Cycling 501 miles through Arizona to Mexico! _ 13

Well, our time was up. It was now coming up on 11 months since we first set off from Alaska and five since we crossed into Washington. And after a quick detour to the Grand Canyon, we found ourselves with just a few weeks left on our US visas to wiggle our way down to Mexico. Oh, hey guys, didn't realize you were here. Quite excited for the next few days, if I'm honest. Why? Because we're riding the Arizona Trail. We're on a limited time. So now we're running for Mexico. Absolutely running. But first, we've got to enjoy this. Time was of the essence. So after a few days in Grand Canyon Village, we hit the trail south, well-rested and with the wind in our sails. These are some sick trees. Our first day on the Arizona Trail was a great success. We felt like nothing could dampen our spirits when the riding was this much fun. So I just accidentally dropped my camera in the lake and it's definitely not waterproof. Might be iPhone footage for a little while. I mean, it's working. Is it? Yeah. It's just the lens is super foggy. What's up, guys? It's us. It's foggy Greg in Victoria. Let's get foggy. Luckily for us, it looked like we had a sunny day ahead of us to give the camera a chance to dry out a bit. This is not good. I think this whole road is about to turn to mud. All right, the rain has stopped. We're going to do our best to make some ground before it starts again. I think we're going to try and get out to the highway and go into Flagstaff, because dealing with this amount of mud is just not worth it. Well, we weren't exactly off to a strong start, but nothing a bit of retail therapy couldn't solve. Fresh new shoes. Old kid on the block. New shoes. New sunglasses. Sadly, my little camera never turned back on again. Sick. But I did discover that the camera I'd been lugging around for photos actually takes pretty decent videos too. I can use this for video. Really? Yeah. It's probably really nice as well. We quickly realised that we didn't have enough time to stay on the Arizona Trail, so we made a plan to hop between that and another route called the Western Wildlands route, with a few little shortcuts along the way. Spider inside my shoes. Not allowed. Why didn't I use this before? Pretty good, pretty good, pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good. What's that from? That's from? Yeah. Somewhere in Mexico. We now had a bit of a climb on our hands to get up to the Mogollon Rim. Yeah, this is the spot. Got a nice bench. Faced with the bikes. A great viewpoint. Ten out of ten. Ten out of ten, I would say. So today we were going to go into Payson, which is there. But we've had a slight change of plans and I think instead we're going to ride all the way along the rim and enjoy the more scenic route, because this is just stunning. It would also stay a lot cooler because apparently it's very hot down there. It looks like June to me. If you count six months from December, December, January, February, March, April, May, June. December 8th. If we did enter the same day, why I don't have anything on December? You should have something that says December 8th. June the 7th. June the 7th. Oh my God. So we have like one week less than we thought. We're just checking the stamps in our passport, which we probably should have done a long time ago. And we don't have much time left. We have less than two weeks. We have exactly two weeks. Exactly two weeks. And it's more than two weeks of riding, so I think we've got to vamos. I did not know that. So we've done the calculations and we can no longer take the scenic route. So we're going to have to go back the way we came to Payson and then gun it on the highway for a couple of days, I think. Well, maybe for the next couple of weeks. So that's the plan. This is the Arizona Trail, which we're going to take down off the rim. And will lead us to some roads that will take us into Payson. We zipped straight through Payson and set our sights on Lake Roosevelt. So we've had quite a lot of downhill today. And now we've dropped into this beautiful valley with these huge cacti. And they're flowering as well. There's little flowers popping out at the top of them. It's very beautiful. It's also a lot hotter down here. A lot hotter. So right now my temperature is saying 34. And we still have more downhill to go, so yeah, we've got to get ready for the heat. These are some nice cactuses. That's true. They're so beautiful. With the flowers as well. Bye! What lake is this called? Roosevelt? Yes, Roosevelt Lake. Roosevelt? Roosevelt or Roosevelt? Roosevelt. Roosevelt? We're at a campground in Roosevelt Lake. And it's very beautiful. Are you ready? It got me as well! We just met with Charles and Holly, who bought us an amazing meal. So thank you very much Charles and Holly. They've been watching the videos and actually Charles hiked the PCT the