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May 18, 2001, Day 6: Prescott, AZ to Cottonwood, AZ Oy Vey, Again With the Climbing In Prescott, we had the best hotel accommodations of any place yet, a suite with king size beds and two(!) televisions, in case the CNN on one didn't getting us aggravated enough. Also, we ended up within walking distance of some good stores, and I got a chance to replenish some supplies. Arizona has Staples, BTW, and the people there are very polite. At the daily "route rap" briefing last night, we got the bad news that although yesterday was the most climbing, it wasn't the steepest. Today is. The good news is that this is a short day, only 42 miles. The ride out of town was spirited, helped along by the rush hour traffic on our immediate left - about arm's length, to be precise - and the fear of imminent death got our blood going for the climb. Particularly helpful were a number of truckers hauling dirt or fertilizer (we're not sure which). They hated having to downshift, and expressed themselves in a lot of colorful language and gestures. A couple of the ladies got accused of doing things they're not physically capable of, and one trucker took the time to play "run the bicycle off the road". I held my ground and he missed me, but Don from California did get brushed off, though he stayed on his wheels. We've put AZ number one in the "most hostile drivers" competition, though with only two states gone, it's far from over.  Near
the foot of the big one, we grabbed a quick snack and more Gatorade at a
store, then we met again near the cattle grate that marks the actual
beginning of the big bad climb. We declared this spot a "rest room
spot", and anyone who had to go, male or female would just say,
"pay no attention to me", and we paid no attention. I think this
is a sign that the group is developing cohesiveness, but I'd have to look
it up. Then off on the climb. No one was lying; it was actually steeper
than yesterday, straight up in fact, though I might be
overreacting. Flush with yesterday's success, I dropped into my lowest
gear and repeated my slow-but-steady tactic, working slowly upward for
about two hours, with just a few brief stops. This time I got a chance to
look down into the gorge, and it was a shock to see the skinny little road
way down there with the tiny little car specks on it and reflect that we
had just lifted ourselves that altitude with our crankarms. It was also a
shock to see how far I stood to fall if I didn't keep my eyes on the road,
so I didn't look anymore. I finished in good order, not too tired, and
greatly encouraged by the second success.
The high point of today's run was billed as the long downhill run, and the quaint old mining town of Jerome, half way down. It hadn't occurred to me that a mountain that had a near-vertical switchback ascent on one side might have a near-vertical switchback descent on the other, but so it was. The Cannondale and I hadn't been seeing eye to eye on descents, and I was afraid to let it go, which means that I worked the brakes with my hands in the drops for sixteen miles. To simulate this feeling, go balance yourself on a bar stool, bend over at the waist, and squeeze two grip developers in your hands for forty minutes. By the time I got to Jerome, a colorful little town perched precariously right on the side of the mountain, I didn't care how quaint it was, I just wanted to have all my gripping for the day behind me, so I kept on going. It looked like a pretty cool place, though. In Cottonwood, we came to rest in what is so far my favorite hotel, a Super 8. It has a nice desk right next to the window, and a terrific laundromat next door where you can leave your stuff and pick it up in an hour for $5. I did a little more shopping, this time buying a very big box to send home the stuff I don't need and get back down to legal weight. The employees in all the stores were very, very nice, and I can't get over how polite and decent an Arizonan is when he or she isn't driving a car. Dinner is at the Sizzler Steakhouse, which is fine for stoking up on food. Which we will need. Because tomorrow we climb again. |