McBRAAM Wrapup

The day after and it's starting to settle in. My bucket list is one item shorter today. The sense of accomplishment is certainly very satisfying. Most of the miles, meals and hotels will soon be forgotten, but the 4 weeks spent with my brother and father generated memories that will last a lifetime. To put the endeavor in simple terms, two middle-aged adults with families and lives full of responsibilities took a month off, and rode their bikes every day under the observation of their father. How cool and how rare is that!

Some additional fun and amazing fun facts:

• 28 straight days ridden
• 26 days of clear blue skies
• 0 days of rain
• 0 mechanical issues other than flat tires
• 177 hours and 49 minutes spent pedaling
• 1,105,869 pedal strokes per leg
• 61,105 calories burned while on bike
• 7 pounds lost along the highways of America

Some final superlatives:

• Best Dinner - Piccolino Italian Restaurant in Santa Fe, NM
• Worst Dinner - None, when you're as hungry as we were, no meal was bad.
• Best Stage - Stage 4: Congress, AZ to Cottonwood, AZ
• Fewest Flats - Lance 4, Les 6
• Best Roads - Arizona
• Worst Roads - Mississippi
• Best Hotel - Days Inn in McAlester, OK
• Worst Hotel - Knights Inn in Albuquerque
• Silliest Dogs - Oklahoma
• Most barkingest & chasingest Dogs - Mississippi

Final state cycling friendliness rankings:

1. Arizona - lots of new butter poured down in the past couple of years
2. New Mexico - nobody on the roads to contend with
3. California - only state with a bike path on the route
4. Alabama - perception elevated due to proximity with Mississippi
5. Georgia - rednecks enjoy their smoke belching trucks a bit too much
6. Arkansas - abundance of chip & seal surfaces
7. Texas - "now you see them - now you don't" shoulder game was not amusing
8. Oklahoma - responsible for breaking my dog ear...enough said
9. Mississippi - nobody does old crumbling bumpy and cracking pavement like these folks

A few thanks are also in order. Kathy, Monica, Claire, Hannah and Dolly, thanks for giving us up for 4 weeks, holding down the fort back in the real word, and supporting us in this crazy adventure. A big thank you to Karen, my boss, who hopefully still has a job for me on Monday. And thanks to my cycling friends for the encouragement before and along the way.

And thanks to all of you who have read this blog. I hope you've found it interesting.

In the next couple of days I will write a post specifically for cyclists on lessons learned for a cross country bicycle ride, things we did right, things we would do differently, that sort of thing.

And for those of you wondering what I did today with my first rest day, I rode my bike, of course.

Chilling on the beach with the Party Crasher.

A swing on the beach.

Ahhhhh.

Going for a ride, of course.

The lunch stop hybrid cyclist look.

Perfect execution of a coaster brake bike stop.

McBRAAM Stage 28: Vidalia, GA to Tybee Island, GA..."It Is Finished!!!"

Final Stats:
2,790.9 miles ridden.
100,316 feet climbed.

Wow, I'm not really sure what to say or think, now that McBRAAM is in the books. Having had an identical daily schedule for 28 straight days, and averaging 99.68 miles per day, and not thinking much beyond the next 24 hours (or 15 miles on many occasions), tonight and tomorrow will be really strange. But I'm sure I'll manage to figure it out.

I will confess that it was nice to be able to eat dinner based on what I wanted, not on what I needed. Every evening, I have balanced protein for recovery and carbs for energy, so I've skipped many entrees that would have hit the spot, but not done me much good for the day's ride. So this evening I had a basket of fried fish, french fries, hush puppies and a Mr. Pibb. Then, Kathy and I found some gelato, and finally some coffee. It was fun wandering the beach street walk looking for food and a place to chill without having to worry about cleaning kits, water bottles and bikes.

Today's ride was not that interesting. Nothing new to see that we haven't seen in 27 days, except the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, it was a bit tedious as the road had poor to non-existent shoulders while being busy with traffic, and yes, more pine tree trucks headed to paper mills. I had a navigation snafu and lead us on a wrong turn at a Y-split, and went about 6 miles before realizing it. So we had a choice, improvise or backtrack. We decided to improvise, which meant hopping on Interstate 16.

It was legal to ride I-10 in California, I-40 in Arizona, and I-25 in New Mexico. It was not legal to ride I-16 in Georgia. But we did it anyway. For 23 miles. After all, what's an adventure without a little adventure thrown in? It turns out that we actually felt safest while on the Interstates than on any other roads, except the very remote back-roads. There are national standards that the Interstates meet, which include a shoulder wide enough for a large vehicle to rest upon, and a rumble strip separating the shoulder from the traffic lanes. This means that cyclists essentially have the equivalent of a full lane to ride on. The only real hazard is the flat tire potential caused by the debris field of disintegrated truck tires. But we solved that with tire liners.

The alternative is state and county highways that usually have no shoulder at all, and on which vehicles of all sizes whiz by at 60 mph with nothing separating a cyclist from the vehicle except for a rather flimsy cushion of air and the space the driver feels obliged to give.

I joined a Strava distance challenge this month. It can be found here:
https://www.strava.com/challenges/October-2017-ride-distance-challenge

There are 168,170 cyclists competing from all over the world. Due to my unique month, I am currently in 5th place globally, and in 1st place in the USA. I don't know if I'll hold my lead in the US, it'll be close. I may have to ride Monday and Tuesday to protect my lead, but that means I'll have to reassemble my bike in short order when I get home. We'll see how that turns out.

