Day 1 - Mid Day Journal Entry (part 1)

It's 12:30, just a little later than the 8:00 am departure that we were hoping for but on the positive side, by the time we were done subtracting mileage for our backtracking, we were still 30 miles closer. That had to have been the longest 30 miles I've ever ridden. 12:30 in the Arizona desert, not only is the temperature now about 105 and climbing but we can see the Monsoon storm clouds brewing to the north of us.

West on Bell Road to I-17 turn right and head north and head north FAST. Our exhaust pounding off of the pavement and the miles are starting to tick off; nothing now but the sounds of our bikes thundering down the road and in the wind. I think about thirty miles in we all start to relax and throttle back just a bit as we start to head up "the hill" towards Flagstaff, just about the same time we see traffic beginning to build up, then come the "Road Under Construction" signs, crap, can't we catch a break! Here we go (or not) again. Traffic begins to crawl, the bikes begin to get hot, the pavement beats the desert heat back up at us. Still in leathers, Damn it's hot. Traffic is just moving enough that we can't jump off and strip out of the leathers, we're stuck in our own personal ovens. Waiting, waiting for traffic to either move faster or stop completely so we can cool ourselves off.
Fifteen minutes now, yo-yo-ing with the traffic in the other lane. A white "Caddy", mom and dad in the front and kids in the back, has been our latest yo-yo companion. After the second or third time of taking turns taking the lead the dad rolls down his window wanting to know where we're headed.
The conversation is nice, helps to pass the time; we talk about our route, how long it "should" take, where they are from (Big HELLO to the tourist from England - sorry I don't remember your names), their route and how much they'll love the Grand Canyon. They begin to move ahead of us again when one of the ladies with us asks if they have any water they could spare; (105+ in leather, with the heat from the road, travelling like a tortise...auuugggghhh!)they promptly hand out three bottles of ice cold water - we thought we'd gone to heaven!

The line still moves slow but at least now we're seeing signs that we are nearing the construction site; pylons are in place, signage all over, in the distance we can see the Flagman. Surely it won't be long now.

Dead Stop, we're not moving an inch, another fifteen or twenty minutes have passed. The ladies get off the bikes and start walking up the road, hoping that they'll be able to give us an idea of how long the line is or at least what's going on. Surely it has to get better?! It doesn't take long before the traffic starts to move again and we catch up to the ladies, not sure if the line is going to go any faster they choose to walk along side of us as we creep-step the bikes along. Within a few minutes their back on the bikes and we're starting to move.

Traffic seems to be flowing a little better now, we must be nearing the end of the construction. One more bend, maybe? We round the corner to see the construction crew directing traffic to the shoulder - two lanes of Interstate merging on to the shoulder - no wonder it's taking so long. As we pass through the gauntlet of construction workers we notice a yellow tarp in the passing lane, covering what one can only guess is a body - fluids running out from under the tarp towards the shoulder, we pay our respects, humbled a bit now, we roll on towards Flagstaff. RIP.

Arizona desert, Monsoon storm clouds, bikes,Flagstaff