Day 100 - 85 miles

     In the morning I packed up and started riding at 9:30am.  Before I got back onto the highway I met a guy named Greg who was sitting in a van on the road taking a phone call.  He was impressed at my trip.  He told me about his experience as a sailor.  The next adventure I take on will likely include a crossing of the Pacific Ocean as a crew member on a boat.

     The weather was sunny and nice.

     I stopped in Black Canyon City to get a snack at the grocery store.  I used my iPhone to navigate as I neared Phoenix.  I stayed away from main roads and began traversing the giant grid of city streets.  It got dark when I rode through the city and it was surreal to be reaching the end of my trip.  I thought about all the miles I had ridden and all the people I had met on the way.  

     I called ahead to my dad and stepmom who had a house in Avondale.  I reached their house without getting lost in the dark.  They were waiting for me with dinner when I arrived at their house.  I was happy to be done with the bike ride.

     My total trip odometer was 5271 miles.  I took 2 weeks to visit friends and then I flew back to Alaska. 

My last campsite of the trip.

Welcome to Phoenix.

Happy to be finished.

Done riding.

Day 99 - 65 miles

     I left Flagstaff on a Monday morning and headed to Sedona.  I took Highway 89A.  The high elevation made me ride slow initially but soon I was going downhill.  Before long I was surrounded by he red rocks of Sedona.  The weather was perfect as I rode past Sedona and onto I17. 

     It was mostly downhill except after I passed Camp Verde there was a long, steady climb.

     After that climb the sun was going down so I camped where Highway 169 meets I17.  I found went down a dirt road about 200 feet and then turned off into the desert.  I set up my tent next to some bushes so I was not visible from the road.

     At night it was cold enough that I woke up and boiled water for a water bottle in my sleeping bag.  

Riding out of Flagstaff.

Red rocks in Sedona.

Nice view in Sedona.

Riding in Arizona.

Leaving Sedona.

Red rocks.

Day 92 to 98 - 0 miles

     I stayed with my brother and the fraternity for a week. 

My brother Iden, me, and Tyler in Flagstaff.

Day 91 - 35 miles

     It poured rain all night.  At 4am the rain had stopped and I was woken up by a screeching sound.  The noise kept going on and I got out of bed with my slingshot.  I climbed a rocky hill and I saw a metal communications tower.  Near the top of the tower there was an owl screeching.

     I shot pellets at the tower and on my last pellet I hit the metal near the bird and it flew away.  I couldn’t fall back to sleep so I got dressed and packed my things.

     There was a gas station next to where I camped so I was able to have coffee.  I started riding at 6:30am and the sky was clear.

     I climbed a 10 mile hill that rose 3000’ feet.  It was a massive hill.  I rode through a broad valley and over another pass and I came to Kingman.  I called a bike shop and headed to it to get spokes replaced.  There was a breast cancer rally going on and I got a free hot dog lunch.

     At the bike shop I got the spokes fixed and a few adjustments.  I also bought a patch kit.

     I knew it was going to be a long push to Flagstaff.  I was at 3300 feet elevation and Flagstaff was at 7000 feet.  I was about to get into cold weather.  I saw snow on the mountains nearby.  I had been told there would be snow on the ground between Kingman and Flagstaff.  I was considering riding all night, skip sleep and push to Flagstaff.  I thought this would be better than sleeping in the cold.

     By chance, my younger brother had a meeting in Kingman that day for a fraternity meeting and he drove past me about 3 miles outside Kingman.  It had been 10 days since I last talked to him.  He saw me and pulled over in a car.  I was able to dismantle my bike and fit it in the car.  He gave me a ride and it saved me 140 miles of riding in the snow, uphill.

     I was 15 miles from hitting snow when I got picked up.  We drove to Flagstaff and I showered and unpacked.  It was Saturday night and I had fun celebrating with the fraternity.

     I had been initiated into this fraternity in Flagstaff the previous year so it was good to see friends I hadn’t seen in awhile.

Climbing a hill at dawn

Riding on a long straight road.

Good weather.

Day 90 - 29 miles

     The neighbor across the street from Amanda’s house greeted me as I was getting ready to leave in the morning.  The man there gave me a bag of homegrown dates.  They were delicious.

     I crossed the state line into Arizona and went to a laundromat.  While my clothes washed I bought fruit and snacks.

     There was a tailwind as I rode on but there were rain clouds ahead.  I hadn’t seen rain clouds in a long time.

     I saw Laughlin across the Colorado River as I rode through Bullhead City.

     I stopped at a visitors center and Sam’s Club.  When I got back on the road it had started raining.  Soon it was dark and raining hard.  It was dark, rainy, and cold so I looked for a place to camp out of the rain.  Just ahead was a building for lease.  I went to it and the driveway was gated so cars couldn’t enter.  There was no one in the building and it had a carport.  I setup my tent there and went to sleep early.

Crossing the Colorado River.

Entering Arizona.

My bag od dates.

Day 89 - 84 miles

     I started riding in the morning and I had a headwind.  The weather was sunny and the temperature was good for riding.

     The road was long and straight and climbed steadily.  I reached Sierra Summit at 4000 feet and the sun had gone down.  

     The last 10 miles before Needles was all downhill.  I was cruising at 22mph through the darkness.  It was intense because I had to stay on the shoulder of the road.  I came over a hill and I saw city lights.  I coasted down to Needles and I had not yet talked to my CouchSurfing host, Amanda.

