Tag Archives: state line

Blythe, California

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

Snowbirds and interstates were the themes for the day.
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Waited until the cafe opened to have breakfast and then headed out. As expected today was warm (~33C, 91F) though not abnormal. Salome might have military connection as displayed by these missiles as well as map of middle east in the convenience store.
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Pleasant cycling without too much traffic as the first 25 miles had many RV parks.
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For example the KOA park above. The better ones seemed to at least have a few trees and perhaps other amenities nearby. It wasn’t yet high season as saw a restaurant announcing a November 9th opening as well as “help wanted”.
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At seven miles I came to small town of Hope.
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Here is the back of the same sign.
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Here is the local church.
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Generally descent in this first stretch as I came below level of the Arizona canal again.
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It looked fuller here.
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As I came closer to Brenda, there were many RV parks.
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This one also still had the cafe closed.
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This one advertised rates for the season ($1300) as well as bingo and a gospel jam.
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Here one could jam less expensively.

After seeing all these parks (and more), I stopped in Brenda for a bite to eat as well as to understand how this all worked. The clerk told me:

  • Brenda has a population of 200-300 year round and 800-900 at peak snowbird season
  • Snowbirds are arriving now and almost all will be here by Christmas. December is particularly popular month for arrivals
  • January and February are busy and then by March and April people start departing again.

So now we are at start of the season as the parks are all attracting new residents.
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After Brenda, US-60 merged onto the interstate (I-10) and I had 11 miles of interstate cycling. This road is main route between Phoenix and Los Angeles and it was busy. It was also starting to get warm.
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You can see Quartzite in the distance.
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A few more RV parks here, including this one with high-wheeler bicycles.
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If you run for Mayor, it seems to be important to tell people you are a “Year Around Resident”.

Had lunch in Quartzite.
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Initially the route was six miles of a nice small desolate road before
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Getting back on the interstate for another 12 miles. While I had done small bits of I-25 (New Mexico) and I-15 (Montana) on this trip, this interstate seemed a bit more aggravating. I decided to do a count of the next 100 vehicles that passed in the right lane:

  • 62 automobiles
  • 35 trucks
  • 3 large RVs towing vehicles behind

All this in slightly less than 5 miles. This was only vehicles in the right lane and I didn’t count if they had moved over to left lane before passing. I guess it was a bit more aggravating because of more traffic (other interstates more of the vehicles could move over to left), 75mph speed limit (vs 65mph in New Mexico), lots of trucks and later in the day and a bit warmer. Nothing dangerous, just a bit annoying.
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Fortunately, after 12 miles of interstate riding, the exit brought me to the frontage road and then the pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River. Also the border to California!
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More official welcome sign a few miles later. Cycled into town and nice to finish the day with a motel. From here there is a bigger gap to the next town so likely some desert camping in between.

Springerville, Arizona

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

Where do folks in Quemado go to get to a “big city”? When I posed this question, I was told Springerville was the place for a grocery and Show Low was place for a Walmart type store. Hence, today was generally heading towards the big city – though still pretty remote and rural.
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Todays route came across several hills including a gradual climb the first seven miles. Always nice to see a tower since it indicates top of the hill.
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From the top, one can see across to hills on other side, ~18 miles away. I even had light tailwinds!
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At 23 miles was town of Red Hill. Sign on the horse tells us this is a “one horse town.”
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At 24 miles one can see back across the valley to where photo above was taken.
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Not much further I crossed the state line. The shoulder in NM had been very rough and this improved once I crossed into AZ. In addition, I set my watch back an hour. Both AZ and NM are on Mountain time, but most of Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings. Hence in the summer Arizona is on same time as California and in the winter, Arizona is on same time as New Mexico.
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Without much trouble found my way into Springerville.
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Each US state seems to put different information on their welcome signs. For example, Colorado gives the elevation, Massachusetts gives the year the town was founded, many states in midwest give the population. So far Arizona has given same info as both Colorado and Massachusetts.

Once in town, I found the laundromat, the Safeway and other highlights.

My plan is to take a rest day tomorrow. Weather forecast says a front will come through with ~80% chance of thundershowers and 0.4″ of precipitation. Doesn’t sound severe but nice to take a break.