Day 6: First Mountain Pass

[I'm getting these up pretty quickly, but don't get confused by the timestamps; if I post the next day, I'm post-dating it so it's listed as the correct tour-day. That's Dad in the first picture and at center in the second. He's in the last individual picture, though I took the liberty of lightening the upper half of his body so there's SOME shot at telling that it's him when at full-size (click all photos to enlarge). The wide shots aren't doing their light meters any favors.]

First heard from Dad just before seven our time (4 pm for him) - he got into Prescott, AZ just after three today. It was physically a hard day, but it went well - he did well with the ride, and it was very scenic with great photo ops. They were climbing out of the desert, so they had "a lot of fantastic vistas and hopefully some great pictures." His cliff-notes version of the day is below the last two pictures at the end of the post.

They started the day by climbing out of Wickenburg - most of their stops are on rivers, so they coast in at the end of the day (which is nice) then climb out in the morning (not as nice). They were on a lot of "false flats" today - it optically looks like you're going downhill or on level ground, but when you look back you can see the incline and go (and I quote) "holy moly." The fact that you're pedaling your little heart out and only going 8 mph is also a tip off. They've had these before on the tour (in all of its four previous riding days), but there were quite a few today. Also multiple switchbacks. They had a five-mile climb and an eight-mile climb that were of note; basically they went uphill all day, going downhill for several miles a few times. 7,000 ft elevation gain total, 5,000 in one stretch. The last range was "spectacular" - the vegetation was changing and they had amazing views. Their last three to four miles in Prescott were downhill; they went 40-50 mph (so maybe they were "very downhill"). His roommate Richard went at 50+ mph, at "warp speed" - he'd had two flats earlier in the day, and was trying to make up some time. Dad didn't push it and went a tad slower. (Which we appreciate - head injuries are bad.)

Feels good about today - handled it well, and it's more representative of what most tour days will be like than the first few were. As a bonus, his butt is also feeling better - he rode today with a patch and two pairs of biking shorts. I bet you're all really appreciating the butt updates, by the way. We always make sure to ask about it, so it's on my little legal pad full of notes from the day to post. When he looks back on these posts as his log of the trip, I'm sure he'll enjoy following his butt's status and be so glad that I kept the public up-to-date.

Tomorrow's only 43 miles into Cottonwood, AZ - they get to sleep in an extra hour! Saturday into Flagstaff is 46 miles, then they have a rest day there Sunday. So they're easing out of this first week.




















(Adeel - Dad tried to email you a response to your comment yesterday, but doesn't have your email address from the road, and I can't find it saved here at home. So I'm just posting his response, since it's the "cliff notes" version of today and doesn't look too personal. "Thanks Much Adeel. This is great. 60 miles today as we climbed out of the desert to Prescott, AZ. Short mileage but much climbing with spectacular views. Over 7000 ft. of elevation gain today. Did well. Confident can do this. Have a number of good riding buddies at this point. Ate big steak at Cattleman Resturant this evening. A shorter easier day tomorrow as we ride to Cottonwood, AZ, going through Jerome (old mining town) on the way. Get to sleeep in an extra hour. Red rock of Sedona will come into view on mountain before Cottonwood. Should be a great day. Thanks for support say hi to your wife (whose name I can't spell) and kids. Bye for now. Gil")