Prescott Valley, Arizona to Congress, Arizona
Late start out of Prescott Valley, AZ. Motels slow me down but post office in Prescott says you can only pick up General Delivery Mail between 1:00 and 4:00, so I take a slow ride 10 miles into Prescott. Very mountainous ride up out of the valley, but what a nice town. Beautiful old courthouse with a square block size park,completely shaded by old cottonwoods with curved pathways and benches. A nice, cool outdoor place to find shelter from the Arizona sun.
Hit the library and ate lunch and then went to the post office to get mail. Lots of great mail. Thanks to everyone who sent stuff. It will carry me to the Pacific!
Left Prescott around 2 PM with my target for the day being Congress, AZ. Rte. 89 South out of town took me immediately back up into the mountains and the Prescott National Forest. Passed a sign that said, “Mountain Grades, Next 15 Miles”! So I kept chuggin’ along up and up and then down, only to go up and up again. This part of Arizona is all new to me and despite the effort climbing these hills, the ride was exciting. Work hard for 20 to 30 minutes, then coast for 5. Repeat. Eventually, got out of the mountains and coasted down into Peeples Valley. It was now about 4:30 and I stopped and ate 2/3 of a box of cereal with a quart of milk. It was pretty hot out still - low 90’s, I’d say and I still had 20 miles to go. Started pedaling uphill out of Peeples Valley to a town called Yarnell, AZ. Ughhh - more uphill. Wanted to get to Congress before dark and figured it would be close, but as soon as I left Yarnell, it was an 8 mile, 30 mph twisting, winding, side of the mountain coast down to Congress. Wow!! I think that was the longest sustained coasting stretch of the entire trip. One problem, as I descended, the temperature rose about 15 degrees. Not gonna need a sleeping bag tonight!
Talking to the waitress at a cafe, she said it was 106° today. Yikes, I’m really in the desert now. I just figured by October, the temps here would be in the 80’s. Oh well. So tomorrow I get up pre-dawn and ride as far as I can before the heat becomes unbearable. Then - S I E S T A T I M E!!! and maybe an extra 2 hours from 5 to 7. Well, that’s my strategy.
Totals for day 43: 56.10 miles, 4 hrs. 47 min., 3074.1 total miles
Pitched a tent in the desert, a couple hundred yards from the road. Hot night. Billion stars!!