May 12, 2023
Day 7: Prescott to Cottonwood
Warning. This post contains scenes of an emotional nature.
Warning: This entry describes moments of rapture.
For some reason I was behind this morning, rushed and only got to the route rap as it started. As everyone set off I realised I’d left my bottles in the fridge in my room. I had to queue to get a new room key and then run back upstairs. By the time I got back down again everybody was 15 minutes down the road.
What had been a quirky entrance to a small town from the hills to the west yesterday became a heavy duty departure though six miles sprawled across a northern plain this morning. The roads were busy with rush hour traffic. Fortunately there were cycle lanes, but the route still ended up on the hard shoulder of another freeway. I took advantage of a gentle slope down and was soon moving across Prescott valley, where I caught up with Gary, who’d been helping another rider. By now we were on the scrubland of Arizona Downs. With the mountains in the background it was beautiful. It was better still when we turned off onto a much quieter road.
We were now catching up with the other riders and on the empty road could see their lights twinkling off into the distance.
I joined Dave who had been a drummer and musical entertainer with an incredibly varied career. We chatted as the false flat rose onto the main climb of the day through six miles of the Prescott National Forest up Mingus Mountain.
The SAG was at the summit at about 6000ft, but I saved myself for the traditional burger at the Haunted Hamburger in Jerome.
In total the descent was 15 miles down to Cottonwood, with Jerome 5 miles before that. The road twirled and wound itself down through the Verde Valley. There were times when we had to stop because the views were overwhelming. The valleys were steep, but beyond them you could see a wider valley towards the Sedona Park and the Coconino National Forest on the hills around Flagstaff. Beyond that, just visible was the snow on Humphrey’s Peak 40 miles away.
The Haunted Hamburger is named after the miners who lost their lives whilst staying there when it was a boarding house. We all sat on a balcony overlooking the valley.
The road was straighter and faster for the last five miles and we flew down.
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 502 miles (808 km)
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