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Climbing to Santa Fe

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  As lousy as yesterday‘s weather was, today’s was that perfect. It was cool and sunny when we started but never got too hot. Just a spectacular mountain summer day.  Look how happy I am   Immediately upon leaving the hotel parking lot, we began climbing. And we didn’t stop climbing for 22 miles and almost 2 hours of riding.  For reference, the longest climb I can find in and around Lafayette lasts for about half a mile. So 44 times that.  Then climbs and rollers for about 23 miles including some crazy fast descents.    We ran into a cyclist who told us that the road we were on is used for the NCAA road cycling championships. Thankfully, we skipped the heartbreak hill portion of that course which includes 18° ascents…it was steep enough as is. We paused at a tiny touristy town of Madrid. Not pronounced the way they do in Spain, but rather MADrid.   I thought it impolite to correct them.   Especially given the stupid ways people in Indiana pronounce cities named after  foreign places. L
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Albuquerque… rain and flat tires on the highway

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  Let’s be clear. We have had a run of great weather so far. Not too hot, usually favorable winds, lots of beautiful sunny skies in Arizona and New Mexico.  You can’t make it all the way across the country without getting rained on. Today we got rained on.  We left Grants bundled up. It was about 45° and drizzling and everyone was equipped in their rain gear. I do not have the amount of rain gear everyone else seems to because I generally never ride in the rain.  (A small matter of crashing and finding myself in the hospital the last time I rode in the rain over a decade ago.) I have a jacket that I bought for this trip. But I don’t have rain pants. I don’t have fancy booties to cover my shoes like everyone else seems to. I don’t have a helmet cover. And TBH I thought they all looked a little bit silly when we started. 26 miles into the ride I was wishing I had all of that stuff. A stormcloud opened up and dumped swimming pools of water on us for 5 miles until we reached the SAG.   Her
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Grants…the glories of a frontage road

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 I have a confession to make. I made it through the first nine days of our tour without a single flat tire while people around me were having 2 or 3 or 4 flat tires some days.  Being superstitious about it, I didn’t say a word to anybody indicating that I had been flat free.  But TBH, I was feeling pretty smug. So, like an idiot, I had a lengthy conversation with Jim at dinner about exactly how I managed to remain flat free for the previous nine rides. He had a tough day of flats.  And I of course, was full of wisdom on how I had managed it. Flash forward to this morning… Woke up to a flat. A piece of wire maybe 2 mm long had created a slow leak in my front tire. So with some help from the Crossroads gang, I got that fixed. And rolled on out for the morning, route rap. Where upon I noticed that, Oopsies, the tire was flat again. Either the tube was defective, or I screwed up, putting it in and caused a pinch flat.  By the time that was fixed and I was rolling, the rest of our peloton w
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Galloping to Gallup

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I started the day looking out over a beautiful desolation. Nothing as far as the eye could see. Long day in the saddle  Heading this way.  Some beautiful scenery.  After working uphill for 60 miles, I was really looking forward to some tailwind heading into Gallup. But a storm moved in and brought with it swirling winds and no joy on the wind front. I was vexed.     Will no one rid me of these meddlesome clouds? I thought I took a series of pictures of some truly amazing/horrifying billboards, but evidently didn’t hit the shutter button. So I will just describe them here. INDIAN RUINS Hot dogs!  Milk Shakes! —- Many of my fellow riders are retired. And a number of them have asked me if I’m retired or planning to. I’m not. In fact, I spent most of today’s ride thinking about how to spend the next phase of my career. I recently read a quote to the effect of… People overestimate what they can get done in a day but underestimate what they can get done in a year or five. So I’m building a p
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Downhill from Flagstaff…with a tailwind!!

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 What a fantastic day of riding!  95 miles in 5 hours through endless blue sky   The weather was perfect. The wind was at our backs. We had 2000 feet of elevation to use to speed us on our way. And much of it was along historic Route 66 which meant we enjoyed kitschy hotels, roadside attractions, fun diners, and beautiful scenery. I’m going to let the pictures do the talking. 
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Climbing to Sedona, Switching Back to Flagstaff

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 Today was lots of climbing and lots of natural beauty.  I have not been through Sedona or to Flagstaff and was absolutely awed by the mountains leading into Sedona. The town itself was cute. We stopped at a café that had amazing views  and some pigs. Then we continued on up the canyon. It was a steady climb at 3% grade for I think 15 miles. We had lots of warnings from people to be careful about the traffic but the drivers were patient and civil and not at all dangerous. It’s been a very pleasant surprise to go over mountain passes the last three days and not have to worry about drivers being dangerous jerks.  Because of that I was able to ride at a steady pace, but also look around and see the blue sky  and trees, and gorgeous mountains and happy people enjoying the outdoors. The last part of the climb was a 2 1/2 mile switchback that went on and on and on. While we were riding up, we saw what I assume were professional cyclists bombing down to the bottom of the hill and then turning
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Prescott to Cottonwood…with a haunted burger en route

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  This was a fun day.  A steady climb out of Prescott (why are all these Arizona towns at the bottom of valleys so you have to buy back the elevation you lost coasting into the hotel??) Got screamed at by a very angry driver who felt bikes should not be on the road.  Lots of colorful F bomb variants.  Good things he’d dropped all the kids at their elementary so his school bus was empty!! The climb up Mingus Mountain was slow and steady and really pretty.  No shoulder but not much traffic and felt safe all the way up.   Whats that sign over my shoulder ? A fast bumpy descent with great views.  And a lunch stop in Jerome, self proclaimed as the most haunted place ever. Great milkshakes and a Haunted Burger.  I don’t know what made it haunted. Cow ghosts? I’m ready for another day with lots of climbing to reach Flagstaff…and then a day off!
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