Yesterday, turned out to be quite a long day. My GPS lied to me about the distance to Tombstone. It said it was 71 miles. I rode 65 miles to Sonoita and I’m still 45 miles away. So I found a really nice Inn here in Sonoita with a restaurant and bar right next door. With several hills left to climb, one of my shifter cables broke. That left me with only the top gear in the back and 3 in the front. So, I was left with gears 10th, 20th and 30th. Going to try and jerry rig it so I’ll have 5th, 15th and 25th until I can find a bike shop for a new cable. Here’s the map and pix for yesterday.

Heyoka watching me through the window. I had a cinnamon bun and coffee at a little doughnut shop. Where the hardest climbing starts. 3800 feet climb total. Looking back down the mountain. I stopped at the local fire & rescue building in Sonoita, thinking I would need a place to camp. These firefighter/emts and paramedic pointed me in the direction of the Inn. Left to right: John, EMT-P, Capt. Brian, Paul and Jacob, all Firefighter/EMTs. If I can’t find a pair of pliers here at the inn, I may ride back and see if they can let me use a pair. Here’s another Lee. He was in the bar where I registered for my room. He said he saw me on the road and was amazed I finally made it over the mountains. It turns out he was driving a truck coming out of a ranch where I had almost flagged him down to see if I could throw my tent up somewhere on his place. Lee is a rodeo roping champ and his wife, Bridgette too. They travel all around hitting the different rodeos. She had just won a roping contest and he was celebrating for her. He lost his right thumb in a roping accident several years ago, but can still rope fine and now he doesn’t have to worry about getting his thumb caught. He says, the trick is to keep your thumb over the top of the rope and only grip it with your fingers, which he knew, but just got careless. A great raconteur with stories of rodeos, a career in the marines and traveling around the country on a motorcycle. 

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