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Although appreciably shorter than yesterday at 151 miles, today's ride from Wickenburg to Flagstaff was much more difficult, as we racked up more than 13,000 feet of net elevation gain over four major climbs. Thus far, the toughest day of the tour for sure.
Today was a perfect cycling day from start to finish with sunny blue skies. This morning, temps were chilly so most of us started the day with wind vests and/or arm warmers. We left Wickenburg at daybreak and began climbing immediately. At this time I realized the long descent into town yesterday came at a price, we had to climb back out! It was also a bit unusual as the first leg of our route had us heading to the northwest. Hey, are we not supposed to be going the other way? Once we hit the town of Congress, we would proceed in a more northeasterly direction to Flagstaff.
By the time we reached Congress, we had already climbed 1,000 ft over the first 16 miles. Because the grades were so gradual, it was difficult to tell just by looking at the horizon that we were actually climbing. All that was needed to confirm that we were indeed going up was monitoring our speed. By exerting the same effort needed to move the bike forward at 19-20 mph on a flat grade, we were only able to sustain speeds of 14-15 mph at grades of 2 to 3 percent.
As we departed Congress, the route turned to the northeast and we could now clearly see the obstruction in the road ahead of us, ... that being the mountain we needed to ride over. Although we have done a fair share of hills and climbing on the trip thus far, these were generally short in nature or sustained shallow grades which did not give the impression of serious work. This was our first real taste of sustained grades at more than 5 percent.
Approaching the first major climb of the tour. Up Yarnell grade.
As we approached the hill, you could trace the faint route of the road as it pitched up along the side of the mountain. It was thrilling to know that in a few moments, hey, we'll be going up that! As we reached the base, the highway divided and the grades now increased from 2 to 5-6 percent for the next 7 miles. It did not take long to feel the heart rate begin to soar and the sweat begin to flow under the effort. I quickly ditched my arm warmers to cool off. It was amazing to see the benefits of the effort as I looked over my right shoulder over the guard rail to see the vast low desert we just came from moments before.
Climbing Yarnell grade.
By the time I got to the top, it was time for a much needed break to catch my breath. PAC Tour knows just the right place to park the SAG wagon for periodic rest stops! The 7 mile climb netted 2,000 feet of altitude as we were now close to 5,000 ft above sea level. From the break, it was a fast and straight descent into Peeples Valley for the next 10 miles or so before our second major climb of the day in the Prescott National Forest near, you guessed it, Prescott. This would be a longer ascent covering about 20 miles, but at a slightly more gentle grade than Yarnell.
Entering Prescott National Forest
Climbing up into pine forest
Lon, Me, Lynn and Rob at SAG #2 before descending into Prescott
The roads leading to Prescott were winding and had very light traffic which made for an excellent climb. I hung with Rob, Lynn and Randy most of the day again today. As we neared the second SAG for the day at mile 55, the smell of pine forest filled the air. From the SAG we had another thrilling descent (yes, they ALL are thrilling!) into the busy town of Prescott which had lots of traffic. Rob gets the bike handling skills award today for averting a car which turned right into him as it entered a gas station on our right. He managed to "ride" the car into the turn while staying on his bike before the motorist realized they cut him off. Thank goodness Rob was unscathed.
It took us about 10 miles of city riding before we were positioned for the toughest climb of the day (so far), a 9 mile slog up Mingus Mountain. As everyone generally has their own approach to taking on the hills, our small riding groups often dissipated as the grades pitched up. In most cases, whether you are a fast climber or not so fast, riders of similar ability will invariably meet up again somewhere down the road. Today, our lunch stop was at the top of Mingus Mountain so it provided ample opportunity for regrouping.
This was indeed a tough climb which offered a number of cool switchbacks and pitched up to 8 percent or more in some sections. The road surface was not the best but that was not of great concern when going all of 8 mph up the hill.
Up Mingus Mt. Note 4 cyclists below
Me and Lon on top of Mingus. Cheeseburgers today!
