Day 12, March 17: Safford, AZ to Lordsburg, NM

Sag driver, 0 of 75 miles

Another gorgeous, blue-sky day with cool temperatures in the morning, warming to the high 80’s by mid-day. The 800’ elevation gain between Safford and Duncan doesn’t do justice to the first 40 miles of the ride. There were many long rollers as Route 70 ran through the lower elevations of the Pelocillo Mountains. A few riders opted to bump up 15 miles to the lunch spot at Ole Jo’s Café where Liz ordered St. Patrick’s pancakes.

Ole Jo's Cafe, Duncan, NM

The final 35 miles from Duncan to Lordsburg had a slight and steady elevation gain of 600’ with mountain vistas in the distance.

A few miles southeast of Duncan we had our second state crossing, into New Mexico, where we came across three bikers of another variety heading to Las Vegas for some fun and frolic.

My day as a SAG driver was relatively eventful. Only three miles out of Safford I came across Nancy, who already had two blowouts in the hotel parking lot this morning, and experienced her third on the road with no obvious cause. I had just enough time to run her back to Safford to catch up with Michelle and Linda, who were grocery shopping, managing to get back to the 20-mile SAG stop in time for the first riders. Five miles later I picked up the three riders mentioned earlier.

At the mile 60 SAG stop, I got a call from a rider who had fallen hard enough to crack her helmet at a railroad crossing. As I headed back toward Duncan to give her a lift, I stopped for each rider or group of riders who hadn’t reached me at the SAG stop yet so they could refuel and fill their water bottles. In this part of the country, there are very long stretches where there are absolutely no services and the conditions have been very hot and dry, so the SAG services are highly valued. On my way, I passed another rider who had just finished changing her flat only to have the valve blow out on the replacement. Up on Bo Peep went her bike. I came across the rider who had fallen, stowed her bike, and set out in search of the only rider remaining unaccounted. I found her at 3 PM just outside of Duncan, still with 35 miles to go. She, too, had fallen at the railroad tracks, which had a very sharp angle, and had been to a clinic to get a tetanus shot and to have her road rash treated. I convinced her that a SAG lift was in her best interest, and the four of us set off to Lordsburg. I had just enough time to reload the SAG wagon for tomorrow’s driver before dinner was served.

It was margarita night because of the state crossing and Linda, our master chef, prepared Irish stew and bread pudding for a delicious St. Patrick’s Day dinner.