January 9, 2019 - Scottsdale to Great Western Trail Turnoff, Arizona

Day 9 Cross Country Bike Ride

Partly sunny skies shined on Tobey as he started his ride today. Penny was not happy that he was leaving and not taking her along. She will be staying in Scottsdale with our moms for the next couple months so I gave her lots of hugs and petting before I followed behind him.

Tobey’s route was based on another cross-country bicycler’s blog and had him heading east toward Apache Junction. He rode on Lost Dutchman Blvd. before connecting to Highway 88 north toward Roosevelt Lake. While Lost Dutchman Blvd. didn’t have a shoulder, it was fairly wide and had beautiful views.When Tobey turned onto Hwy 88 after riding 27 miles he discovered what a HORRIBLE road Hwy 88 was! No shoulder, narrow lanes, rough rock along the side, lots of FAST traffic. When I caught up to him, I did not want him to continue on this road – and neither did he! A mid-ride course correction was in order!!!

Tobey made a call to Adventure Cyclist and they said they do NOT recommend Hwy 88! They gave him an alternate route to consider. We loaded the bike and headed west on Lost Dutchman Blvd. to North Ellsworth Road. Of course, we had to backtrack over 7 miles along the route Tobey had already ridden so he could continue his ride on their new suggested route. We unloaded his bike and he was off again! As he headed north, the wind picked up but the road was very bike friendly!Further north, the road goes by Usery Mountain Regional Park and we passed the sign for Phoenix made with stones in the mountain. A right turn put us on North Bush Highway along the Salt River and Saguaro Lake in the Tonto National Forest. The scenery is beautiful!Yes, I am really on the trip cross-county, too!Bush Highway connected to Highway 87 heading north toward Payson and Tobey went zooming by!We met at the Great Western Trail turnoff about 4:30 and Tobey was still smiling. It could be that the last two miles were all downhill!!The dirt trail road on the east side of the road was steep and had lots of ruts, so we crossed the highway to the east and found a fairly quiet spot to park. It is actually in a parking area in the off-road ATV trail park. Tomorrow he will head north on Hwy 87 and then turn southeast again on Highway 188. Today Tobey rode about 53 miles today. If he had more reliable information about Highway 88, his route would have been directly up Highway 87 from Scottsdale instead of this roundabout route. Hopefully tomorrow won’t have any surprises!!