I plan to write a post tomorrow to recap some final thoughts while they're still fresh. Stay tuned if you're still interested, and thanks for reading.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1249493288
https://www.relive.cc/view/1249493288

1 McBRAAM complete.
2 sets of very tired legs.
2 very jubilant spirits.
2 oceans visited.
9 states traversed.

Hotel: Admiral's Inn, 2 of 5 stars (kind of old, below average breakfast, but what do you expect on an old seaside village?)
Restaurant: Sting Ray's Seafood (finally ate what I wanted, not what I needed - had deep fried cod and french fries!)

Before the journey started (way before...).

After the journey was complete.

Cyclist victory salute. (Yes, I took off my cycling shoes and socks before entering the water.)

Definitely not spin class.

Team McBRAAM (sans Island Girl, the Party Crasher, who took over picture taking duties.)

The Parlee served me faithfully from sea to shining sea.

Wearing helmets of a different sort.

McBRAAM Stage 27: Perry, GA to Vidalia, GA..."The end is near."

2,689.5 miles ridden.
98,459 feet climbed.

I confess to mixed emotions on this eve of the completion of a near life-long bucket list accomplishment. I'm not going to get all teary eyed and mushy, but it's hard to believe that we're about to wrap this up. Team McBRAAM had its last post ride dinner together as immediately following tomorrow's ride, SAGMan and Lance will drive off north to their real lives, while I stay on an extra day to relax on Tybee Island with the Party Crasher. (Island Boy somehow always finds his way to an island for R & R, that's how I got my nom de plume.) She suggested maybe we could rent some beach cruiser bikes and tool around the island. Sounds fun, but I'm not sure I will be able to keep up with her.

Today's ride was more of the same. Clear blue skies, perfect cycling temps, 100 (almost) miles of rollers, light breezes, and keeping SAGMan from getting lost in the Georgian pine forests, among which all of the roads and intersections look alike.

Considering how much time we have spent within a broom's reach of all manner of steel chariots, we have had only one clearly aggressive encounter. Lance and I were minding our own business, doing what we've been doing for 26 days, when we got buzzed by a white dually "pick'em up truck". It goes around the curve up ahead, and I notice its brake lights as it disappears from sight. About the time I had forgotten about it, it pulls up beside us, slows to our speed, then the driver floors it. Out of the vehicle's tailpipe comes a huge black plume of exhaust, which promptly envelopes us like the blob that ate New York. The last thing I saw before being plunged into momentary darkness was a Georgian redneck with this completely idiotic and silly grin on his face, framed perfectly in his over-sized passenger side mirror. Jethro sure showed us. Ah well, rednecks will be rednecks.

Which reminds me of one other thing. Not a pet peeve per se, but a feeling shared universally among cyclists that I feel compelled to mention. Vehicle drivers do not need to honk at cyclists when they come up behind them, or when passing. Trust me, we cyclists know you vehicles are there. We hear you. We feel you. We smell you. And cyclists with the little helmet attached rear view mirrors even see you. We are more acutely aware of our vulnerability than you can imagine, and don't need to be reminded of our 3,000 - 80,000 pound weight disadvantage. Honking only makes matters worse. I know that little soft section at the center of the steering wheel is nearly irresistible to mash, but please over-ride the urge. Cyclists everywhere will thank you.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1248261568
https://www.relive.cc/view/1248261568

1 fresh traveler.

2 hot chocolates.

3 weary travelers.

Hotel: Days Inn, 3 stars of 5 (pretty standard room and breakfast).

Restaurant: Steeplechase Grill, 5 stars of 5 (house converted to restaurant, food and ambiance was excellent).

The start of stage 27 was a bit nippy.

McBRAAM Stage 26: Phenix City, AL to Perry, GA..."Island Girl crashes the boys' party."

2,589.8 miles ridden.
94,922 feet climbed.

The biggest event of the day was Island Girl showing up at the McBRAAM nightly food fest, which was in full swing at a little Italian diner on Main St. in Perry. Through the front door and right into the middle of my chicken Alfredo she walked. What a sight for a worn out wayfarer such as I.

I guess she got tired of holding down the fort back in Simi Valley by her lonesome. She tells of unexpected trials and tribulations, the kind that only happen when the honey-doer is away. There was the  master bedroom smoke detector battery that went belly up on Day 3, and has been chirping its "battery dead" warning ever since. There was the front yard tree that was blown over by the Santa Ana winds. And there was the hot water heater that quit heating.

Solution....book a ticket in the friendly skies and add some much needed female presence to the boys' little month long sabbatical from reality and responsibility. And this is one sun burnt, wind blown, lead legged, under-nourished, rest deprived boy who is glad she did.

Oh, and we did ride today. Through yet more cotton fields and something new...peanut fields. And under yet again a clear blue sunny sky.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1246865150
https://www.relive.cc/view/1246865150

1 pretty wife who joined the fun.
1 happy husband.
1 ice cream sandwich eaten by SAGMan (an apparent weakness to which he is just now confessing).

Hotel: Microtel, 5 of 5 stars (nice and new).
Restaurant: Rusty's Bar & Grill, 5 of 5 stars (excellent Italian, made better by Kathy's appearance).

McBRAAM Stage 25: Prattville, AL to Phenix City, AL..."Back roads found along with a preponderance of War Eagle."

2,492.2 miles ridden.
91,087 feet climbed.

Today was the most scenic day yet since we crossed the Mississippi. Our route took us along mostly back roads of eastern Alabama. About halfway, we went through historic Tuskegee. Before and after, we rolled through some beautifully wooded countryside that was short on population and plenteous on steep rolling hills. Everything is still very green, apparently Alabama has not yet received the memo that it's Fall. The fun thing about the country back roads is that you never know what you'll see, what kind of pavement you'll ride on, or what kind of terrain is in store. The variety and surprise keeps things interesting.