     Needles had a population of 5,000 so I figured I could ask around to find Amanda’s number.  I asked people at Carl’s Junior and Dairy Queen.  The girls at Carl’s Junior said they had had Amanda as an english teacher, but they didn’t know her number.  One lady at Dairy Queen made a phone call to someone that would know of Amanda because she was also a teacher.  I don’t know what kind of phone tree ensued but after 30 minutes they told me they had her number and I called her.  Amanda told me how to get to her house.

     Amanda was a cool host.  She had lived in Las Vegas.  We had a beer and I showed her pictures from the trip.  Then I went to sleep in the guest room.

I camped right next to the highway.

Camping in the desert.

Riding in the desert.

Good weather for biking.

The pavement on the shoulder was rough.

Smooth sailing.

I hit 5,000 miles.

Empty desert.

Colorful sky.

Flat road.

Colorful sunset.

Pink sky.

Sunset.

Day 88 - 69 miles

     I took Route 66 for a few miles but its surface was rough and it slowed my pace a lot.  I had a flat tire and two dogs came over and started barking at me.  I used my slingshot to fire a couple rounds towards them and they left me alone.  

     To get from Route 66 to the interstate that ran parallel to it I had to toss my bike and trailer over a barbwire fence.  Riding on the interstate was smoother, more comfortable, and faster.

     The road was gradually uphill.  The terrain was desolate desert and I saw some rodents running occasionally.

     I used SPF 50 sunscreen during the day.  When the sun set I was in Ludlow and I stopped to eat and put on my nighttime riding gear and lights.

     After riding in the dark for a while I camped next to the highway.  My camp was visible form the road but the color of my tent blended in with the surroundings so it wasn’t noticeable.

Gary's house with my gear on the floor.

Riding on I40.

Riding on Route 66.

Riding in the desert.

Day 87 - 72 miles

     When I was getting ready to leave Mojave the wind was blowing hard and it knocked my bike over and broke the rear view mirror.

     Heading out of Mojave I picked up a tailwind again and I was going 24 mph on flat road.

     I had a flat tire and a guy who owned a bike shop stopped and offered to help.  I said ‘ok’ and the guy basically changed my tube for me.

     My host in Barstow was named Gary.  When I got to Barstow I bought another inner tube and I ate at Del Taco and figured out how to get to Gary’s house.

     Gary was a kind host.  He had done a bike trip from Prudhoe Bay to Idaho 15 years before my trip.  We showed each other pictures from our bike trips and we had some of the exact same pictures.

Zach's mission house.

Long straight road.

Riding in the sun.

A truck carrying a giant wing.

Chuck from Main Street Bicycle in Illinois changed my flat for me.

Entering Barstow.

American flags flying.

Day 86 - 77 miles

     I woke up at 8:30am, packed up, and headed out.  On the way out of Bakersfield I stopped at a bike shop to pump up my tires.  I also got a haircut, bought groceries, and ate at In & Out Burger.  

     On the highway leaving town a police officer stopped me and told me to get off the highway and find an alternative route.  I rode through an orange grove and ate some oranges.

     I rode up a 17 mile hill and I was in the high desert.  Zach was my CouchSurfing host in Mojave.  At 8:30pm, when I was 20 miles from Mojave, I started going downhill with a strong tailwind.  I cruised in the dark at 25 - 30 mph average.  Soon I was in Mojave.

     Zach was an airplane designer and motorcycle rider.  He lived in an old mission that he had turned into a neat living space.  I talked to Zach for awhile and then I went to sleep.

My meal at In & Out Burger.

Crossing dry grasslands.

Day 85 - 87 miles

     I woke up and ate a peanut butter and Pop-Tart sandwich for breakfast.  In the morning I had one long climb but after that it was mostly downhill or flat.

     There was road construction on the road and one freshly-paved lane was closed to vehicle traffic.  I rode in the closed lane.

     I ate a raw bell pepper for lunch.  The road went between many fields with various crops.  The road was straight and flat.  I was able to mess with my phone and iTouch while riding.  This was a change from the hilly, twisting road on the coast.

     I stopped at K-Mart in Wasco and had pizza for lunch.  I also bought a slingshot so I could try shooting stuff while riding the bike.

     I contacted the Kappa Sigma Fraternity in Bakersfield and they said I could stay with them.  As I rode I practiced shooting my slingshot but it was hard to ride with no hands because my handlebars would wobble.  

     The road was flat all the way to Bakersfield.  I met the fraternity guys at Applebee’s at 9pm.  One member, Kenny, said I could stay with him in his apartment.  I hung out with the frat guys and then I went to sleep on Kenny’s living room floor.

My campsite.

Speed enforced by aircraft.

Sunset.

There is a box of pizza on my handlebars.

My new slingshot.

Day 84 - 28 miles

     I did laundry in the morning and ate breakfast in a common room with some of the neighbors.  I played piano and helped a 16 year old girl with her math homework.

     I said goodbye to Diane and left Paso Robles.  Soon I was in a new climate.  It was dry grassland with rolling hills.  I had a steady headwind and I was only able to go 4 mph.

     I had a nosebleed due to the change in humidity.       

     My trailer tire went flat and then my back tire went flat (my 10th flat).

     It got dark and I hadn’t made much progress.  I felt unenthusiastic about riding further so I found a place to camp in a field near the highway.

     During the night I woke up multiple times and I was cold.  By morning I had put on all my clothes and I was still cold.

The guest room I used in Paso Robles.

I attached some festive halloween balloons to my trailer.

Fixing a flat tire.

My bloody nose left this mess.

Riding into the desert.

Grasslands.

I had a flat tire here.

Night time sets in.