Arizona

It has been a wild few months, a great bike tour followed by a month of mayhem, packing, moving, followed by working in Arizona and Mexico. Things are still busy, but at least it’s warm down here.

To recap the past few weeks in a pointed, brain dump format…..

Buried in work, packing, moving, goodbyes, etc. for the month of August
Caught the Burlington Criterium on Labor Day

Flew to Phoenix Arizona on September 5th
Rented a car and drove through 115 degree “dry heat” with the windows down to Douglas Arizona.
Found out why it’s called monsoon season

The fence between the US and Mexico is just behind the the houses across the street

Was reunited with the bicycle I just built and had shipped down

Parked out front of where I’m working in Mexico

After many years of touring on Long Haul Truckers, I built a Surly Troll for this trip. There are a few reasons for this, I wanted a higher bottom bracket, I already had a frame bag that fit, and …….. Rohloff compatible rear dropouts.

I’ve wanted one for years and this trip gave me the excuse to pull the trigger. Laced to a Mavic 729 it should make for a bomb proof wheel. Up front I have a Schmidt SON28 dynamo hub laced to a Mavic 719. A lightweight wheel that so far, has been holding up. Tires are Maxxis 2.4 Holy Rollers with Slime self sealing tubes. I’ll make a separate bike post in the future.

Drove across the border to Mexico and had the car and bags searched for 45 minutes by the US Border Patrol
Was denied entry for the car due to a paperwork error by Enterprise Car Rental
Was detained again coming back into the US
Returned the rental car and am now using rides / bicycle / public transportation
Got a ride with a coworker down to Fronteras Mexico
Worked a lot of hours
Stayed in a guest house for the week and ate some great Mexican food.
Explored the dirt roads and trails around Fronteras (a separate post to come)