Day 5 Cottonwood,Az to Winslow,Az 107 miles@17.2 mph

Today was another beautiful day! Filled with incredible contrasts from the desert to the Red Rocks of Sedona to the mountains and then the bleakness of the prairie desert into Winslow. All beautiful in their own way. It was also Day 2 of monster climbing (see profile). The “Gang of 3” me, Rob and Judd started the day together again, having spent all day yesterday climbing and laughing (so hard my stomach hurt last night!). The laugh-fest started with an innocent comment from Rob (whose last name happens to be LANDIS…he swears no relation to Floyd, but I am suspicious!) ,doing an impersonation of (british) Tour de France commentator Phil Ligget: “it looks like Landis has the boys in a spot of bother”…as he rolled away from us on a climb. I responded in my best Phil voice as we caught him: “oh, no Bob…it looks like Landis has sipped from the challis of pain one too many times”. (If you don’t watch the Tour de France this won’t make sense…I apologize!) Anyway, the rest of the day was spent bantering back and forth as if we were being commented on by Phil, Paul and Bob…pretty funny! It also makes the climbing much less painful. We added a 4th member today, Bill. He was a huge help as we battled the headwinds down I-40. He’s also a great bike handler…and that’s why we’ve been so careful about who we let in. He’s safe, steady and predictable. And he laughs at our dumb jokes! I felt great today. I was really worried that another day in the mountains would wipe me out. I’ve been eating every chance I get ...and I think that has made a big difference. I have a huge breakfast…usually 2-3 eggs ,a couple of pancakes, some bacon, hash browns, OJ and a coffee. Then 3-5 bananas, a couple of Clif Shots (Thanks Rocco!!)…before our first SAG around 10A. At lunch I take a big tortilla and put everything I can find on it…barely able to fold it. Then finish that off with my new creation: The Dessert Sandwich! More Clif Shots and bananas...then a Clif Bar or two at the hotel. All finished off with a big dinner wherever we can find within walking distance of the hotel. I’m hoping to gain weight on this trip and appears my plan is working!
Tomorrow start a 3 day ultra-mileage torture-fest…127 ~ 146 ~ 133 …OUCH!
Gotta get to bed! dd

Day 5 pics

Our early morning trip down Rt. 89A from Cottonwood to Winslow


Traffic light with a view in Sedona


Downtown Sedona


Rolling across the bridge out of Sedona on Rt. 89


“I-Man” and Brian rolling out of Sedona

Day 5 pics

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED! Hey, Rest Areas are built for people going 80 mph in a car. When we gotta go…we gotta go!


My now famous after lunch dessert sandwich. 1 slice of bread…1/2 coated with peanut butter ½ with honey…the pile on the gorp mix…yummy!


Check out those switchbacks we climbed today. I could only capture 3 levels in this frame.


Rob aka: “Slide Rock” Seriously, that was his break-dancing nickname!


Trees at last! Today was a day filled with contrasts , from the desert to the Red Rocks of Sedona , to the mountains…and back into the desert.

Day 5 pics

Here I am “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona”…with the Don Henley statue behind me (under construction)


It’s not often you can finish a 100+ mile ride and turn around to see where you came from. We crossed those mountains at mile 30 this morning.


The newest member in our “Gang of 4”, Bill…showing off his newest acquisition, courtesy of I-40.


I always wanted to visit the Meteor Crater as a kid. Had to pass up the chance today to stay with the boys and their 30 mph paceline down I-40.


Rolling east down I-40…a very different view than we had this morning! Nothing!

Day 4 report

Today was the day we all feared. Our 4th ride of over 118 miles in a row...with 11,000 feet of climbing. Last night everyone was icing knees and guads...to get ready! First up was Yarnell Pass on Hwy 89, about a 10 mile climb. It's 2 lanes going up and 2 lanes coming down...plus a wide shoulder so there was plenty of room. Most of my pics are being shot from the bike. Rob, Judd and I have been riding together and it's tough to stop for a photo op and then have to run them down. My original plan was to stop and shoot everything I found interesting. The new plan is to keep the camera in the Bento Box frame bag (thanks Cori!) and shoot what I can. Hey, this is supposed to be a vacation...ha! I am perfecting my ability to take photos while bombing down hill. Rob, Judd and I all climbed together today. We thought we would duke it out for King of the Mountain (KOM) all the way up Mingus. We kept the pressure on each other the entire way up. We had to stop at the top to put on cold weather gear for the descent, so we decided to award KOM via a sprint finish at the Cottonwood city limit sign. Our lunch stop was early today to get everyone fueled up for the big climb up Mingus Mountain. It worked out great, because I was ready for a really decedent lunch after all that climbing...and Jerome had just the place. Perched on a hillside overlooking the valley and Cottonwood...is Haunted Hamburgers. As we got there we saw another cyclist...it was Ken (one of ours)! Since he had clearly beaten us over the mountain he won the KOM...at 55!!! Good work Ken! Seems he passed on the last SAG (food) stop in Prescott and we never noticed him. Rob and Judd are maniacs when it comes to bombing these downhills. The last one was 12 miles long with speed over 50mph...tons of very sharp 180 degree swithbacks...but these two were flying! They had about 1/2 mile on me at the bottom. They are younger (and way crazier than I am...clearly!). My buddy Iain was particularly worried about his climbing today. Happy to report he did great! I've renamed him
"I-Man" (short for Ironman)...having not been able to train as much as the rest of us...his efforts are amazing!

The scenery today was absolutely spectacular. Everywhere I turned...looking up or looking back was amazing. This is a beautiful country...and I am very fortunate to be seeing it this way. Yesterday, I thought about how boring it must be to drive these roads in a car, insulated from the world listening to music. When you are on a bike every inch of the road seems different. Your senses are so tuned into your body, the truck flying by you at 80, or a small beautiful wildflower. It really is hard to decribe!

That burger is wearing off...it's time to eat again. I love to eat! dd

last of Day 4 pics

Rob,Ken (55yrs) and Judd having a burger at Haunted Hamburgers in Jerome. What a view! And a fabulous burger after all of that climbing!


The outside of Haunted Hamburgers with the entire groups bikes propped outside. Some were on the roof of the shed...some were even inside the dumpster shack!


The town of Jerome...an old copper mining town perched on the side of Mingus Mountain.

more Day 4 pics

Logan making his way up Yarnell with Wickenberg in the background....way down in the valley!


Judd bombing down the backside of Yarnell at over 50mph! I've been getting good at taking pictures on the bike...Don't try this at home kid's! As G$ says: weeeeeeeee!

Looking back as we climb up Mingus Mountain. There's a cyclist on the road below so you get a sense of scale.


King of the Mountain contenders (so we thought) me,Rob & Judd at the top of Mingus!!!


Looking out towards Cottonwood and Sedona from Mingus