After I finished the Colorado trail, I set the bike aside for a month while Mark and I got married and prepped for our current trip!
We had an incredible time at our wedding and are so thankful to all the friends and family who made it happen!
We are now a week into our journey to Argentina and experiencing the usual highs and lows that come with the start of any trip.
After spending so much time off the bike while we sewed bags and did other prep work for the trip, Mark and I have been struggling to acclimate to ten hours a day on the saddle. Rough dirt roads, hot, windy days, long stretches in between water, saddle sores, and the fact that we forgot our sunscreen, had us feeling beat up pretty quickly. When our rear wheel started popping spokes on day three of our trip, we were happy to give our bodies a break while we made repairs in Silver City.
We stayed two nights with some incredible Warm showers hosts just outside of town. Lauren and Alex opened up their home to us, cooking us dinner and sharing stories of their travels through Mexico and Central America.
One of our friends from Mark’s bike shop overnighted us the old wheel from the tandem, which we figured would actually work better for us, and we were able to swap it out at a local bike shop where we met some more kindness and hospitality.
After we left Silver City, we started to encounter some major winds. We worked hard to pedal through a stiff head wind for two days in a row, but discovered some real gems in the towns of Portal and Tombstone and the surrounding areas.
Finally riding with the wind instead of against it, we coasted into Tucson a day earlier than expected and found some folks willing to host us last minute. We ran a few errands on our way to Steve and Christine’s house, where we took much needed showers and washed our clothes. Steve and Christine cooked us dinner and breakfast and after spending a few rich hours of conversation with them, we decided that they are who we want to be when we grow up.
Steve and Christine’s stories of bike touring and traveling the world (claiming up to 54 ‘honeymoons’) as well as their day to day experiences commuting on the bike and their involvement in their communities, had us feeling excited not only about this trip, but about a lifetime of travel.
We have a few more things to take care of in Tucson, so we’re staying one more night with a friend’s parents in Oro Valley. Next we’ll head toward Yuma, AZ and hopefully be crossing into Mexico within the week!
To see more photos and videos visit our google photo drive here.
To follow us day to day check out Mark’s Strava.
Thanks for reading! -Nic and Mark