05.25 - the interstate

up and going early, at lilo's diner by 7:00 for my classic breakfast. 

 i sat debating two things:  1) to take I-40 to kingman or rte 66, which is 15 miles longer than the 75 miles by interstate.  didn't feel good about the additional mileage, especially since the wind was forecast to build as the day went on.  and 2) should i stop at the hardware store across the street and see if they have a screw to lock down my back rack.  i opted for the hardware store and it proved to be a very smart idea since the zip ties had already sheared.  and then chose the shorter, direct route to klingman.

all day riding the interstate; hope not to do that again.  this was the last of interstate travel for this trip, i think.  it's another 15 miles to follow rte 66 to the north, with no towns and little perceived reward.  it was 75 miles by interstate to kingman, that was enough, i think.

unfortunately, riding the interstate means that you won't get to see all the small towns.  i made a mistake and didn't get off the interstate to go through the downtowns, particularly at winslow and ash fork.  didn't stand on the corner in winslow.  still one gets the scenary, no lack of that, just not the local moments.

i do a pretty good job of blocking out the traffic.   the trucks do a pretty good job of sliding over into the other lane.  i'm not terrified or even slightly offset by the traffic.  none the less, it is always in the back of your mind; you're always alert, never relaxed.

one could create a museum of the junk you find on the shoulder.  it's amazing the amount of stuff.  the primary composition is shreaded tires.  all shapes and sizes, from small fibers to whole circumferences of tread.  the danger is the metal belt fibers.  i must of picked up a small piece of one around flagstaff, 'cause the second flat i had there they found about a half inch of wire in the tire.

but you can find a whole hardware store of nuts and bolts.  all sorts of pieces of straps and bungee cords, especially the black rubber straps from trucks.  and then all the odd things: blankets, sheets, a full bottle of gatorade, a broken hammer, various electronic cables, etc., etc., etc.

the mountains and the desert showed up today.  rolling through the hills and suddenly, in the distance, mountains, sharp and angular, appear.  i started at around 5,000 ft today,  crossed down below 4,000 ft elev and am currently sitting at 3,400 ft.  tomorrow i have a small climb to start, then largely downhill.  the lake mead visitor center is at 1,700 ft.

today the final 15 miles into kingman was the worse.  the shoulder was rough ashpalt that normally i would applaud the DOT for being economical, but not if you're riding a bike on it.  several people have been surprised at how smooth my tires are, but when you're riding on asphalt it's about traction.  the more contact between rubber and asphalt, the better.  every bump affects that and decreases one's efficiency.

but for now, i'm sitting outside at the downtown microbrewery drinkind a rye ipa, eating a calzone from floyd's across the street and listening to pink floyd (in between some garbage so called rock and roll from the 70's & 80's.  rat, really?).  the sun and 89 deg temp were pretty oppressive, but in the shade, with the breeze........ pretty nice.

and the blood full moon