Day 6: Prescott to Cottonwood, AZ

Prior to the ride today, I met Jan Lewis's husband Norm.  Norm went to Michigan State, as did I. Unfortunately, I only had a University of Michigan jersey.  Fortunately, Norm is a U of M fan.  We had a good talk about Kalamazoo, MI (his former residence) and South Carolina (his current residence).

Herm, Norm, Jan

With Tracy Leinert (CrossRoads owner) and Rick Wardell (CrossRoads mechanic) leading the way initially, our ride today started  with a slow warm-up spin out of Prescott at a comfortable 65F temperature.  After turning south on Pioneer Parkway at roughly Mile 8, the wind was at our back for the first significant segment of the tour.  I think we (me, Chuck Hardesty, Randy Germeraad, Joanne Hamilton) could have really pushed the pace on this smooth road had we wanted to, but instead we pedaled easily.  Everyone just seemed to be happy to let nature push us along with only occasional pedaling required to maintain a brisk pace comfortably .

Following re-fueling at a convenience store, we turned east to begin a 12-mile climb to the top of Mingus Mountain.  Upon doing so, a light headwind greeted us, but it had cooling qualities that mitigated the effects of an air temperature that was now above 90F, so this headwind barely registered as a minor annoyance. False flats did raise their ugly heads just as they had done yesterday, but this was not troubling either.  I think everyone's mind was on the mass of land directly ahead.

False flat along the climb to the top of Mingus Mountain

By the time the false flat-laden approach to Mingus ended, so had any group cohesion.  One rider flatted, another had nagging IT band issues, and at least 3 of us would stop to take photos whenever the mood struck.  As a result, we ascended the Mingus switchbacks separately, but probably never more than a quarter mile separating any two of us.  Arguably (which means I have no objective data), the grade of these switchbacks varied in the 1-7% range and probably averaged around 5% for the total ascent.  It took me over an hour to complete the climb from its beginning in the false flats to the peak at roughly 7000 feet.

Climbing Mingus Mountain to Jerome, AZ

During the final half of the climb, my chain started to chatter and jump in the largest 3 cassette cogs. While riding, I tightened the rear derailleur tension screw to do a quick check for proper cable tension.  This did not solve the problem, so I needed to stop.  I spotted Geoffrey Sales ahead off the road and so I decided to pull off next to him.  At this point I suspected a stuck link in the chain and Geoffrey offered his assistance to hold my bike up.  This made it easy to inspect each link as it came off the tension pulley when I pedaled backward. A stuck link was identified and Geoffrey offered use of his Chamois Butt'r.  My initial thought was "What the bloody hell?", but then I realized he meant it for the chain.  Anyway, he spread a ribbon of butt butter on the offending link and spread it along a few adjacent links for good measure.  It did a splendid job of lubing the chain and letting me climb to the peak without further drivetrain skipping or chatter.  Thanks Geoff!

Geoffrey Sales ascending Mingus Mountain

Chuck Hardesty finishing a long descent just before reaching Jerome.

At the top of Mingus Mountain was our first SAG stop.  Although all CrossRoads staff members attend these stops at various times, Carol Darlington, Robin Dunn, and Eileen Hardin are the CrossRoads staff members most commonly managing these intermediate rest and re-fueling stops designed to keep us physically and mentally sharp.  I think I can speak for all 2014 CrossRoads riders that we are very thankful for this service.  It's wonderful that we are greeted with big smiles and warm hearts each day, and provided with a wide variety of snacks, sports nutrition products, fresh fruit, freshly prepared foods, and ice cold Gatorade or water.

Carol Darlington, me, Robin Dunn, and Eileen Hardin at the
Mingus Mountain SAG stop.

Mingus Mountain SAG stop food items
(BEST BEAN SALAD EVER!)

After we left the Mingus Mountain SAG stop, we descended a steep and fast 5 miles into Jerome, AZ -- a historic mining town that survived through tourism and retail after the mines were exhausted of iron ore. Being a flatlander, my descending skills are informed mainly by bicycle magazine articles and honed on 300 yard descents featuring 1-2 curves, 2 dozen potholes, and an occasional squirrel incapable of making a timely decision.  As a result, my descents today started with keeping my weight back, center of gravity low, and eyes looking down the road for the first 25 yards, and then gripping the brake hoods until my knuckles turned white and screaming "HELP!  LOOK OUT!  GET OUT OF MY WAY!" at appropriate intervals the rest of the way.

Photo taking on the descent from Mingus Mountain
(Thanks Chuck!)

Those of us arriving in Jerome at the same time had a big lunch at the Haunted Hamburger restaurant before leaving an hour later for the final rapid descent and final cruise into our destination hotel in Cottonwood.  I spoke later with Geoffrey Sales and he told me he stopped at an ice cream shop in Jerome to carry on the work of rating ice cream shakes across America ("DQ Challenge") started by Brick Susko during his 2013 CrossRoads tour.  Geoffrey qualified this shop was not a proper DQ, just a local establishment.  Geoff had a shake consisting of iced coffee, cookies & cream ice cream, and whipped (sprayed, actually) cream.  Geoff gave this concoction a rating of Poor.

Day 6 Google Earth image and Elevation Profile
Prescott to Cottonwood

CrossRoads Cycling Adventures High Level Map
(black=progress-to-date; blue=planned route)

Tomorrow we ride to Flagstaff for a well-deserved day of rest and recovery.