Day Thirty-Seven: "Climb After Climb" (7 February) 79 mi

Earlier start out of Safford because I knew I would have to do a lot of climbing today. Sure enough I did a lot of climbing and it pretty much beat me senseless. Add on to this the headwind and I was in dire straits. It didn't help that the background to this physical misery was impoverished Indian reservations, alcoholics walking in the street. I hadn't heard of the statistics of alcoholism in these reservations but seeing it firsthand really led to this culture shock. About halfway to globe I saw this cyclist coming down this hill. It turns out she was going to Jacksonville, my starting point. She, Maddy, was coming from San Diego and she had gone the Flagstaff so now she was on the southern tier route. It's always good to see someone as crazy as you doing something they love. Overall, a forgettable day mainly due to that headwind. But I made it.