Heading Home…

Our flight wasn’t until 3:30, so we had plenty of time to pack up the bikes and gear. This time, I moved Billy and the bag out to the hallway near a window for more space and better light. It was a smooth pack up. Everyone else also seemed to have no problems packing their bikes. Once we were all packed, we moved our stuff down to where the hotel had stored our cases while we were gone. Then we went for a final meal in Tucson at Turmerico. 

We returned to the hotel, dragged out our cases and bags, and loaded it all into the shuttle. It was quite the game of Tetris getting four bikes boxes/cases and 4 duffle/backpack bags, but we managed.

Good thing the van was a tall one! Billy is sitting on top of Jana’s bike box!

Now I am sitting on the plane, once again, in the very last seat. Back in Seattle in about 3 hours. 

Goodbye Arizona!

Jana, Catherine, Makaela, and I all agreed this was a good trip. It was challenging, but not too challenging. Our concerns about heat didn’t really materialize. We managed food and water pretty well. Mostly, it didn’t feel like we were rushed each day. I think the itinerary worked out, and we only changed a couple of things. We communicated pretty good (which is often a hard thing to do). I did discover that no matter how much singletrack I do, I do not become a mountain biker. But that’s okay, I still got through it. We ended up riding a bit over 300 miles total over 9 days. The Garmin initiated 41 climbs, but we counted 6 where, as Jana said, we saw something different from the top. 

All in all, a great trip! I’d be happy to bikepack with these awesome women again!