A Day in the Mountains

Day 4: Wednesday, September 14 

Wickenburg, Arizona to Cottonwood, Arizona
103 miles
8,256 ft. climbing
Riding time:  8 hours

This was an epic day of climbing - three climbs on our route today.  The morning started out nice and sunny, the temp was about 63 degrees - cool, but not cold.  At breakfast, however, we were advised to pack our rain gear and arm warmers because today we would be in the mountains, where the weather can change dramatically at any minute, and thunderstorms are practically a daily occurrence this time of year.  That’s mountain weather for ya.  We started the day with Yarnell Hill, which was a fairly gentle 6-mile climb, except for a few steeper grades here and there, mostly at the switchbacks.  From Yarnell, we descended into Peeples Valley.  The second climb brought us to Prescott, and we had our lunch stop at the top of the climb. It was chilly at the top, so I put my jacket on for the descent into downtown Prescott.  Soon after the we finished descending and I started pedaling again, I warmed up and took off my jacket.  The last climb of the day was Mingus Mountain (elevation 7,023).  When we approached the climb, dark clouds were looming in the not-so-distant distance, with chain lightening.  It seemed like we were surely going to get wet on this climb.  It's OK, though, because we have our rain gear with us.  Well, it was a spectacular climb and it did not rain a drop!  It was cool and sunny - perfect weather.  After we reached the top of Mingus Mountain, we had a 10-mile screaming descent through the town of Jerome and then right into Cottonwood.  We were flying, and the views were gorgeous as we descended.  The weather was picture-perfect all day.  We thought we had beat the rain, but no - it started to pour when we were just about a mile from our hotel.  I don’t mind riding in the rain, but I didn’t want to start tomorrow’s ride with wet bike shoes. So, we ducked under an overhang and put our shoe covers on so that at least our shoes would stay dry.  Ten minutes after we arrived at the hotel, the rain stopped and it was sunny again.  Mountain weather - if you don’t like the weather, just wait ten minutes - it’ll change.

A shadow of myself

Art cruising down the road

  

Art at the summit of Mingus Mountain