The Butte

We had a pretty good weekend of riding. Saturday we started at Thumb Butte with Robert and Steve. Thumb Butte is an area we have not yet spent enough time. Mike and Adam rode it when they were here. The last few sections of the Whiskey were through that area. In fact, on Saturday we rode that last torturous, big-time-cramp, gradual-but-super-rocky climb. It wasn't so bad this time around. Sunday morning Zach rode up Mingus on 89A, down to Jerome and Clarkdale then turned around and rode back. AND HE GOT DROPPED!!! It's not funny but it is. I've been hurting on every ride since we've been back and he just LOVES trying to make me laugh on the last climb when I have no energy left to do so. Instead I want to cry. At one point I really wanted to push him off of his bike. But back to him getting dropped. He rode Mingus with a 19 year old super fast kid, a 58 year old, and a ...we'll say... 55 year old (not quite sure of his age). Is that great or what. Zach got dropped by 2 old dudes. Granted, one guy owns one of the bike shops in town and the other is a freak of nature. But it's still fun. I went and did the Skull Valley Loop. Over the summer months there's a ride that leaves the safeway at 6:30am on both Saturday and Sunday. I ended up knowing a few people on the ride. Keith is a retired Air Force helicopter pilot and has to be the nicest guy I've ever met. Brian is the husband of one of the ladies at the preschool. Everyone else I had met for the first time. I was the only female. Me and two other dudes got dropped for the first 2 thirds. We met up with everyone at Wilhoit and I kept up with the fast group from there. I was able to hang with the final sprint into town too. So I felt pretty good about myself after the ride, which made hearing about Zach's drop even better!!!!

This week wasn't so good. I spent most of the day Monday cleaning and studying - no ride. Tuesday I was exhausted from working at the preschool again. Wednesday I packed my bike and planned on riding after work to the butte, but a scary looking storm rolled in and I skipped it. Tonight I did the same but I ignored the lightening and sprinkles. It had already downpoured earlier that day for crying out loud. I rode the streets to Thumb Butte on the 1x1...not exactly fun cause it's geared pretty easy I think. Rode the start of the ride we did Saturday and then turned around and back tracked. I didn't realize it until tonight when I rode the opposite way, but the trail we started with on Saturday was one of the first Zach and I did when we first moved here.

Miscellaneous

I can not believe it is almost time to head back to Prescott. These 2 months have totally blown by. Just a few random photos taken over the last couple of weeks.


Out on Brian's Trail




I know these are not exiting pictures, but these roads are where we spent alot of time riding when we lived here. I enjoyed getting back out on them. Zach...not so much.




Rachael and I had a really fun ride out at Palos. I can't believe that was in JUNE!!! We haven't made a Wednesday night since then. WTF! Do I always look like such a rookie?

A nice turnout for the Thursday night group ride.




We took my dad out for a little spin.



This was in Galena. The first picture explains why we were laughing in the second.

Return

Back to Sedona on the 17th. Had to return the rented kid carrier. Jen and Dave inadvertently left Quail Ridge with one of their Red Rock passes, we returned that too. Good day of riding. We decided for a change and hit the west side of town. Parked off of Cultural Park and headed towards Cockscomb via the Girdner trail. We took a roundabout way but ended up riding near Doe Mt and Cockscomb, but wanted some steady pedaling. We dumped out onto Boyton Pass Rd and took Dry Creek Rd back to the car. Finished the day at Sally's BBQ. Another tasty new discovery.

Weekend recap

Had a couple of good rides this weekend. Friday we stayed close to home and hit Granite. Did the same loop as last weekend, but did one section in the reverse direction. It was pretty hard. It felt like alot more climbing!!! Zach was a little crabby...which you can see from one of the pictures. He wasn't feeling so great.

Saturday we did the Skull Valley Loop (we did a portion of it last weekend). It's a 54 mile road loop with only 2 turns! It starts off at the Safeway on 89 (South side of town) and heads north. The road twists and turns and changes names a few times through town until it turns into Iron Springs Road. We made our way through a short patch of construction and started climbing. Up, up, up, up and uuuupppppp Iron Springs for a good....10 miles give or take. Amazing views from the top. Then you start heading through some ups and downs, and then down for a good while into Skull Valley. Hang a left at the Kirkland bar, cruise along for a short bit, and then hang another left back onto 89. Once you are back on 89, it is a long grind up to Wilhoit. I was holding about 8 miles an hour. Really wiped on that section for some reason. Zach was going nuts. I could not hang on to any acceleration.

I was so grateful to see the Corner store in Wilhoit. I brought one dollar. Forgot to bring food. Went inside and headed straight for the candy bar aisle. Politely asked how much the candy bars cost...I only have one dollar. They are all seventy five cents. But if there is anything else you need, you just go ahead and take it and you can pay me back next time you're through. We get all sorts of you riders in here and that's how we do it here.

How about that. I went right ahead and grabbed a diet dr pepper. Gave her my dollar and promised to pay the 50 cents back next time we were through. (Zach quickly informed me that I should have gotten a regular instead of diet). A snickers bar and diet dr pepper never tasted so good. That did the trick.

Once you reach the corner store I think it's still a 3 or 4 mile climb up before heading back down. I never thought I was going to make it.

The road twists and turns along the side of the mountains so there are countless switchbacks where you can see the road heading up on the next mountain side. Nothing too terribly steep, but mentally it is a challenge to see those climbs approaching. Zach loves it because he can spot other riders and speed ahead to try and catch them. The first group he found he quickly came back and told me that I could catch them. Funny, that was all it took and I somehow seemed to find a little pep in my pedaling. It also helped once I shifted into the granny. I know, kinda pathetic, but I've never been proud. I love my granny gears...even on the road bike. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can ween myself off of it. We caught that first group of 2 as they were pulling off the road to regroup with their other riders. They had a support van (I wonder if they did the full 100?). A few of them didn't rest for long; they were trying to bridge the gap back to us but we didn't let that happen. One of these days we'll take the camera and get some pictures on that loop. It is really breathtaking.

Sunday deserves it's own post. More later.

White Spar

We met Robert at the Safeway on 89 at 8am. One other guy was supposed to show but opted for a run instead. Zach, Robert and I headed south on 89/White Spar Road. Another great morning: cool breeze, warm sun. In his normal, no-warm-up-fashion, Zach took the lead shortly after the start and picked up the pace. I wasn't quite settled in yet, so I called them back. They would slow up and wait for me to catch. Did that a few times until I felt more comfortable; then we all just rode at our own pace. I'd have to guess that we climbed straight for 20 or 25 minutes at the beginning. Then it turned into some downs and ups and twists and turns until we headed into Wilhoit, which was our turnaround point. It's 3 miles downhill into Whilhoit.

I am a big wimp on the descents. My max speed today was 34 mph. Robert got up to 41; Zach I think 40. It was hard, but it's not going to take quite as long as I thought to get acclimated to mountain riding. The views were amazing out there. Best yet. Zach climbed really good. We saw a ton of other riders. It's a popular route because the shoulder is fairly wide and the speed limit is 25 or 35 the whole time. White Spar is the start of the memorial ride that's coming up.

Tomorrow we are just going to head to Granite. Other than 347, Zach has only ventured onto 1 or 2 other trails there. We are going to go hit a few of the other ones.