Day Nine

Also a little late but... 

Day 9  

76.11 miles 

852 ft (elevation gain)  

428.9 total miles 

Wickenburg -> Tempe  

Today was a fantastic day. We started the ride fairly early and had a complete of hours without it being to hot. The first 20 miles was super fun and fast. It was all down hill and had a nicely paved wide shoulder. It was also kinda cold so we had a great time. It was best and most fun I had on the ride so far. The rest of the day was also really easy. It continued to be all down hill and we were on bike paths for about 30 miles through Phoenix. It got a little hot towards the middle and end of the day, it was about 86 which is way hotter than I’m used to but with lots of water I was fine.  The bike paths were beautiful some were dirt but we followed the canal system all the way through the city. It was nice not being on big busy roads. We ended our ride at the Tempe Botanical Gardens, right as it started to rain. The rain was a nice change from the heat. It also caused a beautiful sunset. Tempe/Phoenix is beautiful, the big rocks and mountains with tha cactus is super cool. After our rest day we all are feeling well rested and ready to go. It really helped our tushies. My neck still hurts a little but isn’t too bad. The new problem I’m having is that all my bike shorts have latex grippy tape around the thighs cause me to get a some what gnarly rash but we’re figuring out alternatives (if you have any ideas about this let me know). We’re doing another short day tomorrow so it’ll be nice to rest up again. 

Chihuly glass scultures and cactus at the botanical gardens. 

Chihuly glass scultures and cactus at the botanical gardens. 

The sunset in Tempe.

The sunset in Tempe.

Our route for the day. 

Our route for the day. 

 Please help raise funds for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) at https://www.firstgiving.com/event/rsds/Ride-Across-The-Country-For-CRPS