It was the best of roads, it was the worst of roads. We were looking forward to an easy day as several folks told us it was all downhill into Duncan, AZ, our destination for the day. We checked the elevation maps, and although it sure looked like initially we would climb, it didn’t look terrible. Well, the first several miles were a series of pretty big hills and curves. The wind was strong and came at us from different angles depending on the curve. At times it was difficult to control the bike as the wind would blow you sideways or push you back as you tried to make your way down a hill. As we climbed each hill, we hoped it would be the last. We were amused as we came to the top of one hill and saw toilets lining the driveway all the way down to the house...some with cactus growing out of them! Finally we reached the last hill. This was at 27 miles. Not a cause for celebration- the wind got worse and was making the descent treacherous. There was a huge bump on the road where we went from old paving to new paving. It jarred us like crazy, and it caused the bolt on Kelley’s handlebar bag to come loose, causing the bag to rub on the front tire. Bruce had to turn around and pedal uphill straight into this strong wind. It was a challenge to fix the bag, as the wind was blowing everything away...including Bruce’s helmet! We could barely hear each other. We finally decided a zip tie was the best solution. It worked and we were on our way. We were frightened as we continued down the hill. The changing winds propelling us forward down the hill at a faster speed than we wanted to go. Even with near constant braking, we were careening down the hill around 30 mph. Suddenly before us was the most spectacular valley imaginable.As far as the eye could see a straight ribbon of road going down, down, down, with wide open space on either side, and the town of Lordsburg in the far distance. Had it not been for the wind, This would have been a blast to ride down. But there was wind, now buffeting us from the side, and blowing us nearly off the road. We estimated gusts at over 50 mph. We could only go a short distance before we would pick up too much speed and have to stop, or the wind would nearly blow us into the guardrail. At several points Kelley was literally in tears of fear. Eventually we learned to lean into the wind to keep our balance, and we made it to our turn. Now the wind was our friend! No longer descending, the wind was at our backs and sending us closer and closer to Arizona. This was cycling Nirvana, and we earned it! We were hungry and warm with an extra layer on, but we were humming along at such a great speed that we didn’t want to jinx it.We covered 36 miles in about an hour and a half! We only stopped to take a picture of the Arizona sign. We reached Duncan, ate an early dinner and checked into the Simpson Hotel. The proprietor, Deborah, was very kind and we chatted with her for a while in the parlor before showering and going out for a nightcap. Total cycling mileage: 77 Total hiking mileage: 2