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I've Got Something to Say
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| Ride Stats |
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Time: 06:03:56
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Distance:
83.84 miles
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Max Speed:
37.30 mph
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Avg Speed:
13.80 mph
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Route:
PAC Tour Central Transcontinental
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Weight:
0
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Category: training: general -
solo
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Terrain: Road: Steep
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Bike: Fuji Newest Road
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| Club: Commuter Cycling Century |
| Weather Conditions: |
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A PAC Tour Transcontinental does not have any built in rest days – like the Tour de France does. This tour is 25 straight days of riding an average of 125 miles each day. That is not to say that I have to ride every mile, every day, as I eluded to yesterday I SAG’d the last 17+ miles to the hotel due to time, fatigue and a flat tire. I have always in the back of my mind, that I may take a day, or part of a day, and just ride the SAG vehicle(s) and give myself a rest day. When I got up this morning in Sedona, I considered doing just that – taking a SAG vehicle to the first rest stop, and eliminate the first 19 miles of the day, which contained 2000 feet of climbing (half the days climbing). Well, what I ended up doing was riding my bike to the first stop and really finding out that my legs were still a little mushy from yesterday, then getting the SAG vehicle that supported the rest stop to carry me and my bike to the second rest stop (otherwise mile 41). About a mile before I reached the summit and the rest stop, I passed a lady that had pulled her car on onto a pull out area and took a couple scenic pictures. As she was getting back into her car and noticed me pedaling by, she said, "You must have legs of steel." I thought that a little ironic, because one of my training rides this summer was called the Steel Legs Century. But I also confessed to her that at the time my legs felt more like rubber. I then finally made it to the rest stop. Once I was dropped off at the second rest stop, I rode the rest of the day with an informal group of riders known as Team Turtle. We stuck together through the rest of the day, and made it to our hotel in Winslow, AZ a little after 4:00 p.m. PDT
The climb out of Red Rock Canyon had a couple of issues besides the elevation gain. First, the road was narrow – no shoulders – and winding. The second was it was cool (may be in the low 60’s) as we left Sedona, and 80% of the road out was shaded by the hills & the trees. I finally got to a point where I put on a wind/rain jacket because I was getting so cold, then after about another half-mile, the rest of the ascent was in the sunshine & I started sweating in the jacket – some of which would run down the inside of the sleeves, like rain gutters, and drip out the cuffs.
Besides the climbing out of Red Rock Canyon as we left Sedona, I picked up the ride after the route wondered through Flagstaff and the campus of Northern Arizona University. We then made our way through Navaho Nation Reservation. About half-way through the reservation was our lunch stop. Today’s entrée was bar-b-que/grilled hamburgers. Boy did they smell good, and did they taste good. When we went through El Centro the other day, the staff picked up some tomatoes, which went well on the burger, too, and they don’t taste like store bought tomatoes! After leaving the reservation, we made our way to Interstate 40 and took it east for about eight miles to get to Winslow.
If the lunch menu was the highlight of the day, it was only topped by the hotel letting us use their laundry facilities (i.e. what they wash their towels & sheets with) to do our laundry – no cost. Cool! The low-light of the day, though, was dinner. There is a Chinese restaurant directly across the street from the hotel. Service was lousy for Howard & I, as well as a couple other parties from the tour – but not necessarily all tour parties. It took so long for our dinner to come, that I got up, came back to the hotel to get our laundry out of the washer and put it in the drier, let some things dry for about 5 minutes and pulled them out, then let the rest continue to tumble, went back to the restaurant and our dinner, let alone Howard’s appetizer, still had not arrived. Was it the waitress’s fault or the cook’s fault? I don’t know – the waitress would say she’s hounded the kitchen for our food, but on the other hand she didn’t check to see if we needed drink refills. Once the food came, it was hot, it was good, and my chicken-broccoli with fried rice was filling.
Today’s photos won’t be uploaded tonight, due to slow internet connection. The only reason I got yesterday’s loaded tonight was I started the upload before we went to do laundry and eat dinner – they were done loading when we returned.
Here’s today’s stats:
Got on the bike starting at 6:45 A.M.
Got to the hotel in Winslow at 4:10 P.M.
Total travel time: 9 hours 25 minutes
Distance traveled: 83.84 miles of the 106
Amount of climbing: not available (Howard’s already asleep)
Actual time on the bike 6 hours 3 minutes and 56 seconds
Average speed (on bike): 13.8 mph (very slow first 20 miles, then Turtle speed the rest of the way)
Max speed attained: 37.3 mph
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