Basically, Craig envisioned a bike ride across our beautiful state utilizing almost exclusively dirt and gravel backroads. The ride would be self-supported and done at your own pace.
A ride like Craig planned would not be as simple as your normal bike outing. It would take multiple days and much of the time you would be in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, towns or supplies. I went about planning the ride across Arizona in the same way. The most important part of being able to accomplish this route would be having someone willing and able to provide support along the way.
She would drive the route as much as possible and be the SAG support and gear wagon. Knowing I had Diane for support, the next focus was the route and Craig had already done the main work in laying the route out.
In addition to this planning, it would be critical to have anything and everything that we might need along the way. Camping gear, food and drinks, extensive tool box, parts such as spare tires, sealant, tubes, chains, wheels, derailleur hangars and more were all organized and packed. As you might guess by now, the organization and preparedness for a trip like the Ride Across Arizona takes almost as much time and effort as does the actual trip itself.
This is particularly true when you realize that this was just for me. Craig was doing all the same organizing and prep work to support his wife Minnie, who was also planning to do the ride. The actual ride was to start on May 3 rd , but our granddaughter was graduating from high school in Montana on May 1 st , so I planned to start a day late on May 4 th.
