Wednesday I took a day off from my tourist wanderings.  We departed Maricopa for the last time & Dave started riding outside Apache Junction.  I started catching up on blogs at the Mountain Brew Coffee House in Gold Canyon, right on the bike route.  A cozy, independent shop with Wifi, that seems to be be a community gathering place. Time got away from me & it got to be 12:30 way too soon.  Time to find The Rider.

The road started climbing as the terrain changed to rock outcroppings and winding turns.  One tunnel & 6% grades. In hindsight, it would have been a good day to be nearby (and probably nervous), but I did meet up with Dave.  He rode almost 32 miles, climbed about 3400 feet & descended 1000 feet. Tough day on a unicycle. The rugged scenery was impressive, without many opportunities to stop for photographs.

I met a crosscountry cyclist who took my picture because he had seen Dave but didn’t get a photo.  Vicarious celebrity status for me. Bruce Miller’s son went to Case Western and his daughter-in-law is from Chesterland.  Small world stuff at every turn!

Not many camping choices in this area, so we went to the Apache Casino RV Park 4.5 miles east of Globe.  A $10 bargain for “dry camping” i.e. no water or electricity. Plus – a pool & jacuzzi. The website says no tents, but a church group doing work on the reservation camped there.