Easy Days ... (May 30, 2009)


Days 4 and 5 were relatively easy days. The three previous days had been long and hard days on the bike. I decided to slow things down a bit, and give my legs a rest. So I spent the morning in Flagstaff doing some shopping … heavy weight tubes were high on my list and not to be easily found. Flagstaff is a very pleasant place, and the “off bike” time was greatly enjoyed.
After the previous day’s ride into Flagstaff, I came to the conclusion that riding in the rain really chaps my ass … literally … quite a rash and the beginning, I think, of a saddle sore. My solution to minimize the possible irritation of the sore spot, was to purchase a package of the little donut shaped pads sold for when you have corns on your foot. Worked great, except for one thing. The adhesive they use is one step stronger than super glue. Word to the wise, place a band aid over the sore, then the little pad … saves a lot of skin.
Mid-day, I rode twenty miles out to Sunset Crater National Park and set up camp. Nice place. This is how much my world has been turned upside down … I sat in on a presentation about woodpeckers, and found it to be very interesting. Did you know that woodpeckers have a small bone mass in their eye socket that increases the amount of blood (in the bone mass) just prior to the bird’s beak striking the tree? By doing this, it increases the pressure in the eye socket, thereby keeping the eye from being destroyed by the impact of hitting the tree … or something like that. Once a “C” student, always a “C” student.
Day 5 was another easy day … rode 40 miles to Cameron, AZ, mostly downhill. Cameron is an old English word meaning “not much here.” I set up the tent in a small “campsite/RV” area behind the gas station/convenience store/laundromat. Fifteen minutes after setting up the tent, a dust storm hit that went on for about four hours … with occasional rain. Finally, the storm subsided, and the sun set. Once it got dark, I discovered that the spot I where I placed the tent was almost directly under a security light placed on the wall of the adjacent building. I could have used this light as a reading light in my tent, but thought it might be somewhat of a distraction when it came time to try to sleep. So, in the relative darkness, I dragged my tent to an area where there was a fence shading the light. One draw back … that fence housed a gas powered generator that kicked in every hour or so. A good night’s sleep was not to be had in Cameron.

Three days in ... (May 28, 2009)


Three days in, and I am feeling the pain.

Day One (May 26) was a good start. Rode from Fountain Hills to Payson. Heather Fowler rode with me for the first 24 miles or so. Was a beautiful day and the ride was very enjoyable. It was quite appropriate that Heather was there for the start of this trip as she is the person who taught me the joys of riding. Back in the spring of 2000, Heather was the assistant coach of the Team in Training group in Tucson. As a result of the riding during the TNT training, we became good friends.

The road took a definate "up-turn" after Heather put her bike on her van and returned to New River. Three serious climbs were waiting for me. My guess is that there was approximately 5,000 to 6,000 feet of climbing ... of course there were a few spectacular downhills as well.

Day Two also presented some serious climbs and some "Woo-Hoo" downhills (as Heather calls them). The route of the second day was Payson-to-Cornville. Beautiful country up in the Pine/Strawberry areas. The road from SR 87 to Camp Verde, which is 35 miles long, provided some great downhill runs ... 6 and 9 mile runs. Unfortunately, the weather turned very wet ... rain and hail. The 9 mile run started dry, but then it started raining again. When you are doing 35 mph, the rain drops are quite painful on your face (I speak from experience). Long day ... 79 miles, 7 hours of riding.

Day Three (today) was just miserable. The Cornville-to-McGuireville run was okay, but McGuireville-to-Flagstaff was simply not a lot of fun. Cornville-to-Flagstaff is only 56 miles, but there are two serious climbs on I-17 ... the first is a 6 mile climb, then shortly thereafter, there is a 5 mile climb. Grind it out. I was planning on stopping at Munds Park (mile 38 of today's ride) to have lunch. At mile 36.5 it started pouring ... at mile 36.6 the back tire went flat. Changing a tire in the rain is not a lot of fun, particularly if you create a pinch-flat in the spare tube while putting the tire back on the rim. The rain fell two more times getting into Flagstaff. I had planned on camping, but I decided to hotel-it instead. Oh, the comfort of a dry and warm hotel room.

I am planning to stop at a bike shop tomorrow and buy some heavyweight tubes ... flats are not good.

But all-in-all, life is good.