May 9
The route that we rode today:
Today was another great day with perfect weather for what had in front of us. Riding to Prescott, AZ had two very long climbs with some others that were not as long. The first climb was 7.5 miles, and the second one was a little over 9 miles; we were also gaining decent altitude overall going from 2,000 ft up to 6,000 ft. Everybody did well on the ride, and nobody got hurt. Stuart missed the SAG stops, but we brought him food/drink; he does not like to follow rules, which I have mentioned already. I hate to be complaining about traffic so much, but we had a couple of drivers today that should not be on the road. Raff felt the exhaust of one of these vehicles buzzing us for no reason. Please be courteous to bikers when you see them on the road: either move over as far as possible or wait until oncoming cars are not coming or the road is straight. If you are 15 seconds late it will be ok. Rant has ended...A confession from me: I do not like to descend, and we had a ton of downhills after the climbing, and I was the old man riding his brakes...it is bad enough going 40 mph on winding roads with cars and then you get wind bursts. Makes my palms sweat thinking about it again. A little perspective: we've ridden 428 miles, which means we are 12.6% done.
A couple of pictures:
This was from Wickenburg early this morning before we left (subtle humor):
Desert photo and some of the mountains we were in today:
This is the ride that we needed:
We descended into Prescott around 1 pm today and found a good place for lunch and dinner. Prescott is a cool town.
A quote for today is one that I have been contemplating..."Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that do not really matter." D.L. Moody
A bonus quote for the day from Robert P that hit the nail on the head today: "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." John Muir
Tomorrow is a shorter day (44 miles with a climb) as Saturday will be tough heading into Flagstaff. We have a rest day in Flagstaff, and we will need it after this week. We are having a great time, but we miss our people back home...talk tomorrow.
Your messages and prayers are always so timely - thanks for following this adventure!
Love that John Muir comment. Press on to your rest day.
ReplyDeleteIt’s unfair to say that I don’t follow rules.
ReplyDeleteKeep taking pictures of all the great fishing spots that you pass.
ReplyDeleteFear at succeeding in life at things that don’t really matter. Dang that’s good!
ReplyDeleteEvery day is a brand new adventure and new obstacles and challenges to get past. Your descriptions make it so easy to create an image of those moments for those of us riding along with you through your blog. Some surprise me (like the careless drivers) and some create a beautiful image. Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to see what today brings. PS the little spreadsheet is funny and I was skipping it so I appreciated the heads up.
ReplyDelete