I didn’t get to bed until gone midnight so when my alarm went off at 5am I was still very tired. We were ready to go at 6am, however found that the tyres ( tires) on both bikes were flat. They were not punctured; they probably just felt a bit like us, “deflated” Lol, seriously, I guess it must have been the heat?

Apart from the tyres, it was a great start to the day, I received text message from Jon offering words of encouragement and also pledging £500 for our cancer charities, thanks Jon. We also received a facebook message from Robin who we haven’t met. Which reads

 “…I also, read you are coming through Austin and one day is a rest day for you. I would be honored to pay for a hotel those two nights you so you can rest in the air conditioning and I definitely want you in the pool as much as possible. . We may not be rich but hopefully something a little better than a Motel 6. The Lord has put this on my heart for you. I want to do this for all those I’ve lost from cancer as well.……”

There are so many kind, generous and thoughtful people out there and we are extremly grateful for their support.

 Late last night I also heard from someone who this time last year was only given 2 days to live, she spent 5 months in hospital and is now working on getting fit again. She  inspired us and her story motivated us this morning to get on our bikes!

I had decided to take my video camera to get some footage, so added a bike bag to the front of my bike. I soon added other stuff into the bag and literally doubled the weight of the bike. At 6.15 the sun was already up and the weather forecast said it would be the hottest day of the year. Great! We biked through Tempe but kept having to stop for traffic lights so we didn’t really get into a rhythm until we hit the “60” going east. As usual my legs were stiff but today even after two hours  they were still stiff and definitely weaker, who said it would get easier? By 10am it was around 100 degrees and getting hotter.

I decided to try out the video camera as I cycled and film James.  As I turned, the bike wobbled, I wasn’t used to the new weight on the front, I ran over the “rumble strips” (not sure what they are called in US) at the edge of the road, this made me swerve into the road. Luckily no cars were passing and I managed to keep the bike upright! Won’t be trying that one again.

We stopped at a place called Superior and I just wanted to say good luck to the guy I spoke to their who is planning to organise a charity bike ride to raise money for good causes.

As usual we met a few people and told them what we were doing, but when we said we were cycling to Miami, no one seemed that impressed or even surprised. We later realised there was another Miami in Arizona just a few miles ahead of us. So we did actually reach Miami today, but not the one we want.

We came to a climb, which was brutal; it must have been at least 10 miles long. What made it worse was every time we thought we were at the top there was another bend and another climb. There was no breeze to cool us down, we could feel the sun from above and the heat radiating from the road below. My heavy breathing caused my throat to dry out and no amount of water could dampen it. It is such a dry heat, you don’t actually realise how much you sweat as the heat drys it out so quickly. For example when I took my gloves off they were soaked with sweat, I put them down to buy a drink from a shop and when I returned a few minutes later they were crispy dry and covered in white salt crystals. We reached a place called “Top of the world”, this must be the top! We stopped for a drink while a guy shaved some ice for us. However we soon realised there was even more climbing to do. This was the hottest part of the day and still no breeze to cool us.

Our original plan was to cycle 140 miles to Geronimo, but the town was so small we decided to head to Globe, which was bigger, and only 80 miles. We got to Globe at about 2.30pm and went to the KFC for food, I ordered a chicken wrap meal, but I was so hungry I had eaten it before leaving the counter. So James and I ordered a 10-piece bucket EACH.

It was only 3pm and we felt ok to go on, we saw a place on the map that had a campsite near a lake and a guy in the KFC said there was also a motel nearby. Tomorrow would be a rest day and I had a vision of us relaxing by the lake, maybe canoeing or swimming.

Steve went ahead and when we met him outside a supermarket at Peridot, he told us the campsite only catered for RV’s and there were no showers and it was basic. We decided to ask in the shop if there were any other hotels or campsites near by. As we went in we felt everyone look at us, we were the only white people there and we were wearing cycling gear, which I guess was odd. Everyone else in the shop was Native American, we were on a reservation and they were Apache and Navaho (or is it Navajo?). We had a good chat with the assistant who explained to us naive English that they do not like to be called “Indian”, and prefer either Apache or Native American. She explained there were no hotels nearby except the Apache Gold casino, which we had passed about 10 miles back.

Suddenly a storm stirred up, we felt rain, which was refreshing then saw a sand storm approaching. Bins, trolley’s and rubbish were being blown around. We quickly put the bikes in the car and drove back to the Casino.

There was a Best Western next to the Casino and Kristy on reception sorted us out with a great rate, $35 for 3 of us, she also included an “All you can eat” buffet and breakfast. After showering, we took all our dirty clothes to the laundry, however when we asked someone if it was OK to leave the clothes, he said no they will get nicked, so I am typing this while waiting for our clothes to wash/dry.

The plan is then to have our buffet, then bed. Need to decide if we cycle tomorrow or have a rest day as planned. Hope you enjoy reading this; it is quite therapeutic for me, although a bit time consuming. Not sure how many people actually read it but if you have, let me know, leave a comment or tell me if it is too long or boring. May be you have a question or would like to know about an aspect I haven’t covered. If so, leave a comment and I will blog accordingly.

Photos taking ages to upload so on facebook, click here http://bit.ly/CAAFBDay6

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