Until today, we were clearly in Crimson Tide land as virtually everyone who cares about such things as college sports (and in the Southeast, we're really only talking about football) was sporting their crimson colors and elephant logos. I expected that since, yeah, there is a football team from around here that I hear is doing OK these days, but what I didn't expect was the sudden and total change as we went east of I-65. Today, all we saw were the War Eagle and AU flags and banners of the Auburn Tigers. And this also got me pondering how this university can have two mascots. Are they a War Eagle, or a Tiger? Pick one, but ditch the split personality. Personally, I'd go with War eagle as it's unique. There's two other Tigers (MO, and LSU) in this conference, and a Wildcat (KY) too. Their closest relative would be the Gamecocks (USCe), but surely an airborne fowl is superior to one that can't even fly.

But I digress...

Re-ranking the cycling friendliness of the 8 states to date:

1. Arizona
2. New Mexico
3. California
4. Alabama
5. Arkansas
6. Texas
7. Oklahoma
8. Mississippi

https://www.strava.com/activities/1245330395
https://www.relive.cc/view/1245330395

1 monstrous calzone eaten, mostly.
1 pint of butter pecan ice cream eaten by SAGMan (a dinner time confession).
2 C-17s in a flyover.

Hotel: Quality Inn, 4 of 5 stars (very nicely appointed and good breakfast).
Restaurant: Giovanna's Pizzeria, 5 of 5 stars (everything homemade in real time).

The calzone.

McBRAAM Stage 24: Demopolis, AL to Prattville, AL..."Easy like Monday morning."

2,393 miles ridden.
86,563 feet climbed.

Now this is the way Monday mornings should always be!

We starting stirring just a bit before first light, enjoyed a full breakfast while the roads dried out, then rolled out around 8:00. We both felt refreshed and ready to take on the final week of our odyssey. Having had to modify our weekend route due to aforementioned reasons, we were able to enjoy a short Sunday ride of 51 miles, check into the hotel by 11:00 am, get laundry done, enjoy a real lunch, take naps, clean up the bikes and do some some much needed maintenance on them, and recharge for the final 500 miles.

So, when we took off this morning, we both felt great, and our spirits were buoyed even further by the almost forgotten sensation of tailwinds. This allowed us to complete our 90 miles in under 5 hours without having to work very hard. On endurance activities like we're doing, conserving energy as much as possible is paramount, and today will enable us to start tomorrow in pretty good shape since we didn't get too knackered today. The temps are perfect for cycling, and more tailwinds are forecast, so Savannah here we come!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1243857899
https://www.relive.cc/view/1243857899

0 dogs seen or heard.

1 storm chased east after it had chased us yesterday.
2 nights in a row eating at Cracker Barrel.
8 states now ridden in.

Hotel: Super 8, 4 of 5 stars (brand new remodeling).
Restaurant: Cracker Barrel, 3 of 5 stars (never will be great, but never will be bad either).

McBRAAM Stage 23: Meridian, MS to Demopolis, AL..."Outrunning the storm by 40 minutes."

2,302.3 miles ridden.
83,522 feet climbed.

Today was really only about one thing: progressing eastward as far as possible before the big storm hit. In that sense, it was a success. We rolled out before sunrise, took just a few very short breaks, and kept SAGMan within 5 miles of us. About a third of the way, we crossed into Alabama, state #8, leaving just one more state up ahead. We still had a pesky headwind, it seemingly determined to fight us until its bitter end, with the new weather system promising more friendly cooperation.

You can see from the three chronological screenshots below how we were riding in a little pocket of dryness, and although the skies looked threatening, we did not get a drop on us until we had made our destination of Demopolis. The two red dots are our starting town of Meridian to the west and our finishing town of Demopolis to the east.

Tomorrow we start our final week and we'll be back on course once in Prattville tomorrow afternoon. It's all straight east from here on out, and back to rides around 100 miles long after having two day of shorter rides.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1242550974
https://www.relive.cc/view/1242550974

1 very big storm outrun.
8 states now ridden in.

Hotel: Econolodge, 3 of 5 stars (best Econolodge of trip).
Restaurant: Mr. G's Pizza, 2 of 5 (strange mix between fast and sit-down food).

The weather a bit after we started.

The weather en route.

The weather 40 minute after we finished.

McBRAAM Stage 22: Kosciusko, MS to Meridian, MS..."Opportunities to improvise."

2,250.8 miles ridden.
82,078 feet climbed.

We are in the process of improvising our route due to SEC football games and the weather forecast.

Our original route (by ABB as mentioned in a previous post) had us going through Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the University of Alabama, today. Their football team hosted the Tennessee Volunteers this afternoon, and all hotels anywhere near Tuscaloosa have inflated their prices 4 to 5 times the normal rates. Also, in Mississippi, both Mississippi State in Starkville and the University of Mississippi in Oxford had home football games, so the same lodging situation was around those towns.

And then there's the weather. A front is predicted to hit tomorrow afternoon that is supposed to bring 1+ inches of rain. So, we've adjusted our route to shorten it up tomorrow in order to make progress eastward but not ride in the rain. Up is a 50 mile jaunt to Demopolis, AL. After the storm blows through, it is supposed to be clear all the way to the Atlantic, and we will be on our original timetable, and working our way back to our original route.

It's been a pretty amazing ride, weather-wise. We've had 21 days of sunshine, and 1 day of threatening rain that we were able to outrun. Week 1 we had tailwinds. Weeks 2 and 3 we had headwinds. The final week is shaping up as a tailwind week. So it's all good, the end is near, and we getting closer by the day.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1240847686
https://www.relive.cc/view/1240847686

1 wire in my tire that the tire liners prevented from causing a flat.
1 peach cobbler eaten.
1 nap taken, a rare and much needed luxury.

