our home, now retired out here. They asked which direction we were headed as they just came from a big storm to the east with torrential rain where they saw two cars off the road and there were flash flood warnings. So it’s back into the Travel Center to wait it out and for what would be another long day and this would push us later into a higher afternoon heat. At least I grabbed a nap and a taste of date ice cream. Luckily I enjoy an ability to seemingly fall asleep anywhere. 

Flash flood warning!

Once the warning passed, we made our way with frequent rests at last arriving in Gila Bend. We were physically exhausted but not dehydrated. We finally beat the heat! I still deserved a recovery beverage and experienced a first in life - a double shake day!  This one was chocolate and so thick I needed to open the lid and finish it with a spoon. Delicious but date shakes still rule! 

Dinner at Little Italy Italian, was shockingly the best pesto pasta of my life. I was so full from the shake half an hour earlier that I was going to take half of it back to the hotel for breakfast the next day. But gluttony won out (or was I trying to regain the 5 pounds dripped off the first 3 days) and so I polished it off plus dipped two rolls in to mop up the sauce. I seriously started to wonder about my mental state or were my taste buds damaged? How could Italian food in Gila Bend, population 1853, be the best? Am I just so ravenous that every meal is the “best”? Since I didn’t like the salad, I felt reassured that I’m my old self - love some things to the “nth” degree and dislike other stuff as much. 

We were so excited to get to sleep early at 9:30pm for another big riding day in the heat lay ahead. And then an issue arose. Somebody (...whose named rhymes with 'feather') trying to pump their tires deflated them instead and then bent the valve. At this hour the last thing either of us wanted to deal with was changing a rear tire flat. It was not a happy moment!  :(

Finally with the situation fixed, we got to bed closer to 11pm and pushed our wake up for the next day back an hour which meant an hour more of afternoon heat. Ugh.

Strava day 5

© Copyright Mark Segal 2021.