Out of the desert, on to the mountains

Tom turned on the light this morning to wake me up and I raised my head just slightly and said "Forget it-we are not riding today-wake me up at noon." My legs felt like leftover Jello and my feet and hands were still cramping from the fun we had yesterday...So after breakfast we did in fact get back on our bikes and headed out of Wickenburg for Prescott. The first 15 miles or so were very pleasant - we still had the morning cool, the sun was still rising over the mountains to our right and we had a nice road. We fell in with a group of 6/7 riders and kept a good steady pace. I thought 'this is good, my legs are coming back- it will be a good day'. At mile 15 the cue sheet had us looking up to mountain to catch a view of our route cut into the mountain - didn't the pioneers find passes? Why are climbing right up the front of the darned thing.

As it turns out we had two distinct sets of mountains to cross today (and these are mountains, not be confused with the Sourlands). Wickenberg is at 2090 ft and Prescott is at 5350 ft - although the actual high point for the day was somewhere in excess of 6000 ft.

The first climb was a killer - I just found my granny gear, put my head down and kept pedalling. I was making speeds of 5 to 7 mph and glad to be getting that. I should mention that Arizona apparently has a law that prohibits clouds of any type from appearing in their sky so while there was a bit of breeze that sun was always beating down. The road is all switchbacks and climbing so every time we think we have come to a crest or a flat it takes a 90 degree turn and keeps going up. At the same time the whole route is just incredibly beautiful and I think even more so from the back of a bike. No racing up the roads watching for other cars - and bikes - every curve and 100 feet or so of climb brings a different and more spectacular scene. I will include photos tonight but they really don't do justice to the real thing...So we made it over the first set of climbs and then dropped down to a long valley of horse and cattle farms - great descents riding the switchbacks and then a leisurely ride through the valley. And then guess what? Of course, starting from Skull Valley another 10 or 15 miles of climbing to get to Prescott. And this is where I lost Tom. He had not been feeling well and it only got worse with the sun and climbing. So he got picked up at our last SAG and got an early trip back to the hotel and a shower and a bit of a nap before I pulled in. I'm happy to report that with a bit of recovery time and a good dinner he seems well on his way to being the cantankerous, ornery guy I'm used to.

The last climb was long and hard - I wanted to see Prescott. But it was also the most beautiful part of the day. Increasing vegetation - real trees not the desert scrub - and indescribeable views at every turn. And then for the last 6 or 7 miles we started coming into a forest of Ponderosa pine-the smell alerted us even before we realized we were in the middle of the forest. And then, as if as a reward for the day of climbing, we went into about 5/6 miles of wonderful descent - all switchbacks where we could cruise at 30-40 mph. Just a wonderfull fun way to end the day....And Prescott is this wonderfully little town with lots of history and a great little downtown area. Tom and I went out for a good meal tonight in a restaurant converted from the first department store in town-great food, great atmosphere...

So tomorrow is a short day and we leave at 9:15 instead of the usual 7:15 - we get to sleep in a little. And even though there are a couple of major climbs its a short day, only about 45 miles. And on that note I am ready for a good night's sleep - g'night all.

P.S. First photo to the left is one scene on the climbs of today-you can see how the road below twists and turns to get to where I took the shot. The second shot is in the middle of the Mojave and the last is at the Arizona border..notice how well covered we are agains the sun.