After having ridden now through 7 states, cycling friendly state rankings are:

1. Arizona
2. New Mexico
3. California
4. Arkansas
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
7. Mississippi

Rankings consider quality and safety of roads, scenery, and vehicle driver courtesy.

Hotel: Super 8, 3 of 5 (decent considering this is Meridian, MS).
Restaurant: Cracker Barrel, 2 of 5 stars (no kale salad! again!)

McBRAAM Stage 21: Batesville, MS to Kosciusko, MS..."Silly things dogs do."

2,171.8 miles ridden.
79,086 feet climbed.

Kosciusko, is it just me, or does this town's name sound like a Greek appetizer?

Today's ride featured some pretty rolling countryside in middle Mississippi, much of it wooded right up to the road's edge. Dogs around here are seldomly leashed or fenced in, and it seems like most are pit bulls, or at least the ones who chase us are. But along the way, there have been some really funny, or at the risk of angering dog lovers, just plain stupid antics by some dogs.

The best was in OK. There were two dogs who came blasting off their front porch on an intercepting trajectory toward us. The lead dog forgot his property was bounded by a chain-link fence, and was promptly and rudely reminded of that fact after he hurled himself nose-first into it, and ricocheted back into a clump of trees. And then there was the bewildered look on the second dog's face as it froze and marveled at the rapid change of events. Silly pooches, that fence was not new, it did not spring up overnight.

Today, there was a large tan pit bull who, similarly, thought it good sport to give chase to those two brightly colored bipedal pedalers. Again, nice closing speed, nice angle of attack, but not so nice temporary amnesia regarding that pesky ditch along the road. Going unexpectedly airborne out over the ditch when the bottom dropped out from under it, the mongrel augured in face first against the far side of the ditch. By the time it shook its head to clear the weeds, leaves and stars from its vision, and re-calibrated its speed and direction, those curious roadsters were out of reach.

Finally, today we also saw a very tiny rat-like dog with either a very big attitude or large dose of stupidity (probably a combination of both), give chase from the far side of the road with its tiny little legs churning like a blender. With oncoming and trailing traffic, this little rascal makes it to the center stripe and proceeds after us as if that yellow line were its guide to the promised land. What exactly this critter was going to do with us if it had caught us, I have no idea, but that didn't deter it one bit from at least getting to the point where that decision would have to be made.

Peoples pooches, good for entertainment if nothing else.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1239401784
https://www.relive.cc/view/1239401784

1 roadside quick mart with some seriously good smelling bacon.
1 roadside stop with swarms of crickets and small black flies.
20 days of bright sunshine (out of 21).
More dogs barking at us than I could count.

Hotel: America's Best Value, 3 of 5 stars (nicer than the last ABV).
Restaurant: Rodeo Mexican Restaurant, 3 of 5 stars (Mexican food was better out West).

McBRAAM Stage 20: Brinkley, AR to Batesville, MS..."That went no where near to plan, but at least we're across the Miss River."

2,072.7 miles ridden.
75,208 feet climbed.

Wow, what a long day! We left out just after sunrise and rolled in after sunset. Today was a lesson in how to persevere when a simple plan goes horribly sideways.

The ride plan called for a 105 mile fairly flat ride, normally 6.5 hours of pedaling without pushing too hard. We got separated from SAGMan twice, had a conference call to divert to, ground through 2 miles of thick deep gravel, and had to reroute twice because of gravel roads that weren't marked as such on the map. So we pedaled for almost 8 hours with a total elapsed time of 10.5 hours and rode 117 miles.

But, we made it over 2,000 miles and are finally on the east side of the Mississippi River. I can almost smell the Atlantic from here.

More fun is ahead. Due to college football games on Saturday, economy hotel rooms on our route are going for $350. So, we're going to go further south and skirt around the madness.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1238317127
https://www.relive.cc/view/1238317127

Hotel: Quality Inn, 3 of 5 stars (nothing special)
Restaurant: Pizza Hut for me, Cracker barrel for Lance & SAGMan, 2 of 5 stars for Pizza Hut, but I still ate a whole medium deep dish supreme in one sitting).

They don't make cotton bales like they used to.

Did I mention we rode on this gravel road?

About to cross the Mississippi River.

1 gravel road ridden

2 gravel roads avoided.

7 pack of dogs outrun.

12 extra miles ridden.

McBRAAM Stage 19: Morrilton, AR to Brinkley, AR..."How far is an hour?"

1,955.6 miles ridden.
73,292 feet climbed.

We're in a Subway for lunch about half way along today. Two young people are building the subs. One asks us where we are riding to. I say Savannah, GA. She pauses, then asks where we started. Newport Beach, CA, I tell her. She then asks where we will end up today. Brinkley, I say. She turns to her co-worker and asks him how far that is. He answers, "About an hour."

And this is a pet peeve of mine, which is answering a question about distance with time. Way too many variables in play and assumptions for me. Doesn't work when non-cyclists talk to cyclists, doesn't work regarding LA traffic, doesn't work in taking a rocket to the moon...it just doesn't work. If I want to know time, I'll ask about time, but when I want to know distance, please give me distance.

So, she took care of him for me. She gave him an appropriately shaming look since it was quite apparent that those two guys with cycling helmets on their heads and the bikes leaning up against the front window of the store, were not going to go 55 miles in anywhere near an hour.

There, I feel better, a little soap boxing never hurt anybody (except maybe the reader).

https://www.strava.com/activities/1236795264
https://www.relive.cc/view/1236795264

0 clouds seen today.
1 pancake eaten by Lance...it is thought to be the world's largest pancake (or at least Arkansas').
1 homemade fried peach pie eaten by Les.

