Sunday March 22, 2015

We were up early and were on the road by 8:15 am. It was a little chilly, to start the ride and we had our windbreakers on. It was a beautiful ride, especially for me! Today we had a headwind and for the first 20 minutes I was up front as usual, and then Ralf took the lead and stayed up front for the rest of the ride. I do love him very much. It was a climbing day, although the hills were very gradual, but a constant uphill for the first 60 ks. Our total elevation was 606 metres.  Ralf said it was one of his toughest days of cycling pulling all day.  Even the rocks were leaning into the wind.

The scenery was stunning, we were in the Sanderson canyon for about 20ks, then we cycled between the Woods Hollow Mountain (Warwick Hills) and the Spencer Mountain.

The road wasn’t very busy today, we chatted for a while about the scenery and the drug bust and the fact that the last time we were at our current weight was before we left school.

We also saw three different groups of cyclists cycling the southern tier from west to east. Two Brits from southern England, three guys from Michigan, who like us had a tent but were spending most of their time in motels, a group of five from Wisconsin they were being supported and were riding for a charity. We stopped and chatted to each group, which ate into our overall time, but it was nice to chat to other cyclists.

The road was very straight, occasionally we would go through a small canyon where cactus were holding on to the rocks.

Then you would see a road sign which makes you go ????

We arrived in Marathon at about 3:00pm and headed to the grocery store to get something to eat, we were both starving and also get some pasta sauce for tonight. We headed to the hostel. It is a very interesting place. It is run by Ingrid who is from Slovakia. Most of the buildings are made from paper and concrete – a little stronger construction than papier maché, but not much.

The main hostel has a double bunk bed and a single bed, in one room, two single beds in a loft area, it has a lovely cool living space and an outdoor kitchen. The shower block, is across the yard which houses a bath-tub with shower, toilet and sink. You can also choose to sleep upstairs on the roof, under the stars. There are three other buildings you can stay in but those you have to pay for. The hostel is free for the first night for all cyclists.

Stephen and Janet were going to go to the motel, but it was full and cost $90 per night!  They came to the hostel. They have opted to sleep on the sofas in the living room.

The night skies in this area are amazing.