I'm pretty sure most of you have seen the nature progams from the African savanna.   The wildebeests are migrating when they come to a croc infested river.  They plough through knowing that most of them will make it, and hoping that they aren't the ones the crocs take down.  The first half of today's ride was like that.

We started the day well enough,  meeting a pair of east-bound riders, Larry and Mary, on the way to breakfast.  They had heard of us though Jake, whom they crossed paths with a day ago.  We exchanged information about what lay ahead, and headed for breakfast.   A half hour later we were back on the road.

The shoulders of the road were narrow, where they existed at all, and what shoulder there was was often blocked with an overgrown,  thorny mesquite that left us with options of moving onto the road into the path of a speeding truck,  or slowing drastically to check the road before sneaking into a break in traffic, and then retreating back to your six inches of shoulder.

The most appropriate advice of the day came from an old rancher in Miami, where we stopped for a snack before tackling the second big climb of the day. "Try not to get hit."  Prophetic.

Thank you for your prayers for our safety thru the Queen Creek tunnel.  It was probably the easiest part of our morning.   I told Barb I'd stop before the tunnel to consider options,  but there was no shoulder to stop on.  Thank heaven Barb had the foresight to have us turn on our blinking taillights a few miles earlier.   Then we hit the tunnel just after a string of cars following an 18 wheeler loaded with cattle.  We made our break and glided dowhill through the tunnel with only the threatening sounds of a following semi to worry us.

A few miles later we were in Superior and stopping for lunch at Edwardo's Pizzeria.   We refueled  and replenished our water supply, then hended back onto US 60.

What a difference a good shoulder makes.  Just west of Superior,  the road became divided four lanes, with a wide smooth shoulder.  Combined with the easiest climb of the day,  and the long gradual downhill that followed,  it made cycling a totally different experience.  We had time to stop and take photos of the mountains,  and Barb found a nearby Saguaro to pose next to.  She did pick up a piece of roadside tire scrap to probe for snakes, but the way seemed clear.

We had intended to make it to Apache Junction,  but by 4:30, traffic starting picking up, and so we've chosen to stay at Golden Canyon, five miles east of Apache Junction.

We've showered and done laundry,  eaten supper in the hotel lounge, and are relaxing in our room.

Tomorrow we'll work our way across Phoenix, planning a stop at Rosita's in Tempe for lunch. Then we'll make our way to Sun City where we've arranged for a warmshowers stay.

Safe and well.