Hotel: Days Inn, 3 of 5 stars (very average, not so good neighbors).
Restaurant: Gene's BBQ, 3 of 5 stars (only non fast-food open, but homemade pies were to ride for!)

The pancake. (Objects in picture are larger than they appear.)

McBRAAM Stage 18: Ft. Smith, AR to Morrilton, AR..."More mascot musings while enjoying a change in scenery."

1,848 miles ridden.
70,841 feet climbed.

We're averaging 102.67 miles per day, in case you're wondering. Our goal is 100, so were on track.

As we've ridden further east into Arkansas, the scenery has changed noticeably. We rode over 600 miles with no real change. Just huge corporate agriculture and dairy/beef operations. Today we were in rural communities and our roads went through numerous little towns. The terrain was hilly with mountain ridges in the distance, still all dressed in their summer greens. The later part of the ride meandered along Lake Dardenelle and the Arkansas River, which we crossed. No sign of Fall yet, except in the early morning temps, which are in the mid 40s.

Today we passed through towns who have natural mascot names just waiting to be claimed, each in the vein of a truly all time great, the Wahpeton Wops (the high school in the North Dakota town we lived in when I was a kid). The Wops are now known as the Huskies, apparently caving in to the PC thought police.

So today, in honor of the towns of western AR, I give you the...

• Bloomer Bloomers  - most interesting uniform possibilities
• Caulksville Caulkers - their defense can always be counted on to plug those holes
• Dardanelle Nellies - might not be any good, but are fun to be around
• Pottsville Potters - tennis team prefers clay courts over grass

https://www.strava.com/activities/1235250315

https://www.relive.cc/view/1235250315

1 major river crossed.

1 barge crossed over.

2 very sharp and short climbs at the very end.

45 degrees at the start.

Hotel: Super 8, 4 of 5 stars (another recently remodeled hotel)
Restaurant: Blue Diamond Cafe, 3 of 5 stars (average grill type food).

McBRAAM Stage 17: McAlester, OK to Ft. Smith, AR..."I knew we had to leave Oklahoma Sooner or later."

1,742,9 miles ridden.
67,432 feet climbed.

I'm thankful to finally be out of OK. It seems I've been riding in it forever. It was characterized by endless rollers and endless wind. Not much to see either. Today was the best though, an absolutely gorgeous day, perfect temps, somewhat flatter roads, the softest winds in a week, blue sky...pretty much cycling nirvana.

I have seen more (dead) armadillos in OK than I ever imagined I would. I'd think it would be the natural mascot of any and every enterprise needing one. What would be cooler than the Anadarko Armadillos!

In case you're wondering, I'm feeling pretty good these days. It takes the first hour or so to get the legs warmed up, the neck and back loose, the heart rate settled in, and I'm good for the duration. I haven't been experiencing any drop off of energy throughout the rides, which suggests my fueling program is on the mark.

Today's picture has a story behind it. When we were young kids, Pops would give us the old "Pete & Repeat (Re-Pete)" riddle. He would start with, "Hey Leslie, Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off, who was left?" Naturally, I would reply, "Repeat." And he would, and I'd answer the same way, and he would start over again. This would go on until I would get so frustrated I would storm off. I eventually figured it out and the little routine became a shared memory of the past. (At least until my little sister, Lisa, was old enough to fall for it, but too young to understand it. I finally got my revenge, at her expense, of course.)

So, when we saw a local restaurant named RePete's Place, we just had to go.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1233735019
https://www.relive.cc/view/1233735019

Hotel: GuestHouse Inn, 4 of 5 stars (another surprise find among the non-chains).
Restaurant: RePete's 3 of 5 stars (nice local comfort food stop).

State Road Cycling Friendly Rankings after 5 states complete:

1. New Mexico
2. Arizona
3. California
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma

SAGMan with a place to his liking.

McBRAAM Stage 16: Ada, OK to McAlester, OK..."An attempt at a Sunday recovery ride."

1,643.3 miles ridden.
64,830 feet climbed.

Some days you just need to recover a bit. Today was one of those days. Plus it is Sunday, a day for rest, right? So we slept in a little, had a later start, and rode our 63 miles fairly easily.

The night brought a change of pace. A front blew through and dropped the temps about 20 degrees and swung the wind around 180 degrees. So today we were pushed from the north instead of the south. Another beautiful day, and it felt more like a Fall day than yesterday's hot temps.

Saw a church along the way, the Canadian River Cowboy Church. Interesting name, I think I can guess how one would dress to attend there, and the style of music one might hear, and what would be served when they have "dinner on the grounds", but I wonder if they have any appropriately themed ceremonies during their services.

Time for another SAGMan story. We've developed quite an efficient ritual upon arrival in each new town. About 15-20 miles out, we'll have our last stop with the van for water and food. I'll then enter the hotel address into the gps device, and send SAGMan on ahead to get checked in. By the time we arrive, he'll have most of our bags and gear loaded into the room. We'll roll our bikes in, and begin cleaning up for dinner. A few nights back, I went back out to the van to get a few additional items. When I came back into the hotel hallway, Pops was standing in front of the room door, inspecting his key card and the lock on the door. "What's up, Pops?" I asked. "My key doesn't work all of a sudden. It worked just a minute ago," he said. "That's because that's not our room," I said. He was trying to get in the 3rd room on the right from the end, which was correct, if your perspective was from the other end of the hallway. I'll give him a pass though. We've been in 16 rooms in 16 nights.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1232298067
https://www.relive.cc/view/1232298067

7 dogs in that pack that gave chase.
0 dogs of the pack that caught us.
1 time SAGMan was caught napping at the wheel when we rolled in for some SAG.
2 sets of strange tan lines.

