Flagstaff, Arizona to Prescott Valley, Arizona
Day 42 Sunday, September 28, 2003
Beautiful Arizona sunrise through the pines. Mt. Humphrey in the background. Excited about riding down 89A to Sedona!
23 miles to Sedona - all downhill. 7 miles of pine forest, then a 2 mile 7% downhill switchback winding to Oak Creek Canyon. Ah... Oak Creek Canyon. Never have I seen it from this point of view. The quiet serenity of coasting along it on a bike. Can hear the gurgling water. I stop by a larger pool and see the towering Red Rocks’ reflection in the water. A sign on the entrance gate to someone’s creekside villa says, “Life is Better Here.”
The weekend campers are arising for breakfast at Cave Springs, Bootlegger, and Manzanita. The smells of campfires and breakfast permeate the cool, fresh air. I stopped at Banjo Bill’s to say hello to our campground hosts from back in the early part of the summer. They’re getting ready to move on to Florida for the winter. There was almost no need to pedal all the way to Sedona. This made the ride even more thoroughly enjoyable. Wanted to scream out to passing campgrounds, “I love this place!!!” but restrained myself.
Hard to believe I’m actually riding my bike to Sedona. It occurred to me that biking offers a sightseeing benefit that you can’t get in a car. A convertible gives you a feel of the great wide open spaces, but a bike has no visual obstructions to the scenery. No window frames, visors, or other structural elements to divide the view.
Roadkill has been practically non-existent since New Mexico. Except for a good deal of snakes which are indistinguishable from pieces of rope, I have seen only a dead javelina in a gully. That was a first!
Oh yeah, a word about bungee straps. I would say, do not buy the black ones with the shiny metal hooks. I have seen hundreds of these along the road with one end intact and the other end hookless. For every hundred of these I’ve seen , only one of the other multi-colored, black hook type and when I see them they are perfectly intact and useful. In fact, I added three to my load. They were great for the clothing adaptations that would occur through the day, adding and subtracting layers as the temperatures changed.
I coast into Sedona and first stop is the Chill-Out Cafe. Dead as a doornail. At the opposite end of the street, the coffee place was a 5 minute wait for service. Made a batch of Sunday phone calls and enjoyed the Red Rock views. Some friendly tourists from England obliged a picture.
Back on bike, heading down 179 past Snoopy Rock, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, Courthouse Butte, and all the familiar sites. Hot out today, probably 90 degrees. Rode down I-17 for 20 miles. First time on the Interstate. Twelve foot wide shoulder, so in a way it was more “friendly” that some of the roads with a one foot shoulder. Had a guaranteed space between me and passing traffic.
Stopped after 12 miles at Camp Verde, AZ. Convenience store - milk, fruit pop, and some air conditioning to cool down. Got very sleepy all of a sudden and went outside to the shady side of the building and took a siesta. With this desert heat it is easy to understand why siestas are so necessary.
5 PM, back on the Interstate. 9 more miles of it. The first 6 of which, was a long steady climb over a mountain pass. One hour, 10 minutes of steady uphill but a gentle grade. Occasional shade provided by mountain sides made it more bearable in the 90 degree heat.
Lots of strange things on the side of the road. Inordinate amount of single shoes but most importantly, I found 35 cents! Off I-17 and heading south on AZ 169 to Dewey. 15 miles to go. 3 miles later I hit the 3,000 mile mark!!! Stopped to take a picture of the spot and put my odometer in the foreground to mark the moment. Hope it turns out OK.
At the very spot I hit 3000 miles, I saw something gold and shiny on the ground. It was a gold and black medallion that said, “AMA Long Rider 25,000 Miles.” I figure it was some motorcyclist’s commemorative award for a lot of riding. OK, call it no big deal but the round number of miles and me and that exact spot all adds up to feeling connected to some kind of traveling, torch-passing spirit...
The next 8 miles I thought would be flat, turned out to be up and up and up. I was pretty exhausted and had no energy food. Just wanted to get to Dewey! Finally just at sunset I get over the crest and have a 4 mile downhill 30 mph coast into Dewey. Yahoo! NOT!! I get to Dewey to find no motels. Have to go 7 more miles to Prescott Valley. Ate some candy and pressed on in the dark on Hwy. 69 West. A sliver of moon and stars were out. It was cool evening temps to ride in, but a bit scary. I needed a motel and eventually got to one. So this was a day that started out quite wonderful and ended kind of miserably. Riding on the Interstate and riding at night on the same day... only time that happened on the trip.
This route after Sedona was to avoid Mingus Mountain. A 16 mile uphill climb which I wasn’t excited about especially in the heat. My route added 5 miles to the trip but looking back I’m not sure if it was the right choice. Doesn’t matter now though, does it?
Found a motel and a well deserved rest after some dinner.
Totals for the day: 87.43 miles, 6 hrs. 58 min., 3018.0 total miles