6% DOWNGRADE NEXT 12 MILES
…BULLSHIT! The
Arizona road department has some weird idea of what is a downgrade!! This particular sign on highway 60, east of
Superior, after Gonzales Pass, just after you reach the sign that indicates
4000’ is just not very truthful. To a
cyclist, seeing that truck downgrade sign is like reaching nirvana – it means
your screaming quads, back, and shoulder muscles are going to get a break. Oh, but not this road. They start you out with perhaps a 1-2 mile
drop which rapidly turns you right back up another mountain You keep expecting the other part of that
12-mile downgrade but it never really happens until you eventually get to the
4600’ elevation sign near Signal Mountain.
 |
| Looking back towards Superior from Gonzales Pass |
Then you finally get a drop, then a mostly flat ride into
Globe which is a long town. Today when we passed through it we stopped at
a Subway next door to the Liquor Stable Saloon . Grabbed a $5 footlong sandwich and holed up in
the cool dark saloon and some conversation with Donna, the bar tender. She was very nice, filled up our water bottle
and informed u s that Gila County has an e-cola alert out for their water
supply, so drink only bottled water or get of out Gila County. A lot of the restaurants farther into town
weren’t open so it was lucky we stopped where we did! This is a great place to stop for a cold one, a good sandwich next door (which you can bring into the bar) and some local conversation.
So…there are about 63 miles between Apache Junction and
Apache Gold Casino past Globe. Most of
them are UPHILL, long slow up hills on a road that occasionally has shoulders
with inappropriately placed rumble streets almost 6 inches inside the white
shoulder line. The truck traffic was terrible,
about non-stop, although most trucks are very good and pull over into the other
lane to avoid us. But that constant
thundering noise and checking back is exhausting. Then the piece de la resistance….THE
TUNNEL.
 |
| THE TUNNEL |
You are still climbing uphill
when you have to go into this dark tunnel
through the mountains which has NO shoulders, but does have an extra
right lane. Oh the noise and thundering
of those trucks and cars inside there. I
honestly felt that this might be the place that would do me in before my 57th
birthday; afterwards had to stop in a pullover area to let my panic die down
before going on. This road made the
rollers on Highway 78 like child play.
The good things about today: Seeing a desert tortoise just the other side
of a guard rail! (Climbing up that hill,
we felt like him!)
. 
Stunning views of the Superstition Mountains up close and personal... And the Apache Gold Casino which, when it
appeared out of the desert might as well have been the promised land. Great air conditioning, wonderful room,
comfortable bed. We were too tired to
eat out tonight, so brought food into the room; went to sleep at 6 p.m., woke
up at 11 p.m., ate, then went back to bed.
Good Night!
Total miles: 63.89
Time: 6:07
Avg: 10.45 mph
Glad to see y'all are taking it all in along the way. That tunnel looked/sounded terrible. The idea of being between solid rock and the mercy of passing semi trucks sounds like hell.
ReplyDeleteKoa doesn't like sitting on his bike, but he does like to push it. I guess we have to start somewhere.
Sorry to hear about Dinky. The poor little mutt probably kept up for a few miles. Normy said y'all can just throw a tarp over Aunt Edna and leave her on the porch. He'll be home shortly.