Day 7
Saturday, September 19, 2016
Winslow, AZ to Springerville, AZ
120 miles
4,350 feet of climbing
Today's ride was less about sight-seeing and more about simply getting from Point A to Point B. We rode through some of the most desolate terrain you can find anywhere. When we left Winslow this morning, it was a chilly 51 degrees. Started out wearing arm warmers, but I warmed up sufficiently and was able to ditch them at the first rest stop at mile 23. Rain was predicted for the towns on our route, so we threw our rain gear in one of the vans, just in case. It was a beautiful, sunny day for most of the day - warm, but not too hot, windy but not too windy. We rode through the towns of Joseph City and Holbrook - populated areas with businesses and downtown sections. The desolation stared when we made the left turn on Route 180 at mile 35 and headed east. The only real attraction today was the Petrified Forest National Park, where we had our second rest stop in the parking lot of the museum. Despite the fact that the entire 120-mile ride today was a gradual ascent, it was a pretty fun and fairly easy ride, with fun rollers, gentle grades and light winds. That is, until mile 95, where we were met with a 25+ mile per hour headwind that stayed with us all the way to the end. The headwind turned that gradual ascent into a major climb requiring maximum effort to keep the pedals going. I crawled along at a snail's pace - 8 to 9 miles per hour as I fought my way over the last 25 or so miles of today's ride. A few rain clouds dropped some sprinkles on us, but nothing major, but others in our group that were ahead of us experienced a downpour. (Sometimes it pays to be slow.) So, what I thought was going to be an "active rest day" turned into the toughest 20 miles of the tour (so far). I arrived at our hotel in Springerville just before 4:00 p.m., and couldn't wait to get off the bike and rest. We all finished the ride just in time, because around 5:30, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and a huge thunderstorm rolled in. In the evening, PAC Tour put on an ice cream social for us in the motel lobby, and it was fun sitting around and talking to the other riders about their experiences on today's ride. Tomorrow is another long day in the saddle, as we travel 156 miles to our next town, Socorro, New Mexico. I better hit the hay!
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| Elevation profile of today's ride. |
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| Jack Rabbit Road in Joseph City. I was calling it "Jackhammer Road" because it was so bumpy. |
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| The sign says, "The best thing about Joseph City is the people!" I believe it, because it certainly isn't the smoothness of the roads. |
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| "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille" |
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| Art riding through No-Man's Land |
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| Nearing the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park |
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| Selfie at the Petrified Forest National Park (yes, that's a dinosaur in the background) |
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| Free petrified wood snacks? I declined. |
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| Here's something cool to look at! |
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| It's difficult to tell from this picture, but here, the road became smooth as a baby's bottom for about 20 or so miles. Much appreciated! |
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| Ooh! Shade! |
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| Ice cream social - a welcome treat after today's miles |
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| Art, Dave, Ed, Brian and Robert enjoying some ice cream while discussing the day's ride. |
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. --Ernest Hemingway
ReplyDeletePerfect quote, Karl. Thank you!
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