same year I did, in 2018. But I don't think we ever met. Yeah, thank you so much guys. Good fuel for this huge climb we're about to attempt. Look at that one! Welcome! Let's go! Reminds me to Mexico, man, a lot. We got a message from Michael and Stacey, who live in Phoenix close by, inviting us to join them canyoneering. We said yes without really knowing what that involved, but we are so glad that we did. It was a bit more extreme than we were expecting, but they were great teachers and we had an incredible time getting out of our comfort zones and exploring this beautiful canyon. This is so beautiful. And our bums are very grateful for the day off. What if I want to get stuck in a pool? They were also able to deliver us some replacement camera gear I'd ordered, so hopefully these videos will be looking a little prettier from here on out. Mike and Stacey, thank you so much. We really do appreciate it, that was a big highlight of the trip so far for us. Hey! You're fast! This is Kyle. He ran out of his house when we came by and wanted to join us for a few miles. And he's making this climb go very quickly. He's somehow keeping up with us on a single speed, which I'm not sure how is possible. That's the good stuff. That is the good stuff. See you later. What's up guys? This is the first ever shot on the new camera. Beautiful. We're here at a nice campsite. What's up guys? Here we hop back onto the Western Wildlands route for a pretty incredible ridgeline descent. Sweet. Well done. How are you doing that? How did you do that? We're pushing up. What should be the last big hill of the day. And then back on the highway for a couple of days to make some miles to the border. What's up guys? Welcome. Welcome to what? To his YouTube channel. Welcome. There is the highway. I just saw you. You didn't see me. Nothing, just stay out there. Don't do anything. That's too big to handle. Beautiful. It could be anywhere. It's so fast. It could come and shoot any time. It's on the floor. Man, what is that? That's a cricket. We're getting very close to Mexico. We're probably like four days out now. I haven't filmed much today. It's been pretty much just riding on the side of the highway. But nonetheless, good day. Must be fast. Run, run, run, run. Let's go. Get your bottle, get your bottle. No, no, it's too late. Quick, get it, get it, get it. Come on, come on, come on. Yes. Oh, perfect. That's how you do it. Found a secret gate to some state trust land. Should be a nice, quiet little campsite. Probably going to put the tent here. We just saw some wild hogs up there somewhere. What's up, guys? We're both in dire need of a shower. Very. It's been a few days of sweat and sunscreen and dirt. And then sweat and sunscreen and dirt. Just kind of layered and layered and layered. Have you realized how people look at us? No. Or it's like they can't smell it. I'm sure they can smell it. But that's just the name of the game. I have that bit of dirt here again. It's from your helmet. Ta-da. We were doing our best to soak up these peaceful wild camping moments as we knew it would be a lot more difficult to find spots like these south of the border. Pretty washboarded road. Mexico is 37 miles away. This is officially our last campsite in the USA. And some friends have come out to visit us to celebrate. Hello. Thanks for coming, buddy. Whoa. It was coming up on 11 months since we first set off from Alaska and we knew that with crossing into Mexico, everything was about to change. We'd have a fresh new set of challenges on our hands and to be honest, after almost a year in the relative security of Canada and the USA, we were a little nervous about how we'd handle it. But I firmly believe that regardless of what you read in the news, the vast majority of people are good. And if you just put your trust in that, people will always come through and take care of you when you need it the most. Have you ever seen steamers? Healthy choice. Hope you want to have a cabin for tonight. Is that okay? Yeah. One way or another, we will find a warm, dry place for you. You guys stay in here tonight. No way. Thank you so much, Gary. You can sleep in as long as you want. Thank you. Someone just pulled over and offered us a warm, dry spot to stay tonight. Thank you so much for having us. Safe travels. Bye, guys. Thank you. But we were also incredibly excited about what the next chapter would bring. This was Victoria's home turf and she hadn't been home in a very long time. Mexico. That's the wall. Mexico. This is where the real adventure begins. That's the cutest thing ever. The moon is the cutest thing ever? Yes. What about that cow you just said that was the cutest thing ever? Deja vu. Man, deja vu. Deja vu. Me saying deja vu. Deja vu doing this. Deja vu, man. The camera. Deja vu. What are you talking about? I've been here before. When? I don't know. That's why I said deja vu.