Tuba City, Arizona to Flagstaff, Arizona
Up super early to hightail it down to “Flag.” Hoped to get there early to get the bike fixed. Ate the leftovers from dinner - basically a half an ear of corn and some potato salad. Dropped the room key and TV remote at the front desk, downed a 1/2 cup of coffee, and took off. Ten miles to Rte. 89. Then 62 more miles south to Flagstaff on a road I am very familiar with. Have driven it every year for the last 7 years. Mt. Humphrey, (highest peak in AZ), which Peg and I climbed two summers ago, is the dominant part of the landscape, visible the whole trip and growing clearer with each mile. Some fall color put a yellow stripe through the otherwise greenish look. With morning sun shining on it and the rest of the San Francisico Peaks, they looked beautiful.
The first half of the ride went very fast. I stopped in Cameron, AZ and didn’t want to waste any time eating breakfast. So I loaded up on high energy junk. About 25 miles from Flagstaff, I looked off in the distance and saw a long slow rise in the road. I estimated it to be 6 miles to the top of the rise. It turned out it was 7 miles and the elevation rose from 6000 to 7250 ft over that 7 miles. That wan an exhausting 7 miles and it took an hour to pedal it! Going 7 mph does not keep you cool! So there was a lot of thirst and a lot of sweat.
After that, there was a one mile 6% downhill grade so that was a relief, but Flagstaff’s elevation is 6907 ft. so the next 12 miles was pretty up and down. The bike shop I was heading for was on the far side of town, so I had an extra 6 miles to pedal once I reached the city limits. That really sucked! Finally arrived at Loose Spokes Bike Shop on Morris Road (Route 66). Handed off the bike to Garrett and went to a Chinese Lunch Buffet. Asked the waiter for two glasses of ice tea and he suggested a pitcher. Thumbs up to that!! Pigged out on some good food, fruit, watermelon, melon, cantaloupe, peaches, bananas, 4 plates of stuff and dessert. I needed that!
Back to the bike shop. Took the bike for a test spin and still had a problem with the tire. The spokes and wheel were OK but the tire had a problem with the bead. Scott was attending to the bike now and he put a new tube and tire on the back. Fixed the brake, oiled the chain, and now the bike was really ready. What a relief!! Reliable wheels again. Still have about 650 miles to go.
Peace of mind in Arizona... finally! Tomorrow - ride down 89A through Sedona All downhill. Sedona’s elevation is 4500 ft. Everyone here in Flagstaff is hiking and biking today. The parking lots at top of the trailheads I passed were full. I love this place!! Can I move here???
Totals for the day: 80.47 miles, 6 hrs. 14 min., 2930.5 total miles.
Wandered around San Francisco Street and went into the Beaver Street Brewery to have a gin and tonic and relax after three days of tension due to the bike problems. Called old job and got Rick who patched me through the audio board so everyone could hear our conversation. It was good to know how enthusiastic everyone is about the trip. They don’t want it to end either!
There was a hostel nearby and I went inside to see about staying there but they didn’t have any secure place for me to leave the bike. The host told me about another hostel a few blocks away that had an interior yard which might be suitable. I went there but that wasn’t true. Just a bike rack outside. Flagstaff is a huge biking town. Everywhere you go, you see bike racks full of bikes and people riding them all over, too. There are 7 bike shops in “Flag.”
My cousins Dave and Jenny gave me a phone number of a friend of theirs, who I could stay with. I tried all day and no answer until about 8:30 PM and the person who answered told me I had the wrong number. Found a place called Bun Huggers which boasted of fantastic burgers. Hung out there for a few hours and ate dinner and had a couple of diet Pepsi’s. Met two characters in the place. One guy who I’ll call N>A>U> MAN, had just come from an NAU (Northern Arizona University) football game. His face had NAU painted on it plus he had the NAU shirt and hat and maybe 10 or 12 beers already in him. So he was quite a lively dude. I really got a kick out of him.
On my left was Keith. Keith had a lot of stories to tell. A roofer by trade now, but also had tales of being a roadie for Grand Funk Railroad. He lived with Dwight Yoakum in LA in the early 70’s and claimed Dwight stole a song he wrote. Now Dwight won’t return his calls and pretends to not know him. He did not like NAU man because he was too loud and noisy, but I liked the mix of people. The burger was great and it wasn’t a bad way to end the day.
Slept under the stars and some towering pine trees. No tent necessary. Cool night - in the 40’s. Good sleepin’.