Wickenburg, AZ to Prescott, AZ 59 miles

Although a short distance day it was still a pretty tough day today. Taken as a group the past 3 days are the hardest. A lot of people were suffering yesterday as the toll of back to back centuries coupled with today's climbing made it hard. We climbed about 6,000 feet. My garmin continues to give me problems or I would know. I seems to turn itself off when I hit a bump. I also lost all of my data from the last ride prior to downloading into my laptop. Tomorrow in Flagstaff I will probably just go buy another computer. Why didn't I do it today? Just too lazy.

Our hotel is nice and I got in around 1 p.m. which made for a nice recovery given that we don't leave until 9:15 for Cottonwood. They have washing machines so the laundry is all nice and clean. Household chores-who needs them? I am sure Leslie is laughing now.

We started the day with a long climb of 2500 feet or so up the mountain and then rode for a while in Peebles valley which is still on top of the mountain but almost like a saddle between the two mountains. That was nice for a few miles, but then we hit the false flats. This is when it appears you are on flat ground, but you are actually climbing. This can be demoralizing. After a 20 minute rest stop at a store, it was on to more climbing. The second hard climb is actually much easier as you have brief respites where you can recover. We reached an elevation of 6100 at the top of the mountain, but everyone was too tired to stop and take a picture. My group doesn't want to stop a lot, so I take the pictures frequently as I am riding. The picture of the switchback is actually one of the milder parts of the ascent. Today I promise more and better pics. The "bad boys" you see in the background of one of the early pics, is our first mountain, so it gives you an idea of what we had to tackle. All in all I am holding up pretty well and usually finish with a small group (the "B" team) that arrives at the hotel after the studdly riders.

I have included a few pics of our British contingent, all in their finery. Mac one of our support staff, Colin, 2 Doug S. and Doug P and Jon. I had dinner last night with Doug S. and Jon, both very strong riders.

Oh and finally on the road up til the first climb, I held on to Roy's flag for a while and let him pull me up a small hill. He didn't seem to notice. After letting go, I was laughing so hard that I ran off the road. No harm, no foul.

I have also included a litle video on the 117 miles or so to Wickenburg and our little paceline of 3.

Enjoy the photos....

Ty aka "il pirata"