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| Superhosts Carlyle and Julie |
I spent the first couple hours of the afternoon rehydrating on their shaded patio, admiring their beautiful backyard and their fountain. The fountain is a huge hit with birds of all kinds, especially the neighborhood starlings and grackles.
I also saw a love bird, humming bird and a yellow-rumped warbler quenching their thirsts in the gurgling water.
Julie and Carlyle are fabulous hosts, and I truly appreciated my stay in the separate bedroom and bathroom they provide for their cycling guests. I slept like a baby. They also prepared a delicious vegan dinner and breakfast for me. No charge whatsoever.
I felt like a freeloader, because I was not a Warm Showers member and don’t envision being able to return the favor by hosting other touring cyclists anytime soon.
So I signed up with group and paid the $30 application fee. Hopefully that helps somehow.
I also bought the Kindle version of a book on nutrition that Carlyle and Julie were promoting, Dr. Greger’s How Not to Die. I started reading it on my rest days, and it helped shame me into reducing my consumption of junk food on the tour.
To get around Phoenix by bicycle, it’s probably safest to stick to the sprawling network of canal trails as much as possible.
Alas, some sections of the trail are trashy and have turned into campgrounds for some of the city’s many homeless.
Many of the trail tunnels under the city’s busier streets have morphed into unofficial homeless shelters, too. So cyclists beware.
It’s hard for speeding cyclists to see the folks hanging out inside the dark tunnels or the debris on the tunnel floors, especially when the sun is shining brightly outside.
Since the temps are expected to be on the high side for spring here—in the 90s—over the next several days, I have decided to hunker down in a hotel tomorrow in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria to attend a spring season baseball game between the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs.
I haven’t been to a Padres game since I was a kid growing up in San Diego and they were a minor league team.
Temps are supposed to be far cooler on Monday.
DM: 34.9; TM: 438.6; 3:28 riding; avg.spd, 10 mph
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| Arizona Canal Trail |
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| One of many homeless camps on trail |
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| Great-tailed grackle |
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| Adobe detail |
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| Vegan tacos |
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