Day 4 - Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Willcox to Tombstone - 80 miles
I’m very excited about today’s ride because we’ll be going back to Tombstone - cowboy country, where men are men and tourists are everywhere. Today's route to Tombstone would be different than the route we took on Day 1 when we rode in from Tucson; today we‘d be coming in from the east. Our route today would be essentially flat for the first 55 miles, then a gradual climb up into Tombstone. It was a cool and sunny morning (as per usual) when we rolled out of Willcox. We had a headwind (again, as per usual), so we hooked onto a pace line and made great time to the first rest stop at mile 23. The rest of the ride was uneventful but for our brief stop at the Mustang Mall. Yes, that's right, I said "Mall." The Mustang Mall is a little gas station/convenience store in the middle of nowhere which, in addition to typical convenience store items, also sells western-era memorabilia, cowboy hats, horse saddles, gun holsters, leather apparel and an interesting collection of greeting cards. I can certainly understand why they call it a "mall," despite the fact there was no food court, movie theater or teens hanging out there. The people who owned the mall were very nice and let us use their restroom w/out having to buy something. (I would have gladly bought a cowboy hat to wear as I rode into Tombstone, but couldn't find one to fit over my bike helmet.) Anyway, when we arrived in Tombstone, we stopped for ice cream at a little shop on the corner of Allen Street (the street that is dedicated to being replica of the old west). The woman behind the counter was sort of grumpy (could it be because there were about 10 cyclists in her shop waiting in line for ice cream?) I didn't have the heart to tell her we'd be in town for two nights - she might've pulled a shotgun from behind the counter, just like in the old west days. In any event, the ice cream tasted delicious. In all, it was an absolutely beautiful day to be on the bike - sunny, clear and about 77 degrees. It just doesn’t get any better than that. : )
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| All smiles on the road to Tombstone |
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| Lunch! |
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| Just keep pedaling |
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| Self-portrait action shot |
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| Outside the ice cream shop on Allen Street in Tombstone |
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| Our honeymoon suite at the Tombstone Motel - and my honey |
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