Favorite sign. White knuckle curvy descent.
After lunch we were treated to an exhilarating descent down into the old mining town of Jerome which was mid-way down the mountain. This was a real trendy artsy-fartsy sort of town, and it would have been a great place to spend the afternoon browsing, but alas, we have our own agenda today!
We began at 7,000 feet and eventually dropped to about 3,400 feet over the course of the next 15 miles. While many, including myself, would generally believe that riding your bike DOWN a hill has got to be an effortless endeavor, this was quite to the contrary. The roads were not in the best shape and there were twists and turns the whole way down. I rode the breaks almost continuously, and by the time we leveled off, my hands and palms ached from being locked for so long. Traffic was also a little heavier in this area so we needed to be extremely alert moving around corners and controlling speed into turns. I always try to avoid riding in the center of the lane, but this was necessary to pick the proper line though curves. Looking back, vehicular traffic had to do about the same so I certainly wasn't holding anyone up.
The scenery in this section was truly amazing. As we banked back and forth down the initial portions of the descent, pretty much all we could see were the curves in the road ahead, the forest above us and the sheer rocky/sandy walls channeling us down the road. After a couple more turns, the horizon revealed itself, and we could now see the vast valley that lay thousands of feet below. Absolutely gorgeous! I was struck with some sort of vertigo, as if I didn't slow down, I would fly off the end of the road and never reach the ground below. The emotions were very strange. Excitement, exhilaration and near terror as we moved down the mountain.
Nearing Jerome, AZ from the top of Mingus Mt.
Once we hit the valley floor, we entered the town of Cottonwood. We had about 100 miles down and 50 to go for the day. It also felt good that we had by now completed 3 of the 4 major climbs of the day. What I neglected to recognize was that our final destination of Flagstaff was at 7,000 feet, about the same as at the top of Mingus Mt. So basically we had to go back up what we just came down.
As we left Cottonwood, the route began climbing again, albeit now gradually, over the next 20 miles as we approached Sedona. The scenery changed again to numerous rock formations which had a reddish hue to them. We rode through downtown Sedona which again looked to be a thriving and happening spot. Lots of people out and about shopping and taking in the beautiful day.
Road to Sedona
Red Rocks
Afternoon Posse. Rob, Randy, Lynn, Me, John
From Sodona, our route turned to the north as we followed Oak Creek for a ways. We were now tucked away into a pretty heavily forested area with the sound of running water and more frequent tree cover overhead. We had one major climb coming up out of Oak Creek Canyon before the final push to Flagstaff for the night. We were all getting pretty tired by now and the shadows were now being cast into the canyon telling us that the day was waning. Rob, Randy, and John spotted a DQ along the roadside and elected to stop for refreshment. Lynn and I were pretty much determined to get to the finish so we plodded on.
I started to get chilled from the more frequent lack of direct sunlight, but this changed quickly as the climb out of Oak Creek Canyon began. This one lasted for just over 6 miles at an average gradient of 7.9 percent. This one was real tough, especially after the long day yesterday and all the climbing we had already logged earlier today. We limped into the last SAG stop at the top of the climb with not much left in the tank. Lynn and I were both hoping that the final 13 miles to the hotel would be similar to the nice downhill finish yesterday, but we got rollers instead. No worries. We reached Flagstaff nearly 12 hours before starting off that morning with nearly 2 hours of idle time eating and taking breaks. A slow day overall due to the net elevation gain and all the climbing.
Entering Flagstaff
Today was the best day yet. It's hard to say that because they have all been terrific thus far. Weather has been great, the legs feel good, but the bum, hands and feet are starting to bother me from all of the wear and tear these last few days. I am told you continue to ride yourself into better shape as the tour progresses. I hope that is correct, otherwise I sense some challenging days ahead. Tomorrow's ride to Kayenta is booked as a recovery day at similar mileage as today but the first 50 miles are predominantly down hill and a net elevation loss for the day. Here's to recovery days!
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