Wickenburg, AZ to Prescott, AZ
60 mi, 6,087ft gain, 52-70/sunny
Climbing day! Today has the most elevation gain of all the trip in a single day.. after the longest day of the trip! We were all pretty tired by the end of today but everyone crushed the ride!! The ladies of the group are strong climbers, I’m so proud of them.
Riding out of Wickenburg was so so. I knew about the construction as I drive through it for work. It’s reduced lanes and people around here aren’t as bike friendly/aware. So I sorta high tailed it through the first 5 miles to turn onto 89 towards Prescott.
As we started our first climb there was road construction with a pilot car. 4 miles of uphill pilot car. Ha! We got left in the dust by the pilot car, causing us to have head on traffic turn back on us. This is the second time in a few months I’ve had this happen. Not sure why they can’t just wait for the cyclists? We made it happen by going to the wrong/construction side to get the rest of the way out of the construction.
My favorite part of the ride was through the Yarnell area. Cattle and high country fields with small houses from years past. It’s a wonderful little spot. So Peeple’s valley was very pretty. Here’s a little photo dump:
The absolute highlight of my day was seeing Lyn & Jim at the top of the climbing outside Prescott. ❤️❤️ They live in Tucson and drove up at 4:30am to be in that great spot overlooking the climb. They brought a large ice water tower, a huge Go Jodie sign, and smiles/cheers for each rider. I can’t believe how lucky I am to know them and call them friends. Alaska life friends.
Road conditions:
Lots of new pavement, a few miles with minimal shoulders to be mindful of as you ride. Prescott has nice bike lanes painted through town once you hit the city limits. The climbing area was where you need to stay to the right so cars coming around corners have space.
Plants:
We’ve moved from Sonoran desert to high country! I snapped the pic above of a Joshua tree next to a Saguaro.. that is not suppose to happen in theory. But in this area we are where the deserts merge for a moment. They each are signal plants for their respective deserts, not naturally in the same places. I couldn’t stop staring at them out in nature doing their thing. Sometimes you see that with yard irrigation in Phoenix, not in nature. Expect here!
We happen to be right next to a Walgreens and Sprouts! Not a pretty side of riding so much, but it needs to be mentioned. Chafing happens. Longest day followed by 6k feel climbing = a little chafing on my seat bones. So I walked over to get some of my go to’s. A really good lotion first, let that set in for 10 minutes, then use Aquafor on top. If I do this over night I’m back to normal the next day.
Eye cleaning & drops are because the wind the last few days has wrecked havoc on my eyes. Allergies, bright sun, and dusty wind. My right eye is having a bit of a fit. I might have a tiny scratch on it, I’m babying it and found an optometrist in Cottonwood for today if I have to. Fingers crossed.
As a third issue I woke up to my finger infected from a tire splinter I got while changing my tire two days ago. I got the splinter out but apparently it left something bad. I washed it, opened it, and used alcohol. Waiting for my favorite store, Walgreens to open right before we leave to run over for some bacitracin. 🙄
Morning of Day 7 now, I’m feeling like the “survivor” part of the show has just started for me. Ha! Just gotta get these little things sorta to keep pedaling.
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