Day 28 Thunderstorms and a Coyote with Three Legs

Seligman, AZ to Kingman, AZ

Today was a nice, relatively easy 86 miles, which would have been even easier, if not for the thunderstorms.  After riding for a couple of hours, I stopped for breakfast, and as soon as I started riding again, a coyote with three legs ran across the road in front of me.  I stopped and tried to take a good picture of him/her, but he/she hopped off into the desert before I could get a close shot.  I think he/she was good luck, as I felt as strong on the bike today as I have in a long time.  It's amazing to think that 80-plus miles on the bike can ever been considered "easy," but that's how it felt.  I'm sure not having to climb thousands of feet in elevation probably also helped.

During the ride, I had to wait out a very strong thunderstorm in Truxton, AZ (which is not the largest city in the world).  I found an abandoned gas station, and spent about an hour under the awning, watching the storm roll in, tumbleweeds blow across the parking lot, and the rain come down in sheets.  This helped drop the temperature significantly, which also helped make the ride easy-ish.  

As I neared Kingman, I noticed another storm blowing toward me, and I ducked into Mike's Route 66 Outpost and Saloon.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger (Kevin's favorite), and told the bartender about the ride.  She immediately yelled for everyone to listen, and explained what I was doing to the rest of the customers.  They began cheering, and a few of them came over to offer words of encouragement, shake my hand, and a few even made donations.  

Tonight Kelly and I went into downtown Kingman, and met with a husband and wife who are friends with a Kingman family who have a child fighting Neuroblastoma Cancer.  We were able to tell Kevin's story, and hear about the similar battle this family is currently fighting.  As we finished dinner, we even had a chance to video call the family, who are in New York for treatment.  It was a great reminder to us about the number of children fighting this terrible disease, and how better treatments need to be discovered.  Hopefully this ride will help lead to better treatments through research being done at CureSearch, and I am optimistic about the future.

Miles on the bike today:  86.0

Total miles on the bike:  1,467.9