Monday, June 21, 2010

Epilogue

Final Stats
Miles: 782.32
Riding Time: 51:21:11
Avg. Speed: 15.2
Elevation Gain: 36,782

Well, we finally made it home. It took only one day to drive the same distance it took us 9 days to ride on a bicycle! Now that the ride is over here are a few thoughts I had along the way.

- Set goals. Setting goals is a great way to keep yourself motivated. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, earth changing or physically demanding. Just think about the future and where you want to be. Then set into motion a plan of action on how you are going to get there. Remember to enjoy the journey on the way to your destination.

- Pave wide shoulders. Traveling by car and bicycle would be much safer and more enjoyable if all shoulder were wide and paved.

- Don't litter. There is so much litter along the roads. Take the time to throw your trash away responsibly.

- Give cyclists some space. A car or truck whizzing by a bicycle at 60+ mph is very dangerous. Take ten seconds to ease off the gas, slow down and move over to allow for more safe passing. Bicyclists have as much right to enjoy our roads safely as do drivers of cars and trucks.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this bike ride. I learned a lot about myself and what I am willing to put myself through to achieve a goal. I also learned how to blog! See, you can teach an old dog new tricks! Anyone want to buy a well used bike?

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Prescott, AZ to Phoenix, AZ


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Today's Stats
Miles: 107.73
Riding Time: 6:31:56
Avg. Speed: 16.4
Max Speed: 40.3
Elevation Gain: 2579

Another century today. That makes three for the trip. Very cool temperatures in Prescott when we left at 5:00 am. Arm warmers and jackets for the first hour. If we could only bottle that coolness up and use it later in the day...

The ride started with a 6 mile climb out of Prescott followed by about 15 miles of rollers. A short decent into a nice broad valley followed by another climb into Yarnell. From Yarnell it was a screaming decent where we lost most of our elevation.

Fairly flat, breezy and hot was the description of the rest of the ride. We stopped every 12 to 15 miles to get cold drinks and dunk out jerseys and headbands in ice cold water. The wet clothes were dry within two miles but it felt good while it lasted.

The temperature got noticeably hotter when we entered the Phoenix metropolitan area. The concrete and asphalt just soaks up the sun. Finally, we reached our destination and are ready to head home tomorrow.

I'm sure the long drive back to Denver will be filled with the retelling of different parts of the ride. Check back in a few days to read our final thoughts after we let them all soak in.

Saturday Photos

Keith's parents welcome us in Phoenix

A victory salute when we finish the ride!


Totally spent!




Friday Photos

A good breakfast gives us fuel for the day.

Some of the red rocks near Sedona.

Can you find the "J" above Jerome?


Look in the distance to see how we have climbed so far. We are about half way up.



We enjoyed a concert in the park in Presscott





Friday, June 18, 2010

Flagstaff, AZ to Prescott, AZ


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TODAY's Stats

Miles: 90.61
Riding time: 6:20:09
Avg. speed: 14.2
Max speed: 40.2
Elevation gain: 5591

Kevin, Keith and Ken have made it to Prescott. Sounds like a long day. No computer access, laptop not working, so Kevin may post more details tomorrow.
(phone report via Bekkey)
Cliff notes: beautiful downhill ride from Flagstaff to Sedona, beautiful flat ride to Cottonwood, Cottonwood through Jerome over the pass was 12 miles and 3600 ft of elev gain--quite the slog, downhill to Prescott valley, then a strong headwind to bring them home into Prescott.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Tuba City, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ


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Today's Stats
Miles: 80.04
Riding Time: 5:23:00
Avg. Speed: 14.8
Max Speed: 41.9
Elevation Gain: 3975

What a difference a day makes!! We left at around 7:00 am but gained an hour when leaving the Navajo Nation and entered the rest of the state of Arizona. Arizona does not go on Daylight Saving Time. Today we had a gentle north breeze to push us along the flats for the first 40 miles. Met Rob who was riding from the Golden Gate Bridge to Jacksonville, FL. He was carrying all of his gear which weighed 70 pounds. Check out his photo below.

Road on some nice shoulders and through a few sand drifts left over from yesterday's wind storm. We could also see and smell the smoke from the forest fire burning northwest of Flagstaff.

Had one flat today. For those of you keeping score, that's one flat each for Keith and Kevin.

A nice gentle climb from about 4000 ft. to 6000 ft. on the approach to Flagstaff. The last 1200 ft. was a little steeper but brought us to tall and aromatic pine trees just north of Flagstaff.

Tonight we get a nice dinner and then watch the Lakers, hopefully, beat the Celtics in the NBA finals.

Looking forward to tomorrow's ride through Sedona to Prescott. It should be a very picturesque ride. Speaking of pictures I was able to upload photos from Tuesday, Wednesday and today. Scroll down to check them out.

Thursday Photos

This is the shoulder we rode on today.


Rob is more hard core than we are.

A typical rest stop


Fixing a flat



San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff