June 8, 2019
Marble Canyon - Jacob Lake, AZ
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4,581 elevation gain. 538 loss. It was a tough day. But the sun was shining and the wind wasn’t much of a factor. Thank goodness.
I still don’t know what time it is. We are far away from the bridge where the time changes and my phone still says one thing and Jacinto’s phone says another. I wanted to leave shortly after dawn to beat the wind but I couldn’t figure out when dawn was because I couldn’t figure out the time. It was silly.
I woke up and some wee hour and used the bathroom. It was very dark. Our room was stuffy from the swamp cooler not working properly. Jacinto has the fan pointing on him. I woke up again when it was getting light. I couldn’t hear Oren puttering around so I laid back down. Finally I heard Oren get up so I got up.
We are breakfast in the kitchen at the table. What a novelty. Oren has a huge variety of gas station food. Oatmeal, a Krispy Cream donut, a little cup of fruit that was $3.50. What else did he have? It was quite a variety and he ate it all! The better to fuel for the road.
I was ready first and I left. It was going to be a long day. I told the guys that with 4,800 feet of climbing in 41 miles, I was hoping for a 4 mph average. That would be ten hours on the bike. Boy, howdy! They both assured me it would be faster than that. I’m a slow climber and I know it. I was allowing myself the entire day.
Oren caught up with me about an hour down the road. I told him this is a tough day, we all need to ride our own ride. I didn’t expect to see him again until town and I didn’t.
The beginning of the day was nice. There was a very light wind that swirled around. The vermilion cliffs were glowing in the early morning light. The traffic was non existent. The grade was hardly up. That was kind of a problem. We have plenty of elevation to gain. Let’s start now so my legs aren’t fried later. Nope. Mile after mile went by with very little elevation gain. I let myself enjoy the morning.
Close to Marble Canyon is Lee’s Ferry and Cliff Dwellers. Both had lodging and I’m pretty sure both had a restaurant. Those could be choices. I was happy we stopped were we did as it would have been a ferocious headwind to those places last night. Besides, we would have missed out on the poorly working cooler, the non functioning TV, and no wi-fi. Can you tell we were in bed real early last night?
At about mile 28 we finally traversed the valley and reached the real climb. It was serious. The first few miles reminded me of riding the Monument in Grand Junction. The roads twisted around on itself and had plenty of red rock views down to the valley. That was the toughest part for me. I had hot foot here and had to stop several times. I was employing the stop every mile method. Many people scoff, but stopping briefly every mile really makes the difference in my condition at the top. I also ate 4-5 of the dreaded Perpetuum Tablets.
Scenery continued to please, with ponderosa pines and flowers. Traffic was finally picking up a little. We saw just a handful of tour buses. I’ve read accounts of how bad the traffic is on this road. My experience on this trip is that 89A has been the most pleasant riding of the trip. There wasn’t a shoulder but there also wasn’t a rumble strip. The bit of traffic we had went way around.
I should have put this back at the beginning. It’s going to take some time to get over the fact that they are liars! Liars I say! Mileage is a big deal to cyclists. Especially climbing miles. I want to know just when I will arrive. Exactly. There was a sign early in the day saying Jacob Lake 33 miles. It was right next to a mile marker that said 544. How simple. We will be there at mm 577. They lied! You do not want to lie to a cyclist about the length of a climb. No way.
I was watching the miles and also the elevation gain on my Garmin after the initial tough granny climb, I did most of the rest in the middle chain ring. Jacinto caught up to me at mile 575.5. I told him either the original sign was incorrect or we were going to have a hell of a last mile getting to our destination elevation. In the end it wasn’t quite three extra miles, but those miles sure mattered to me. I was starving and starting to run on fumes. Jacinto said he had leftovers and I was counting on eating them as soon as I arrived. Sit right in the parking lot. This instant.
A tour bus was pulling away as I rode up. I could see Jacinto talking to some other bike riders. I went straight to his bike and looked for food. There was the to go container. I sat down to eat. No fork. I don’t care. I ate it with my fingers. Jacinto came over, but didn’t get close to the food. I would have snarled at him. Jacinto said Oren was inside eating. I put away the leftovers and went inside to eat also. Of course it’s all sandwiches. I asked what was the biggest as I was starving. I got a 6 oz something with onions. I asked for a side dish of pickles and ate those while I waited for the food. We will be here on our way back. The restaurant was giving us flashbacks of Old Station. It has a very small menu. We stay here again on our way back. I’m sure we will try everything. They have an excellent looking bakery that was doing a brisk business.
Oren tried to check in, but they were firm on 3 PM. I went over and had a try, mentioning I had asked for an early check in when I reserved back in February. The check in clerk was professional and firm. 3 PM, but we can do paperwork now. I know I’m in 114. The wi-fi password doesn’t work outside. I hope it does inside. I’m sitting outside of the hotel area, texting this. I have three days in a row now texting my journal entry. I’m starting to get cold in my sweaty stinky bike clothes.
Oren said that was one of the toughest climbs of his life, he almost fell off his bike when he got here and he had to stagger inside for a drink. Oren said he only stopped a couple of times on the climb and he didn’t eat anything at all the entire climb. Bingo! I think he almost bonked. Laugh if you will about stopping every mile, but it works.
It is 2:58, I think. Soon we can shower. Tomorrow we go to the Grand Canyon 44 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing. That should be a nice ordinary ride. Except not ordinary because he should be stupendously beautiful!
After dinner commentary - Dinner was a wonderful surprise. I wasn't expecting much. We ate lunch at the counter - it was all sandwiches on the small menu. For dinner we ate in the dining room and there was a nice variety of food. My first choice, the chicken campfire foil wrapped dinner was sold out. The waiter said they only do six of those a night. I had jalapeño meatloaf. It was good. But the chicken veggie soup was excellent. Really, really excellent. The best I've ever had excellent. Now I'm looking forward to coming back here on the return from the North Rim. There was a little story on the menu about the lodge/restaurant opening in 1923 and still being run by the same family. Everything is homemade - desserts, dinner rolls, etc.
We are at 8,000 feet here. It is chilly! I happily wore my coat to dinner. Jacinto said he was going to steal it from me. He didn't wear anything warm at all. Oren had his rain jacket on and looked chilled the entire time. We had laundry outside drying, but it didn't dry. We brought it inside. That wasn't a problem last night at ~3,500 feet!
Oren said he already has his heater going. I think we will need to turn ours on. That is a nice problem to have in Arizona in June.
Jacinto commented that he didn't like that it now feels ordinary to pay $17-20. for a meal and anything under $100. for a motel room is suspect . . . he's right . . . I pointed out to him that's why he got that giant raise at work this year. To pay increased prices at other places. Prices always go up, not down.
We've had good luck this trip on getting large rooms. Unfortunately our room has an adjoining door to the next room with lots of sound transfer. Our neighbors are a family with small children who are making lots of small children type noises. I've successfully called the front desk to ask for a room without an adjoining door for our return.
Jacinto is happy with the big TV in HD. I like the fast wi-fi. After a long, hard day on the bike it is nice to veg out and do nothing . . . . . .
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Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 355 miles (571 km)
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