..real army…US Army. Ok, not quite, but the human and I have a magic pass so we get to ride through Fort Huachuca and it says US Army…so that makes us army, right? While the west side of the fort is pretty, just outside the west gate? Awesome. Rolling hills (some pretty steep) and gorgeous views. If you don’t have a pass to get through the fort, all those gorgeous rolling hills you enjoyed getting to the back gate, become a 15 mile obstacle to get you back to the main highway where you face another 20 miles to get back to Sierra Vista. Finishing through the fort is much, much nicer.
While we rode through the fort with passes we got last week, the rest of the troops got into Sierra Vista via Tombstone, a 100 mile ride with a stiff headwind at the end for them. For us, it was still a 70 mile ride and we traded the direct winds for indirect winds and hills for our challenging ride. Not quite as tough as yesterday, but tough enough.
Bicycles and Fort Huachuca have a long history. For many years Fort Huachuca was the home of the Buffalo Soldiers, all African-American troops back in the era when troops were segregated. One of the training trips of the Buffalo Soldiers in the late 1800s was to test out the use of bicycle for transportation. Buffalo Soldiers rode from Missoula to Missouri to prove the worthiness of the bicycle. Successful as the experiment was, the army never adopted it. Sigh…nothing more sturdy and efficient than a human on two wheels…you’d think the army would figure that out….sigh….
But, best part of today? Tomorrow we get to do it again. More rolling hills on quiet back roads. Wheeee….whump……wheee…..whump….
Travels With Edwina 