Day 3: First half of the day was a glorious singular climb. A rhythm and a focus. Pulled water from a small trickle out of the mountain. Resupply at a gas station and Mexican restaurant, which was so good. Two large cups of icy Jamaica.
Ride down the Black Canyon Trail for a half hour to a campsite, no warming fire today so we sit around for a some sips of whiskey and sharing whatever snacks we have. Soon into the sleeping bags.
Day 4: Low mileage but wrestling with the trail. Curving, arcing, up down big rocks babyheads sand sharp edges, tearing flora on both sides. Late in the day I tip over into a ravine, a little cut up and scraped.
Find our way to Black Canyon City for calzones and lemonade, then, exhausted and not much motivated to find camping with 15 mins of daylight left, we go to the Black Canyon Campground. The managers spot us milling about and open up the office again to rent us a three person mini cabin. Perfect.
Day 5: Woke up in the tiny cabin, warm, mild sun drifting through the one window. Morning to the fellas, gathered myself and my gear. Had pie for breakfast, modest resupply, off onto the track.
As rugged and jarring and abusive as I remember from those years ago. Riding I love so much, slow crawling problem solving, hard but not catastrophic. Nearly 30 miles of the BCT.
Then with little light remaining, riding through northern Phoenix. Suburban streets, more singletrack in the lovely Sonoran Preserve just at sunset, then a bike path that ends unceremoniously onto a construction zone highway, so we dart in and out of hazard barricades, onto the construction vehicle road, back onto the tarmac. Not quite adequate lighting, pedaling into a fugue with the cold and headlights where I can’t go fast but I know I could ride indefinitely. I’m loving it, sometimes we three trade an observation but mostly it’s just pedaling, streets, overpasses, sidewalks, bike infrastructure. We meet Wyatt at a Mexican restaurant before checking into our airbnb.