Hotel: Days Inn, 3 of 5 stars (nice, recently remodeled,let me poach food before bedtime).
Restaurant: Marilyn's, 2 of 5 stars (breakfast again, everybody in here knew everybody else...except us).

McBRAAM Stage 15: Anadarko, OK to Ada, OK..."Bovine behavior and a broken dog ear."

1,580.7 miles ridden.
62,284 feet climbed.

Another beautiful blue sky day. Same winds from the south. The route was lumpy all day. 100 miles of rolling hills wears you down after a while, and coupled with the mid 90s heat, it was tough day out there. I thought it was all downhill from here? But still a great day to be on the bike.

Since we entered Texas and began riding past cattle, we've noticed that without fail, as we ride by, nearly every cow in the pasture looks up and stares at us. They don't watch any of the vehicles, just us. From Texas Longhorns to Oklahoma dairy cattle, their behavior is the same. If anybody has any theories on this, I'd love to hear it.

We are having our fill of "chip and seal" pavement, which is a bumpy surface even when new. We've ridden on it in every state other than California, so we've had many hours of (not so) good vibrations. And so have our bikes. So much so, that one of the dog ear tabs on my gps cyclometer broke, sending the unit flying off the bike and out into the middle of the road. The unit survived, but I'm not sure how I'm going to secure it where I can read it on the go.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1230426133
https://www.relive.cc/view/1230426133

1 pancake breakfast eaten.
3 dogs demoralized into giving up the chase.
313 lumps in the road ridden over.

Hotel: Raintree Inn, 4 of 5 stars (nice change from the chains with personality).
Restaurant: Prairie Kitchen, 5 of 5 stars (everything was good, had homemade taste).

A broken dog ear.

McBRAAM Stage 14: Elk City, OK to Anadarko, OK..."We are officially half-way across the USA!"

1,481.1 miles ridden.
57,898 feet climbed.

We crossed the halfway point of the ride today at mile 58. We have been following a route used annually by a touring company America By Bicycle (https://americabybicycle.com/). We are not on one of their tours, but felt it more comforting knowing we would be riding roads used by cyclists in the past. Lance and I were riding side by side on a very remote country road, chatting away when we rolled right over a painted message. It reads, "California to Savannah, GA, Southern Fast Route, ABB Half Way Point."

We also just completed ride 14 of a planned 28, so today was the "Hump Day" of our ride on the calendar too. It's all downhill from here, right?

It was a beautiful day all day long. We started with temps in the mid 60s and ended in the mid 80s. Not a cloud in the sky. In fact, we have had clear blue skies every day for 2 weeks except for Day 10 in New Mexico, Las Vegas to Tucumcari, where we were chased by a storm and actually were hit by a few drops.

I promise this will be my final reference to cotton on this blog, but some of the fields were quite pretty as they were ripe, if that's what cotton gets. We stopped and I plucked this huge cotton blossom. It is so soft. We passed thousands of acres of cotton fields today, thankfully on the downwind side, so no sweater making today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1228753040
https://www.relive.cc/view/1228753040

1/2 of our mission completed.
1 dam crossed on our bicycles.
1 large order of deep fried pickles and green beans eaten.
2 cotton blossoms picked.

Hotel: America's Best Value, 2 of 5 stars (name is misleading).
Restaurant: Jo's Burgers, 5 of 5 stars (for a burger joint, this one is tops, deep fried pickles and beans were excellent).

Proof we are half way.

Proof of our interaction with wild cotton the past few days.

McBRAAM Stage 13: Pampa, TX to Elk City, OK..."Making sweaters in Texas."

1,375.5 miles ridden.
54,473 feet climbed.

In our first 15 miles today, I was collecting cotton by the spool. I was pulling it off constantly, and finally gave up a few miles from our first stop. Zoom in on the picture below and note all of the white cotton "thread" streaming from left to right. The wind was blowing about 10 mph from our right, which was mostly cotton fields during this part of the ride.

We are both experiencing a new cycling sensation for us, related to the familiar lactic acid surge cyclists are all too familiar with. What is new to us, is that now, after every stop, regardless of length, as soon as we hop on and start pedaling again, regardless of how easy or hard we pedal, we are getting a huge and painful surge of lactic acid in our quads that starts 10 seconds in and subsides after about 30 seconds. I think our legs are starting to mount their own form of rebellion.

We will eventually ride through 9 states, but it's time for a mid ride ranking of states according to their quality of roads for cyclists.

1. New Mexico - red clay pavement mix made for the smoothest surface I've ever ridden on.
2. Arizona - wide shoulders and fairly debris free.
3. California - unpredictable from very good to very terrible.
4. Texas - every county had their own version of pavement ingredients.
5. Oklahoma, - starting low, but with potential to rise in the days ahead.

Another SAGMan moment I'll share. The other day we were riding from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and then to Las Vegas, all in New Mexico. On our way up to Santa Fe on Sunday, there was more traffic than expected, and Pops commented, "I can't believe all of this traffic on a Sunday going to Las Vegas." I asked him, "Why would they go through Santa Fe to get to Las Vegas?" "To gamble, I guess," he said. Hmm, better check that map again, SAGMan.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1227434796
https://www.relive.cc/view/1227434796

Hotel: Flamingo Inn, 4 of 5 stars (largest single room of the trip and recently remodeled).
Restaurant: Roma's, 4 of 5 stars (more Italian, but very good).

0 items counted today.

McBRAAM Stage 12: Dalhart, Tx to Pampa, TX..."The anatomy of pleasant ride."

1,283 miles ridden.
51,986 feet climbed.

