Day 8- Flagstaff, AZ > Holbrook, AZ (95 miles)

 May 13

Week 1 update as we rolled out of our first rest day...we knew that last week was going to be the toughest week of this trip. We fared pretty well and continue to get more used to the routine and are staying flexible. The first week tally had us riding 525 miles and climbing 22,612 feet. It was a great week and glad it is in the rearview mirror!

Today's route:

Today was easy on gradient and long on miles...funny how the folks that organize this ride seem to know what they are doing. We dreaded the haul down the interstate, and we were pleasantly surprised that I-40 is much better than I-10 as far as traffic goes and quality of the right of way. The problem is the tiny metal wires from steel belted tires that work their way into your tires after you ride over them. We are checking our tires every time we stop because those wires will eventually puncture your tube. We had several flats again today, and you can imagine how much fun it is fixing flats along an interstate in the heat. All of that said, we had a very good day today. We had a tail wind for much of the day and covered the 95 miles in less than 5 hours, so we were rolling. We had a SAG stop at mile 40 and at mile 72.

The quote that I thought about during the miles down I-40: I listened to a great message yesterday morning from Mountaintop Church in Birmingham that made me think about this quote..."The devil knows your name and calls you by your sins; God knows your sins and calls you by your name." Ricardo Sanchez. So true...

Here is a cool picture looking back towards Flagstaff...only thing not cool about it is that we were fixing a flat:

A view of the Griffin Express from behind:

Our route took us through Winslow, AZ today...You all know the song! Yep, I had "Take It Easy" on a loop in my head all day. I always thought that the Eagles wrote the song, but it was Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey (so sort of The Eagles). The lyrics say something about standing on a corner and a woman in a flatbed Ford slowing down...we would gladly trade a flatbed Ford for the white Dodge trucks that keep coal rolling us...

Winslow was about 55 miles into the ride, and we pigged out on ice cream/milk shakes. A couple of photos from there:

                                                    

Check this guy out that is also riding across the country and making us look bad:

We arrived in Holbrook around 2:30, showered, did our laundry primitive style, and ate an early dinner near the hotel. Check out the picture below of the sunset by our hotel:

This gives you an idea of the changing landscape as we move towards the middle. I love the way that God can put an awesome exclamation point on the day with a cool sunset. What an artist...

Tomorrow is another 90+ mile day across flat ground and traveling I-40 again. We're all holding up well, having a large time, and getting really good at fixing flat tires. ...I'll start answering some questions you guys have been asking me since this week is a little boring as far as landscapes and routes. Somebody asked me about what we carry on the bike, and I'll cover some of that tomorrow. Let me know if you have other questions and thanks again for following our journey! Talk tomorrow.