April 22

I'm glad I'm not standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, today! I'd probably get knocked over.

It's my third day here in Winslow, and I'm sittin' inside my Airbnb apartment, listening to the afternoon wind whistling through the doors and windows. We're under another high-wind warning, with gusts reaching more than 50 mph. Earlier this morning, when the wind was from the south, dust was in the air, reducing visibility. It's now blowing from the west-southwest, just as hard, but for whatever difference the change of direction makes, the view is clear. When I look out this apartment's back window, I can see cars and trucks moving east on Interstate 40, about a mile away.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to have a visitor. David Hoff, whom I'd worked with at the Los Angeles Times almost 20 years ago, drove up from his home in Mesa, Arizona, to spend the day with me. He arrived early enough to join me for breakfast at The Falcon restaurant, right across the road from where I'm staying. David arrived and slid into the booth just as the waitress placed the two-plate Breakfast Sampler in front of me. The Sampler's menu entry had said, "Good luck trying to finish it!" But appetite isn't a problem for me these days. David watched as I mowed down two eggs, hash browns, two sausage links, four strips of bacon, a slice of ham and two very large pancakes. (He had a small order of biscuits and gravy.)

We chatted for over an hour, catching up on where we'd gone and what we'd done after our respective stints at The Times.

The weather was nice yesterday, so we were able to drive the short distance to downtown Winslow to get our pictures taken at the city's main attraction, the "Standin' on the Corner" monument on the northwest corner of North Kinsley Avenue and East Second Street.  As you probably know, Winslow has embraced the song "Take It Easy" written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey of the The Eagles. It was The Eagles' first hit.

Well, I'm standing on a corner

In Winslow, Arizona

And such a fine sight to see

It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford

Slowin' down to take a look at me

Come on, baby, don't say maybe

I gotta know if your sweet love

Is gonna save me

We posed next to the statue named "Easy," and then the statue of Frey, which was erected after his death in 2016.

There isn't a whole lot else to do in Winslow. I needed to get a few snacks and drinks for my remaining time here, so David graciously drove me to the Safeway store. David is an avid hiker and knows all the important information about how to outfit oneself for extended hours and days on the trail. Most of what he's learned also applies to long-distance cycling, so we had a lot to talk about concerning calorie and fluid intake, equipment and such things.

After the grocery run, we headed back to my apartment and hung out for a while. By then we were hungry again and headed back downtown to The RelicRoad Brewing Company restaurant for a late lunch, where we occupied a booth for over an hour. It was great catching up and dredging up memories of building latimes.com in the early days of the internet. David then dropped me off and headed out for his three-hour drive back to Mesa.

I spent the next few hours futzing with my bike, which needed adjustment. When George and I had squeezed my bike into his car and packed things around it for the drive from Prescott Valley, we apparently bent the front fender. When I put the wheel back on, the fender was pushed up against it. After about an hour, I finally was able to free up the wheel so that it now spins unimpeded. It's been too windy to give it a test ride today, so I'll take it out for a spin early tomorrow before loading on the bags and getting on the road. Fingers crossed that everything is in working order.

A Fortuitous Decision

When George offered to drive me out of the bicycling dead end I'd gotten into in Prescott Valley, I originally asked him if we could drive the route through Sedona I had hoped to take, and then he could drop me off in Flagstaff. That way I could ride as many miles as possible on my bike while avoiding the climb up to Flagstaff's elevation. George, however, is prone to getting car sick, even when he's driving. He didn't want to deal with all the switchbacks on that route, so he suggested taking me farther east to Winslow, where he could drive on straighter roads. I agreed.

As it turns out, that was a fortuitous decision. A huge brush fire is raging northeast of Flagstaff. The road I would have taken out of there has been closed due to the fire and smoke.

Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again

According to the weather forecasts, the wind is going to calm down considerably tomorrow. It's supposed to be blowing at just 3-12 mph with gusts of 16 mph from the west and northwest as I ride 37 miles northeast to Holbrook, AZ. The short day will set me up for two longer days after that — 70 miles from Holbrook to Chambers on Sunday, and then about 55 miles from Chambers to Gallup, New Mexico on Monday. There are few places to stop for food and drink between the start and finish each day, so I'll need to be cautious. 

(Even though I could have ridden to Holbrook in yesterday's weather, I would have been stuck there waiting out today's winds. I have more resources in Winslow, so I figured it made sense to bide my time here.)

The forecasts also say I'll have good weather for the next week or more. So, I'm looking forward to a fresh start and getting up some momentum. The shorter ride will be a good way to get back into my riding routine, since I've been sitting on my butt not doing much of anything over the last week. I've done some yoga the last couple of days to get myself going again, but I still feel stiff.

I need to start turning those pedals — and, take it easy.

Contact me: Thoughts or comments? Email me at richardridesusa@gmail.com.

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