June 18th 2023 – Phoenix, AZ

The work on Katrine’s bike dragged out a bit as Katrine and Lea had arranged for all 4 of us to get out of the house and spend some time together.

We went rafting for 3 hours on inflatable tubes down the Salt River. It was a great experience. For the most part it was a very relaxed ride but we did go through several small rapids. To spice things up we saw a lot of wild horses, various birds and a coyote along the way.

The following day I put in a full day’s work and completed the build on Katrines bike.

Today we finally got a taste of what we have in store. We spent all morning taking the bikes for a spin.We followed Paul north. As we left the city behind, the riding became interesting. We enjoyed a mix of twisty tarmac and gravel roads as we gained altitude. After a little over an hour’s ride we reached the top of Humboldt Mountain with nice views of the surrounding countryside.

On the way back Katrine struggled a bit with the heat. We later learned that today has been the hottest day in Phoenix so far this year. The temperature reached 108℉/42℃.

It was great to get some seat time on the bikes. Both Katrine and I were very pleased with how they performed and are confident that we have chosen the right bikes for this journey!

We have been in Phoenix for a week now.Time is flying. If I’m not working on the bikes I’m busy preparing for the journey in other ways. Katrine is equally busy. Besides preparing for the journey as well, she is also helping out around the house as best she can.

Tomorrow I’ll start servicing the bikes. When the service is done all we need before departing Phoenix is the plates for the bikes (we have temporary paper ones at the moment).