Tasty Pasty

About 25 miles into today's ride, I encountered a rundown looking house. At first glance, it appeared to be abandoned. The paint was peeling from the old wooden siding, the weeds along the perimeter were high, and there were various pieces of industrial junk strewn about the property. In contrast to the general appearance of the place was a hand painted sign on the side of the building. The sign, which appeared to have been maintained sometime within the past few years, identified the building as a diner. More importantly, the sign made reference to 'Home Made Pie'.

Sure, the place was pretty ragged, but so was my knee. And what could be better for a bum knee than homemade pie? Surgery, you say? Please. Surgeons could learn a lot from pastry chefs. The place was certainly worth a look. Besides, I was only riding 40 miles today and needed to kill some time.

As it turned out, the place was open and operating, but did not appear to have enough of a menu to be a bona fide diner. I asked about the pie, and the waitress said that she would check on it. Her caught-off-guard reaction seemed to imply that maybe there was only a slice or two remaining from some aging pie -- if any at all. She returned, however, to rattle off a list of about 10 different pies. Apple, Coconut Cream, Blueberry, Shoofly, Pecan, Strawberry Rhubarb, Blackberry Cream, and a few others that I cannot remember.

Things were looking up. Some strawberry rhubarb pie and coffee would do my knee a world of good. And it did. That pie was the best pie I had in a very long time -- with the possible exception of the pecan pie that my neighbor made last month as the final sortie of her holiday campaign to fatten me up before training.

My knee actually did feel a tiny bit better for the rest of the ride, but I stuck to my recovery plan and took it very easy the rest of the way. I also, of course, got a few photos.

Photos

The Road. Looking along Arizona 92 South toward Sierra Vista

Distant Fire. I hope you get that stupid song stuck in your head like I did.

Pie

Orchard

Border Patrol. Apparently, they use tethered airships here to surveil the US-Mexican border.

Somebody once told me that his mother-in-law's standard exclamation of frustration was 'Christ on a Mountain!'. Perhaps she was referring to this place.

Remember the laundr-o-mat fire last week in Gila Bend? For various boring reasons, I cannot access my photos of that event until I get a new cable for my camera. However, one of the riders from last week sent me his photo to share with you.

Ride Summary

Distance: 37 miles
Speed (avg/max): 13.2 mph / 32.2 mph
Riding Time: 2 hours 48 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 7 minutes
Power (avg/max) 102 watts / 350 watts
Calories Measured at Wheel: 1025
Heart Rate (min/max/avg): 80 bpm / 144 bpm / 120 bpm

Miles this Year: 1038