First Bicycle Touring Lesson Learned - The first few days of my re-started tour have had an amazing variety of conditions. When I was dreaming of making this trip, the kind of day that went through my mind went something like this. Riding through cool air and pine forests, views of mountain lakes near by, no wind, good pavement, rolling terrain without any super long hills, some great downhill sections sprinkled in, and arriving at the end of the day in a great...

Today was all about getting home. The first third of the ride was through flat, scrubby desert with nothing to see but tumbleweeds and trucks. The last two-thirds were city riding to get across Phoenix and back to Scottsdale. And if that's not boring enough, it was also the longest ride of the trip at over 65 miles. But, I'm home and ready for a few days rest! Final stats for the trip: 221 miles, 9100 feet of climbing, no flats, no rain, and 4 desserts consumed...

Mostly downhill riding today - thank goodness! There are two great downhills on the road from Prescott to Wickenburg. One is the drop down the south side of the Bradshaw mountains - beautiful sweeping curves on a well paved road through pine forests. In fact, that is one of my favorite rides in all of Arizona. The other is the drop from Yarnell to Congress where the reality of leaving the high country for the desert hits you in the face. I had never ridden this...

All that downhill riding from yesterday is a distant memory. Cottonwood is at about 3000 ft elevation. The road from Cottonwood to Prescott goes over Mingus Mountain with a peak elevation of 7023 ft. There's a little sign there to tell you, as if your burning legs aren't notice enough. But the reward for a long uphill is a fast downhill! The first half of my ride took about 3 hours, the second half was only a little over an hour. :-) One of the other rewards f...

The first day's ride was awesome! Oak Creek Canyon was beautiful and not much traffic. The switchback drop down into the canyon was fast and fun without many cars on the road. By the time I got to Sedona, the afternoon thunder clouds were starting to gather making the red rock scenery even more amazing. I arrived at the hotel in Cottonwood a couple hours before the rain started pouring, so I'm still dry. :-)