Cycling and other musings
44 miles, 2674 feet climbed
More climbing in the west, with a kick-ass downhill to finish. For days like this, I’m going to start adding the elevation profile, copied from my phone’s app that downloads the data from my bike computer.
I apologize that there are no photos of Jerome, a former mining town, now a tourist destination. I seem to gravitate to the natural scenery, unless there is some irony involved.
Continue reading “Day 7: Prescott to Cottonwood, AZ”60 miles, 5709 feet climbed
Half the miles and nearly twice the climbing from yesterday. Getting to the first climb up to Yarnell was a slight, steady climb at a 1 to 2% grade. The climb itself ranged between 3 and 6 %. Following a transit of the Peoples Valley, we had a rolickin downhill; I saw 40 mph for a few seconds and was cruising in the 30’s.
Continue reading “Day 6: Wickenburg to Prescott, AZ”113 miles, 3051 feet climbed
The first 30 miles or so of today’s ride were again on I-10, with plenty wide shoulders and the usual truck tire shrapnel to dodge. Then we veered northeast on Hwy 60 towards Wickenburg. Hwy 60 has the occasional turn but is mostly dead straight, with much less traffic than the Interstate.
Continue reading “Day 5: Blythe, CA to Wickenburg, AZ”69 miles, 2457 feet climbed, weather: comfortable to start, warm but not blazing hot, at the end
Today would have been a 99 mile day but for road construction, which made a 30 mile stretch of I-10 impassable (well, seriously unsafe) for us. Staff had to shuttle us between the second an third SAG stops. There we no complaints about the reduced mileage, especially when we saw the work zone (photo below). And I had no flats to fix.
Continue reading “Day 4: Indio to Blythe, CA”90 Miles, 1998 Feet Climbed, Weather-overcast/cool to begin, sunny and warm, but comfortable at the end
It looks like we’re going to have unseasonably moderate weather for a while. Today started cool, which made the major climb on highway 79 into Banning easier. We grouped up on the western border of the Morongo Tribal Reservation. Going through the reservation avoided a nasty alternative route. The tribe insisted that we go through as a group, not individually.
Continue reading “Day 3: Moreno Valley to Indio, CA”84.5 Miles, 2493 Feet Climbed, Weather: Low 60’s, overcast to start, sunny after Anaheim, low 70’s at finish.
Today’s ride took us through old haunts and areas I still visit yearly; tomorrow’s will be a little more of the same. First off, some stats from yesterday’s orientation. We have about 25 riders and 7 staffers. They include folks from the Brighton, UK, Israel, and Vancouver, Canada. Two of the riders are apprenticing part time as staffers. There were a few scratches before the ride, whose places were given to a few riders who were registered for this year’s cancelled America by Bicycle tours.
Continue reading “Day 2: El Segundo to Moreno Valley, CA”0 miles, 0 feet climbed
After 3 years, here’s the Epilogue I promised back in 2019 at the end of the America By Bicycle America North tour:
If I had profound thoughts to share, I’ve forgotten them. I do believe that the small changes to the route were good–getting off the highway between Astoria and St. Helens on day 1 and the diversion through the Badlands in South Dakota. On the other hand, the narrow stretch of Highway 26 north of the Warm Springs casino, avoided in 2004, was nasty, with narrow or no shoulders and kamikaze logging trucks. The routing the next day between Madras and Prineville wasn’t much better for truck traffic on narrow roads. I hope that some money is freed to maintain the Elroy-Sparta bike trail, a highlight from 2004 and a muddy slog this time.
Continue reading “2019 Epilogue . . . 2022 LA to Boston Day 1: El Segundo, CA”61 miles, 2690 feet climbed
We made it to the end. And finally, ten days later, I’m posting this report. Excuses below.
It was another day of good weather. Some climbing for the first half and mostly flat for the remainder.
Continue reading “Day 50 – Manchester to Portsmouth, New Hampshire”79 miles, 4885 feet climbed
Today’s climbing, while less in absolute terms than yesterday’s, felt like more. That was likely due to the slopes being steeper. The route is modified from 2004, skipping two steep climbs according to staff. I remember one of them–Joe English Road–which my friend Andrew and I raced up the 10% grade for nearly a mile only to find a little more 10% after a false flat near the top. The downhill into Manchester was more rewarding than today’s approach. But change is good, right?
Continue reading “Day 49 – Brattleboro, Vermont to Manchester, New Hampshire”79 miles, 5696 feet climbed
Today was perhaps our biggest day of climbing, comparable to Teton pass in total, but spread out over more, smaller climbs at lower elevations. While we haven’t climbed this much for weeks, we were still stronger for all the miles we’ve ridden and this did not feel as difficult.
There was no rain in the forecast but dark clouds were hovering over Hogback, our last climb before the descent into Brattleboro. A light rain started at the second SAG, and abated before I topped Hogback.
Continue reading “Day 48 – Latham, New York to Brattleboro, Vermont”