RAAM – Day 2

We awoke after what seemed like less than 2 hours sleep (and it was) to the hot dusty scrub plains adjacent to the Colorado River.  Although there didn’t appear to be much wildlife around we heard lots of bird noises whenever someone walked more than 10m away from the Mother Ship RV.

 Mickey had passed a large number of riders during the night and we wondered how many had soldiered on past us before calling it a night. Mickey was keen to get going and kitted up and took off by 7.30am after food, a good stretch from Celine, and fresh gear.

The route in the morning took us to Parker where we got some help with the RV from a friendly guy named Jimmy, and then onto places like Wendon and Salome, one horse towns with literally 1-2 houses and a general store, and an RV/Trailer park – which seemed illogical. Roger was pretty rapt that he was the first MickRooCrew member to successfully do a U-turn in the RV.

Mickey was moving at speed early but really had to work very hard into strong headwinds and 40 degree temperatures on long flat roads offering nothing. He was a tired boy at lunch at the Salome time station and some changes in the wind direction offered some help for the afternoon.

The route went through flat country and some native Indian reservations and towns before rearing up off the plain with a very big climb over a number of miles. The view of the rocky plains filled with cacti was spectacular, but came at a cost of hard work on the legs. Mickey appreciated getting his teeth into the climbs and seemed to enjoy them, being keen to ride on as dusk approached. The climbs continued past 4,000, 5000, 6000 and 7,000 feet (max 7,036) and he kept eating them up, being out of the saddle, doing lots of stretching and requesting Coldplay from DJ Dave to help drive him up the range late into the night.

He looked very strong, and to the delight of the support crew decided to take the 10 mile rapid descent easy which was a wise decision as the road surface deteriorated and he got a flat near the bottom of the descent.  The town of Jerome on the descent was a highlight and looked and felt like a little Italian village, and a bit surreal given the rest of America.  Mickey made the Cottonwood time station but was tiring and with a 40mile climb awaiting,  soon after decided to call it a night, with the RV still a little further up the road.

A bed was made in the Chrysler for Mickey, whilst Gary won the chair and Dave and Greg opted for the sealy Posturepedic Bitumen. Mickey was out like a light while we waited for the RV. Later whilst we were nearby waiting to direct the RV, we saw a Coyote near our gear. Greg chased it off into the bush then afterwards thinking…”was that really a good idea???”

Day 2 was a long hot day, with the conditions testing Mickey (who was coming 4^th overall at Parker), testing our teamwork and testing our patience. The MickRooCrew made some good decisions without Mickey, which were smart moves in the end.

We look forward to Day 3 and some of the great scenery Arizona has to offer!