Wickenburg to Prescottl - Let the Climbing Begin

Today was the official beginning of the "real climbing".  If anyone thought the climbs up to this point were "real climbing", they got an eye opening today.  Getting to Prescott involves around 7000 ft of total assent.  Added to that cruelty was the JOY of false flats and false summits.

We started out the day at the Golden Nugget for breakfast.  Now the meal the night before at this establishment was, to put it bluntly, awful.  I had never before walked away from a plate of spaghetti, for which our table waited 1/2 hour.  The noodles could be better described as "mush" and the meatballs required only one small taste to realize that they were better left untouched.  So still being hungry, I went to the Circle K and bought a sandwich to take back to my room.  I was only able to consume about a third of this before I could tolerate no more.  So before going to bed I consumed a Cliff Bar.  Those taste pretty good on the road but awful at bedtime.  Waking up at two in the morning, I remembered I had half a bag of trail mix in my bags.  Well I thought I did.  I emptied both duffel bags, never to find the trail mix, which must have been left in one of the hotel rooms along the way.  The lack of good nutrition became a factor in ride performance later in the day.  But back to breakfast.  Arriving before opening time I had an opportunity to enjoy the company of Tommy T and Rik, two of the staff members.
 

 I know, I know, you have to lay on your side to see this picture correctly.  I am sorry.  I spent 5 minutes trying to get it rotated and cannot succeed.  So today's blog has some serious technical errors.

False Flats and false summits.  If you have never been on one, they are a demoralizing optical illusion.  You look out on the distance and swear you will go screaming down the hill.

 So this is a view looking at the road ahead of you.  Laying on your side, note the point at which you can no longer see the road.  I stopped there and took a picture look back to this spot.

As you can see there was no downhill, it was a 3% slugfest up a hill.  Thank goodness for the Garmin.  I had to constantly look down at the grade to give myself a reason to be slow.  This section continued to climb for 7 miles.  The grade turned into 6% in many spots.  I made it up this section fairly well and still had some life in me at the top.

Then there were a few miles with some nice downhill runs.  These were pretty much straight roads and the surface was very smooth.  I achieved my all time speed record of 41 mph.  Now, I do not like speed and normally will not let the bike run like that.  But it was handling well and no curves and I wanted to enjoy the run. 

Then another 5 miles of false flats.  I did not do so well on these.  I really think the lack of good nutrition the night before started to take it's toll.  Gels and other "biking" food only go so far.  And if you don't have a good base, they just don't seem to be able to keep you going.  Or maybe I am not in good enough shape and the years are adding up on my body.  Anyway, at the bump spot at 42 miles (with 15 more to go), I called it a day.  I helped Robin load bikes (for those riders gone by the wayside) and water down and water up the remaining bikers on the road.  Back to part-time staff, which is also a very rewarding function.

My goal today had been to ride this whole section, which I was unable to complete in 2010.  Third time a goal has been missed.  I am done setting goals.  From now on it is just ride, or not ride, whatever the case may be.