I’m sure I packed them, they were there a couple days ago. At nearly 60 I seem to misplace things more often.

I had experienced a problem getting into the lowest front gear a few days ago, but it cleared up. Today, I could not shift the front derailleur at all, just when the grade switched to 6%. The problem was somewhat obvious after inspection, the derailleur clamps to an circular disk with an offset hole on an aluminum rod and it was slipping. Rather than deal with this on the incline, I forced it to the small gear and left it there until I could fix right tonight.

If your keeping track, I finished st6 and started about 5 miles of st7. Plan is  to complete st7 Tuesday, st8 Wednesday and split st9 into Thursday and Friday. These hills are proving that my planning was too ambitious for my conditioning and weight of the velo, gear and water.

From Apache Junction to the western side of the first pass at 2900 ft., the landscape seemed greener, the wildflowers predominantly yellow with some red and blue were getting into full bloom. A nice change of pace from the stones. The temps were cooler in the low 80s.

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This was also a nice sign to see, although there was still 200 some feet to go.

The route guide alluded to some issue with the road conditions between Superior and Globe, I think it was referring to the shoulders that were there, then they weren’t, then that nasty rumble strip. At least there was a passing lane going up, now to convince AZ drivers to use it.