Buckeye to Mesa, rest and Ron

We had a rest day in Buckeye and spent time checking the bikes and relaxing, knowing we also had a few rest days in Mesa so we could meet up with Ron who was flying in.  The hotel gave us a few OLD towels and access to a hose to clean the bikes.  First bath of the trip!  It was also nice to be out of the small town food deserts, I bought and consumed many fresh fruits and vegetables!

After our rest day we headed across the Phoenix area to Mesa, traffic was heavy and some of the listed bike lanes were nonexistent. The ride was not fun to say the least.  We arrived safely and found lunch and Jim looked up canals paths for a fun ride on our next rest day.  We also found Boulder Bar and Grill, good food and beer!

Jim and I rode about 45 miles around Mesa, Phoenix and Scottsdale in parks and canals paths, every city should have this type of bike/hike trails!  Great exercise!  Two majors:  Found the first great coffee shop of the trip & helped a guy land a catfish from one of the canals.

In the evening I met my cousin Patrick (first time since 1977) and his wonderful wife Nancy. They took me out to dinner and we caught up for a few hours.  What a wonderful experience.  Looking forward to seeing them again when Renee and I travel in the motorhome.

Rest day two was laundry, bike maintenance, shopping and meeting Ron.  Tomorrow we Ride for Super AZ.  I hope it’s the easy 50 miles that it looks like.

The hallway at night in the Buckeye Holiday Inn

A goodnight drink for the crew

The full crew

Mike, Jim, Bill & Ron

Cruising Scottsdale 

Boulder Bar and Grill Mesa- good food

Biking the canals around Phoenix 

Miles accumulated to get to Mesa

Mike cleaning his bike at the Buckeye Holiday Inn

While biking the canals around Phoenix we helped Jed who was fishing 

Lots of room for us and bikes at the Buckeye Holiday Inn

Stopped at The Press coffee shop in old Scottsdale, best coffee of the trip so far!

Ending miles after cruising the canals