A pleasant ride needs to have three things going for it, the absence of any one of the three decreases the pleasantness precipitously. The three are: smooth roads, cooperating weather, and interesting terrain. Today, all three were lacking. We had 15-20 mph head and head-cross winds all day. We had 40 miles of bone shaking, teeth rattling, eye crossing, bike vibrating shoulders. We had endlessly straight roads running through endlessly expansive farm land. They say everything is bigger in Texas. No disagreement here. Bigger bumps in the road, bigger winds, and bigger prairies. So, 0 for 3 today, Texas, on the anatomy of a pleasant ride.

We rode along cotton fields today. The wind blew cotton strands onto us and our bikes all day. We have these long cotton strands, much like spider silk, wrapped around our bikes, wheels and clothes. I usually avoid cotton cycling clothes because they retain so much moisture, but I had not choice today. Should I clean it off, or accept it as new decor for my bike?

https://www.strava.com/activities/1226165844
https://www.relive.cc/view/1226065114

0 flats today.
13 fuzzy caterpillars avoided.
20 mph winds ridden against.
31 Frito's corn chips eaten during lunch.

Hotel: La Quinta Inn, 5 of 5 stars (brand new, nice and clean everything).
Restaurant: Verona Italian Bistro, 4 of 5 stars (pleasant surprise and most friendly staff).

I did manage one picture today.

McBRAAM Stage 11: Tucumcari, NM to Dalhart, TX..."Deep in Dalhart of Texas!"

1,173.8 miles ridden.
48,984 feet climbed.

If you're wondering about pictures, or rather the lack of them, there's a reason. I had a hard time loading Google Maps onto Pop's flip phone (sarcasm), so I've sacrificed my smart phone to serve as Pops navigation device as well as locator application. So my phone is in the van all day, while we have Lance's phone.

Flat tire scoreboard has Les 5 and Lance 3. Low score wins. I have some tacks in a secret place reserved for the end of the ride if I need them.

OK, so this was the longest, straightest road I've ever ridden. Good thing for the constant gentle rollers that kept us from seeing down the road too far, it might have been hypnotic.

We entered Texas today, and from Tucumcari to Dalhart, the scenery changed radically. We started out still seeing mesas, buttes and desert scrub. By the time we got close to Dalhart, it was all about burger farms...I mean cattle ranches, and sprawling grassy prairies. By the way, have you ever smelled a stockyard? We rode by two that bordered the highway for a few miles. Wow, pungent! I tried holding my breath, but gave it up when I noticed my pedaling efficiency deteriorate rapidly.

There's no way we could have done this without SAGMan, as we have had numerous roadside stops for food and water out of the van along the way. The little towns are just too far apart to rely on. So, SAGMan is earning his keep. And he's also created some classic moments. The other day, as I was finishing cleaning up after the ride, Lance and Pops were charged with finding some dinner options. When I walked into the room, Lance was on his iPhone scanning Trip Advisor for restaurants, but Pops had pulled an old phone book out and was letting his fingers do the walking through the yellow pages. "4th Street Northwest? Well that's way over on the other side of town." I didn't think they even published yellow pages anymore, but hey, nothing's more useful than a 5 year phone book.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1224622833
https://www.relive.cc/view/1224622833

1 very long and very straight highway traveled.
8 flat tires between us.
87,482 cattle at that burger farm, unless I missed one or two.

Hotel: Days Inn, 2 of 5 stars (apparently everything is not really bigger in TX).
Restaurant: XIT Woodfire Grill, 5 of 5 stars (Great food with great cowboy theme).

McBRAAM Stage 10: Las Vegas, NM to Tucumcari, NM..."Tarantulas, buttes, and a huge serving of head wind."

1,080.8 miles ridden.
45,936 feet climbed.

Whew, glad that one is over. We left out of Las Vegas around 7:15 at 37 degrees into a direct head wind. We stopped several times in the first 30 miles to get our clothing layering correct. We resorted to old tricks to stay warm. Lance put a plastic grocery bag around each foot inside his shoes, and I slipped on a pair of latex gloves under my regular gloves. Desperation trumps fashion every time.

By 10:00 it had warmed up to 47 and eventually topped out at 57, but the winds persisted and actually increased closer in to Tucumcari. It snowed today in the two most recent towns we stayed in, so a storm was chasing us all day as we rode on the boundary of the two pressure fronts.

The tarantulas were out in force today. We saw 5 of them crawling across the road, all going left to right. Not sure the migratory trigger, is there such things as a pied piper for spiders?

This was a day when the road went straight ahead to the horizon. The buttes never seemed to get closer, maybe because we were going so slowly, or maybe because they really were miles and miles away. I have to say, I don't ride these kinds of roads very often. Most of my riding is characterized by twists and turns, ascents and descents, and warm temps.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1223122404
https://www.relive.cc/view/1223122404

1 very strong wind.
1 very cold wind.
5 tarantulas.
1 blackberry cobbler.

Hotel: Econolodge, 1 of 5 stars (shabby and dreary, worst hotel of trip).
Restaurant: Del's Restaurant, 3 of 5 stars (more comfort food, just average).

(not so) Fashionable foot plasti-wear.

Furry little rascal.

McBRAAM Stage 9: Santa Fe, NM to Las Vegas, NM..."This is how we eat."

970.2 miles ridden. (Around 1/3rd complete!)
41,618 feet climbed.

Today was uneventful, and what a pleasant experience it was. We had perfect temperatures, perfect winds, clear blue skies, great roads, and NO flats.

Knowing we had a short ride today, we took time this morning to install tire liners, hoping that they would stop the onslaught of flats we've been having. I don't know if we would have had a flat or two without them today, but I do know that we were flat free, so regardless of the cause, I'm happy with the effect.

