Paul's Psychadelic Journey

Well, not having a nifty car like Batman's that comes to you when you call, I had to leave the house this morning to pick up my car from my Brother in-law who had been borrowing it who lived in Arizona city. So, I saddled up the brevetmobile and headed off into the predawn darkness around 5:30 AM. I had 65 miles ahead of me. Weatherman had said the showers were supposed be slacking off towards morning so I figured there would not be too much rain but threw the Rain Pants into the seatbag just in case. Good thing I did.
I put a rather interesting mix of music on my mp3 player yesterday, I didn't realize I had leaned so much to the Psychadelic when I had downloaded them but I had quite the collection of Pink Floyd and the Doors queued up to play (I had some other tunes too but the randomizer seemed to pick those two for some reason). Anyway, the musical selection made for an interesting ride. Both times I was approaching known "dog" locations the mp3 player by a strange coincidence played the song "Dogs" from the Pink Floyd Animals album. Kind of wierd. Anyway, I was trying a few things on this ride to get ready for the 300k the week after next. I had my Princetontec EOS on my helmet to be used as my backup light and standing light when stopped. It worked out really well on it's lowest setting.
Heading south it wasn't too long before I suspected a headwind. Also my Heart rate monitor was not letting me get very far into zone 3 as apparently I was not completely recovered from Tuesdays ride even today! Anyway, it was a beautiful misty morning and turning onto Ellsworth road I was very pleased to see the road construction was done and a new smooth shoulder with plenty of room was there now. There was surprisingly little traffic heading through Queen Creek. I didn't really run into too much traffic until grabbing the Hunt Highway. That is about when the rain started. At first it was light but not too far past Johnson Ranch it started raining hard enough to justify breaking out the rainpants. Glad I had them as I went through a pretty good little rainstorm for the next 10 miles or so.
Pretty soon I was passing the new Anthem. I can't quite figure out how they make money with gas prices going up. I would think the gas cost would more than compensate for cheap house savings over a few years. Anyway, I guess I just used to enjoy the stretch through the hills here and now there is a little city sprouting up in the middle of nowhere it is kind of annoying. I will climb off my soapbox now.
It was slightly foggy heading down into the Gila River bottoms but it cleared out pretty quick. I felt like a steam engine for awhile though as my breath would smokescreen my face as I exhaled. Further down Attaway I saw a large cloud heading my way at a good speed. As it got closer I noticed it was an Orange Semi spraying water all over the place. I prepared to get sprayed and as it passed I was bathed in spray. Then I smelled it. This must have been a manure truck and I was just sprayed with a fine manure mist. Hope I lose the stench before I get to my in-laws.
Around here my MP3 player went into a rather interesting mix of Dark side of the Moon and the Doors. Much like a peanut butter and chocolate argument in a Reeses Peanut Butter cup commercial they went together quite well. It was interesting turning on Coolidge Ave and heading west as usually I am heading east (and will do so in two weeks) on the 300k route. I was a bit behind on time but I figure I wasn't in top form and the wind and rain account for a bit too.
Heading south on 87 I soon ran into Randolph. Those of you who don't know what Randolph is, let me tell you. If you ever wondered where those that are so Mentally Challenged that they can't live alone go, well, many of them go to Randolph. It is a small community of people who can't live by themselves and are wards of the state. We went and helped there one Sunday with our church's youth. I was amazed that many of the houses had big screen TVs and other stuff. I think how thankful I am that I can be cruising south on Highway 87 this morning feeling the wind in my face and seeing Picacho Peak shrouded in mysterious mist in the distance.
Just down the street from Randolph is the Gothamesque Metropolis of La Palma. This was the first time I had been through here in the morning. Usually I don't see this until long after sunset. It looks a little bigger in daylight, not much but a little.
After hearing "Dogs" and real dogs mixed in one more time (which was kind of Surrealistic to hear synthesized dogs and real dogs going at it on either side of my head) I turned on Bataglia road. I was pleasantly surprised with the road surface on Bataglia and approaching Eloy noticed a rather dilapidated old house that was boarded up on the side of the road. "Well", you may say that is to be expected out in rural areas. Yeah, but this one had a Dish Network antenna on the roof which looked really funny on that old house I wondered if the fees contributed to the abandonment of the house.
I have decided that the mayor of Eloy must have gotten elected under the Slogan of "A chicken in every pot! and a dog in every yard" as I went through a mile where there was in fact, a dog in every yard. Fortunately none of them were at liberty to chase me. Just after that I crossed Jimmie Kerr blvd and the 400k and 600k route. Climbing the hill over the freeway the "Great Gig in the Sky" song from Dark Side came on and I found it rather odd looking down on the endless stream of Semis passing beneath me as though I was in the sky so to speak. I coasted down the other side of the hill having a good Cycling Zen moment.
Just past there I ran into a dog who was in fact at liberty to chase me and kept up on the other side of the road at 18 mph. I figured I better yell at him before he decides to cross the road to get to the other side (and ME). So I called him a stupid dog and told him to get lost which he did. Around here I started to notice a similarity between people who live in New York New York and Arizona Arizona. Neither had much patience. Twice in this stretch I was passed by a car who was also being passed by another car! Don't these guys have any patience? I would think with all the driving practice they get driving into Tucson or Phoenix every day they might develop some. Anyway, drivers are crazy around Arizona City, you are warned. From here I quickly found my Brother Inlaws and loaded up the Brevet Mobile into my Jeep. Good ride. Now to tune the radio to something else to cleanse the pallate.