We crossed another State Line saying goodbye to Arizona and the wonderful I-40. We woke up in Seligman, AZ around 5:30 am knowing we had a century (that’s 100 miles) ahead of us to Laughlin, Nevada. Our morning was off to a great start at 7:15 and we rode hard to the next town without any breaks, well except for me to fix a flat and to chat with the same couple that we helped fix a car flat the day before! Best of luck to Hahley and Stacie and no more flats on I-40 because we won’t be riding on that road anymore the rest of the trip!

By 1 pm we had already done 70 miles and arrived in Kingman, AZ. This beautiful final stretch of 1-40 almost brought tears to my eyes just thinking about our finish line in October. It was mostly downhill with winds at our backs and mountains for miles, which makes a cyclist very happy. I wish everyone gets a chance to experience this in a car or bike at some point in their life.

We fixed Shane’s flat before heading to JB’s Restaurant for lunch where we would spend the next two hours. They had a soup and salad buffet! We also wanted to wait out the 17 mph winds before tackling the final 38 mile stretch of the day. As we finally rode out of the parking lot at 4:30 pm Shane busted a spoke on his front wheel. It’s either really unlucky because he didn’t even roll over anything in the parking lot or really lucky because there happened to be a bike shop a mile away.

We are about to head into the Mojave National Forest today so had this happened anywhere else we would have been without a bike shop for hundreds of miles. Specialized bicycles make special sized spokes which the bike shop didn’t have. By the time they found a wheel that would work for him we only had 2 hours of daylight left to finish 38 miles. We could have either stayed in Kingman or push for the 108 mile day to Nevada. So we went for it!

We didn’t realize that the last 12 miles of Highway 68 from Kingman to Laughlin, NV was a 12 mile 6% downgrade. It was pretty intense and fun to cut through the mountains while overlooking the lights of a mini Las Vegas. We got a cheap hotel in a casino and ate a healthy meal at In and Out Burger. We were on the road for 14 hours and bike for 11 of those hours so the beds felt so good!

We won’t want to get out of these comfy beds because we are exhausted and we know Day 51 is going to be another challenging day with potential camping ahead of us. After 3,176 miles on the road our physical and mental game is as strong as it will ever be and I know we can accomplish whatever else the road brings our solid bicycle touring triangle!