Day 11: 9/30 Safford, AZ 41 miles to Duncan, AZ

Day 11 9/30/21 Safford, AZ 41 miles to Duncan, AZ –

The hail that woke us at 5am was a sign we should have seen that the day may not go smoothly. With a terrible forecast of rain and thunderstorms, we pushed our wake up alarm an hour later. 

As we eventually prepared to leave the hotel and rolled through their lobby around 8:30am, Heather noticed her rear tire was flat again. We reviewed our options and she decided we should ride back the mile to the bike shop we visited yesterday. Unfortunately it did not open until 10am, so I checked back into our room that we had just checked out from to try and catch more sleep. 

At the bike shop, upon closer inspection of the inside of the tire, it turned out there was a quarter inch piece of metal wire that had made its way into Heather’s rear tire. Tom, the shop owner, explained how a car radial tire lying in the shoulder gets pounded repeatedly and breaks down leaving these micro pieces of wire to afflict us cyclists. After pulling the wire out and replacing the inner tube with a heavy duty model, we were on our way. 

Tom to the rescue

We encountered back-breaking headwinds. It was clear by the tall grass along side the road that was bent towards us. My left knee was hurting which was always one of my question marks and concerns heading in to this trip. I have some minor residual ache from a fractured left patella when I skied into a tree when I was 20 years old. 

Our midday view

On the positive side, we dodged any rain and the temperature was comfortable.

By 2:45pm, it was clear that due to our late start, the headwinds and my sluggishness, we would not get to our intended destination of Lordsburg, still 30 miles past Duncan. Yesterday I was jamming and in a flow state, even after changing a flat. Today I was in slow state. I may have overdone it yesterday and I haven’t been getting as much sleep as I likely need. 

We decided to overnight in Duncan. Not all miles are created equal indeed. Today’s 40 miles were twice as hard for me as yesterday’s 80. 

Around 3:20pm with 6 miles remaining, I felt depleted so ate some pretzels, stale as still from NY, dipped in peanut butter. And at the same time, looked around and just could not believe how beautiful our county is.  

So beautiful I could not think of caption

With two miles to go, we had our second dog chase, this time a smaller would-be assailant. Although struggling, we both cranked it up from 5mph to 15mph for the necessary quick burst and we were safe. 

Duncan is a tiny town, neglected for years since they put in the nearby interstate. But it still has one hell of a bakery! Henrie Brothers was our first stop for “lunch”. 

Yes, we've been good!

After learning about the bakery from Tim who was behind the counter, we shared a cinnamon roll and each ate a chocolate chip cookie as a chaser. They are the kind of cookies that are soft, about an inch in thickness and substantial.

Lunch

I’m known amongst some family members to moan audibly when I enjoy what I’m eating. They have taken me to task for it. In a complete surprise role reversal, Heather moaned a bit with each bite. Ah, she’s learning! 

Heather and the bakery

We got one of the two rooms at the historic Simpson Hotel. I could imagine it in its original glory with distinguished guests descending the broad stairway for cocktail hour and dining. The current owners Deborah and Clayton are working a labor of love to restore it gradually. I hope to return in 10 years and admire its full revival. 

Our home for the night 

After a dinner of pizza from Humble Pie, it was back to the bakery. Heather made a bit of fun of me for buying two cookies for tomorrow, but when I actually bought them, she could not let me have better treats than she would have so she ordered one as well. That was for tomorrow. For tonight’s dessert, I couldn’t resist a slice of their pumpkin roll that Tim explained was seasonal only. It was pumpkin cake with a cream cheese frosting rolled into it. When I ate it later about 9pm, it was a good thing the bakery, which was maybe 60 yards from the hotel, was closed or I’d have run back for seconds! 

 © Copyright Mark Segal 2021.