Yesterday, Donna finished packing her bag while I posted to the blog. She managed to pack eight days of clothing (bear in mind, she’s traveling to cold climates) in one small suitcase. I don’t know how she does it.

Her driver picked her up at 11:15am for her flight to Chicago. I’ll be on my own for the next eight days. Other than the night she stayed at her sister’s house to watch her nephew, Connor, this is the first time we’ve been apart since we hit the road on July 23, 2013.

After Donna left, I went out for a ride on my new mountain bike. I looked at a map and thought I’d found a good route. It looked like I could get on a trail a couple of miles from here that would take me down to the Salt River and make a nice loop.

I rode out of the RV park, up Recker Road to Thomas. I found a trail into the desert and got off of the road. I haven’t ridden off road in a long, long time. When I lived in Arlington, Washington, I would ride my mountain bike up forest service roads into the mountains and find trails to loop back down. I really enjoyed mountain biking there. I also liked riding the single track trails at Sun River, Oregon.

When I moved to Mesa, Arizona, in 2005, I mostly rode my road bike. I took the mountain bike out occasionally, but it seemed like I always picked up a thorn and had flat tires. I got tired of fixing the tires and sold my mountain bike. The bike I have now has a fluid in the tires that prevents punctures. The tire can still go flat, if it’s cut by glass or some sharp object, or if the sidewall is torn. But, a small puncture from a thorn or cactus spine will not hurt it.

When I purchased the bike, I looked at the small 22 tooth chain wheel and the 36 tooth rear cog and thought I’d never use that short gearing. Ted, the guy that sold me the bike said he often uses that  gear ratio for short, steep, rocky climbs. I found out that he was right.

On the steep, rocky stuff, you need to maintain forward progress, even if you are just crawling along. If you stop, it’s difficult if not impossible, to get going again. The rear wheel will not have any traction from a standing start. You can’t sit and start pedaling. When you stand on the pedal to get going, the rear wheel will just spin. I learned that the hard way yesterday.

Once I learned to get into the appropriate gear before I started a steep climb, I was amazed at the terrain I could ride. The photos I took don’t convey how steep the terrain actually was.

This was a steep, slippery climb

Coming down some of slopes was a challenge. The trail I followed had some technical sections. I took my time and rode slowly to get into the groove of mountain biking. After I climbed the hill in the photo above, the trail dropped down into a dry creek bed. The creek bed was deep sand. Once again, I was surprised at how well the tires coped with the terrain. In the deep sand, I needed to maintain forward momentum. I tried to avoid the softest areas, but couldn’t always do that.

The trail took me through this sandy arroyo

The next climb was very technical. The upper third of the hill was steep, with loose rock. I really enjoyed the challenge.

A rocky hill, it’s steeper than it looks

After I crossed that hill, I found that the trail wasn’t taking me down to the river. It crossed private property near a storage yard and ended at Higley Road. I rode along the road and came upon an orange grove. I followed a trail next to the grove that took me to another trail that followed a canal. I knew the canal trail would loop me back to a point near the RV park. I had been riding for one and a half hours and I was feeling it. I was ready to stop.

When I came back to our site, I saw a new neighbor had moved in behind us. As I was putting my bike away, he approached me and asked about bicycling routes in the area. His rig was very interesting, I told him I’d seen one like on TV before. It’s a four wheel drive expedition mobile coach.

His name was Peter Zaug, he and his wife, Ruth, are from Switzerland. They are touring the USA and have a website at www.traveljoy.ch.  But, you have to be able to read German.

Expedition coach

Peter and Ruth dining al fresco

You can get more information about the expedition coach at Actionmobile.

Peter wanted to take a 20 to 30 mile ride on his road bike. I gave him directions for riding the Usery Loop. I told him it was about a 20 mile loop with a long, three mile climb. I found a map of the area in our coach and gave it to him, since he seemed a little unsure of my directions.

When I saw him later, he said he liked the route and it was 20 miles, just as I told him.

Last night I found information on mountain biking trails in the area. Some of the best mountain bike trails are nearby. It’s called the Hawes Trail. It has several loops, some of them climb all the way up Usery Mountain. I’ll have to ride three or four miles on the road to get there, but I might check it out today.