Travel notes

Tucson

Thursday, july 28th

Casa Grande, AZ to Marana, AZ

Sleep I get in cities is spotty 'cause I can hook up to late night WiFi. Well, after it rains camping becomes difficult as well. In Casa Grande, I stayed up all night outside Lowe's and snatched an hour nap after sunrise and before breakfast on damp dirt on an empty lot. Then as I rode out of town, I came across an unleased shopping center, slept another hour in the shade of a support column. Rode 40 miles to Marana on two hours of sleep.

morning camp

Highlights of bicycling on the freeway

Playing 'the penis game' on the highway with myself. PENIS! It's a schoolboy game of daring and disruptive behavior. You take turns saying 'Penis' during class or in a quiet library. You have to say it louder than your opponent each time until one person gets caught or chickens out. It doesn't matter who wins. It's more about hilarious ways of passing off the word 'penis' really loudly.

Try these strategies. Pretend to read the dictionary from the word 'penicillin'. Cough. Squeak very high pitched and fast. Drawn out and incomprehensibly slow like a foghorn. Or have you tried just blatantly using it in a no context sentence. "MY PENIS IS ITCHY. MAY I USE THE BATHROOM?"

Gotta rally to cheer myself on. I howl. I sell miles at a ballpark. "20 miles, get your 20 miles here!" I do the Gangnam Style dance when I'm about to reach the exit to my destination.

Friday, July 29th
Marana, AZ to Tucson, AZ

"Tuksan - I shall not forget that name! I will have my revenge. TUKSAN!" ~~~~ something a bad guy in an action movie would say to the hero

morning camp

Sleeping in Marana was rough. 92F from 9pm to 1am. Mosquitoes chewed up my arms, toes, knobs on my fingers. I slept inside the mosquito net of my hammock, laid on the ground. Couldn't get the fabric to tent over me. I continued to get bitten where the mesh rested on my arms. I also didn't get a breeze 'cause the net wasn't raised enough to let air through. In the morning, mosquitoes were replaced by flies.

Marana, AZ

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I was ushered off the Marana freeway in the morning. A highway patrolman pulled me over on his motorcycle. He wrote me a warning, instead of just talking to me, and seemed to be there just for me so I assume he had to placate a trepid 9 to 5'er who called in. I broke two spokes lowering my bicycle down a ditch to get off the freeway. The frontage road was closed and detours weren't marked, so it was a confusing hassle. Not having a good day to start.

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Did laundry at a hotel after having breakfast. Only one washer and drier for guests. It was open. I went to an ATM, changed quarters, but someone started a wash in the time I was gone. I sat and waited. They didn't come back on time, so I took out their clothes and started my wash. A floss toothpick fell out with their clothes, gross. With a few minutes left in my wash, they came back and filled the drier. Man, second time getting blocked. I was so close to getting my laundry in before they came back. I'm not waiting another 50 minutes for the drier. Found a housekeeping lady and asked for help. She let me dry my clothes in their commercial machine in 8 minutes.

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10am. Wearing clean clothes. Perfect timing. A bike shop is open nearby. Let's get spokes replaced. I needed the rear cassette removed to get the spoke in. I was in luck. The man working the shop was awesome. His music playlist already put me in a good mood. I learned more maintenance I can do to keep my bicycle running. I worked on my wheel while he kept a helpful eye to see if I need help. Thought I was crazy for taking the trip. I can't disagree with him.

My chain was super stretched. (A good article about it http://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/gear/article/bicycle-chain-wear-explained-46015/) Which makes sense, because I've had that thing fall off or slip while shifting dozens of times. Got a new chain. I feel a much better transfer of power when pedaling now. I'm apprehensive of stretching the new chain. But the cogs they roll over are already worn, so meh. It don't have to be perfect. Just get me to Florida.

After putting in some work, and a getting generous amount of help my bicycle is in better shape and I worked up an appetite. I've got a Mexican restaurant next door and lunch is on the house, the bike tech tells me. Could this get more convenient! Not if I planned it.

Delicious home style food in a warm family environment. Nana's Kitchen in Tucson. I ate everything put in front of me, haha. Taco, enchilada, stuffed bell pepper, beans and rice, chips and salsa. Desert was this sweet custard called Flan. Loved it. It was nice to taste a different cuisine than I normally get.

Beautiful new bicycle path into Tucson. Water stop at a hotel, and to collect travel shampoos. Shower at a community college.

Nerf keeping you safe

--- 6:30 pm

Another sudden storm. Dark engulfing clouds and tall flashes of lightning. Sand storm warning in effect until 8 pm.

Locals don't seem to be fazed by the approaching weather. A lady walks her dog. Pedestrians travel without hurry. I'm scrambling to get downtown where I can shelter indoors.

The community college where I was is locked up and everyone's gone home. I don't want to be stuck at a place where there's not supposed to be anyone there. Now I'm sitting in a waiting room at a hospital. The power went out briefly and I think the backup generator turned it back on. I hope my bicycle doesn't fly away along with the rack I locked it to. I put a tarp over my blankets and rolled my saddle bags shut. Should minimize any rain damage.

Ulix is too fat to fit in a saddle bag that's rolled shut for waterproofing. So I'm spending quality time with him. We go on walks in the rain. We catch up on conversation.

bonding with Ulix

LOL cum-a-dog next to hot jewels

The sky was so picturesque throughout the day but within a short hour a foul mood took hold. It's like spending time with a mentally disturbed loved one who normally is gentle, but could become unstable at any moment. Or showing the One Ring to Gollum.

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Severe T-storms forecasted tomorrow and into next week. I dunno if traveling out of town would help me avoid them at all. Excuse to hang in town? I think so, if it weren't raining I'd find some other reason. Like not getting enough sleep.

I got no more than a couple hours of sleep on a bench in front of University of Arizona bookstore tonight. Laptop on my chest, headphones on, tuning into Twitch, charging my stuff. College kids walk by, it's Friday night, no security. Saturday morning, I'm still here.

U of A

If I stay two days here, I'll start to feel guilty. That should get me moving, storm or not. Barring the freeway submerged in 6 inches of rain.

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The day was eventful. Good and bad, but all of it worthwhile. In the end, the good outpaces the bad because we move with it. But the bad propels us forward. Never would've gone to bike shop if it weren't for the broken spokes. If bad never happened, I wouldn't even be traveling. Etc, etc.