Today we went over the highest point of our ride. My gps unit read 7,523 feet above sea level. Now we gradually shed elevation all the way to the Mississippi River, some 1,200 miles east of us at the moment.

We saw a Roadrunner sprint across the road in front of us on the old Santa Fe trail road. We braked a bit, not for him, but for the inevitable firecracker riding Wile E Coyote sure to be on his tail.

We've had a lot of people ask, "What do you guys eat on something like that?!?!?" I thought it might be interesting to list today's fueling, which is fairly standard each day, so here goes for today.

Breakfast:

• 2 cups coffee
• 1 banana
• 1 cup peach yogurt
• 1 full size waffle with peanut butter and honey
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup apple juice

Lunch:

• If it's a "long" ride, meaning about 6 hours anticipated time or more, around the half way point, we'll take a lunch break for a sub sandwich, some chips and water. If it's short, then we'll eat the same, but immediately after we finish.
• Today was short, and I had some leftover spaghetti bolognese, so as soon as we got checked into the hotel, I finished it off.
• Also had a water bottle recovery drink of water with a mix of protein and carbohydrates.

Dinner: (tonight I wanted breakfast)

• Chicken fried chicken with cream gravy
• Hash browns
• 2 fried eggs
• Wheat toast with butter & jelly
• Ice tea

Bed-time snack, if I'm hungry, which is usually the case:

• Kathy's homemade cookies, but they're looong gone, so a Cliff bar
• Soy milk

During the ride on the bike:

• A serving of about 200 calories of carbohydrates per hour from an easily digestible source, like energy gels (I have a secret homemade recipe that I use)
• About a bottle of water per hour
• Supplements of electrolytes as need

https://www.strava.com/activities/1221651189

https://www.relive.cc/view/1221651189

Hotel: Super 8, 4 of 5 stars (bonus for having free massaging recliners).
Restaurant: Hillcrest Restaurant 2 of 5 stars (I had breakfast, nothing special).

World's Greatest SAG Man

McBRAAM Stage 8: Albuquerque, NM to Santa Fe, NM...."Why was that hard?"

902 miles ridden.
37,940 feet climbed (that's 7.19 miles of upness)

After two really long days on the road, and a short ride on the menu, we slept in today. Rolling out at about 9:15, we thought we were in for a typical 4 hour Saturday ride. But due to unfriendly winds, a stubborn piece of metal that gave me yet another flat tire, and a bunch of short but steep rollers that took their toll, we ended up with a 5 hour ride with an elapsed time of 6.5 hours. So much for a Saturday afternoon nap. And yes, by now my fingers are shredded and bandaged from tire changing.

For you fellow cyclists, my brand new Gatorskin tires are proving to be very overrated. We've had 7 flats between us, and I am SO done pulling debris out my tires and changing them. So, I made an emergency run into a local Sante Fe bike shop and bought some Mr. Tuffy tire liners that will accompany me the rest of the way.

Walking out of the hotel room today, we saw hot air balloons drifting overhead. Turns out, today was the first day of Albuquerque's hot air balloon festival. I wonder if I could sky-jack one of those to Savannah?

About half way, we rolled through a little miner town of Madrid. It was quite festive, lots of folks meandering about (yes, in cowboy boots) on a lazy southwestern Saturday. I was feeling lazy, but couldn't afford to be at this point in the ride as we had more climbing to do.

At this point, you might be wondering about how I'm feeling after having ridden lengthy rides 8 consecutive days. A week ago, I was wondering about this too. All in all, I feel pretty good. This kind of activity takes an immense amount of extra energy (which is why on some nights I just can't think straight enough to even write a blog entry). We're burning between 2,000 and 3,500 additional calories just while on the bikes each day. Our metabolisms are so jacked up that we're constantly hungry, and within an hour of a full evening dinner, we're hungry again. We're trying to not lose weight, but that's hard to do at this activity level. We can't load up on high calorie junk food because it provides no nutritional value. We just can't Snicker our way across the country. So, we try to eat a high carbohydrate breakfast, consume easily digestible food during the ride, and finish with a high protein and high carb dinner, avoiding simple sugars.

I had soreness in my legs days 2-5, but the soreness has gradually subsided each day. That's completely unexpected because the soreness subsided while riding 124 and 144 mile days. Is my body acclimating? Maybe, we'll see. We aren't sleeping any longer than usual, but we've both been sleeping like dead men. Each day is different, but my overall energy has been pretty constant. Our weather has been perfect, hardly a cloud in 8 days, so we don't want to take a rest day if we don't have to. A rain out may be the only way I take a rest day if my current sensations hold.

Looking back, I think Stage 2 from Palm Springs to Blythe, the 136 miler in the high heat, took a lot out of us, and it took a couple of days to recover. Cooler temps at higher elevation have helped.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1219990084
https://www.relive.cc/view/1219990084

1 flat tire...enough is enough!
7 hot air balloons spotted.
1 massive serving of spaghetti bolognese half eaten (the second half is a bedtime snack.)
5 stars given to Piccolino Italian restaurant in Santa Fe.

Hotel: Quality Inn, 4 of 5 stars (roomy, nice and great breakfast).
Restaurant: Piccolino, 5 of 5 stars (best restaurant of whole trip!)

McBRAAM Stage 7: Gallup, NM to Albuquerque, NM..."Getting our kicks on Route 66."

834.1 miles ridden.
32,891 feet climbed.

We crossed a continental divide today at 7,223 feet above sea level. Our first 30 miles of the 144 total were gradually uphill, then gradually downhill almost all the way into Albuquerque. We averaged over 20 mph. Funny how only 1 flat tire today made us feel lucky, but that's what a road debris disaster like yesterday will do to you.

We spent many miles on Route 66, and it was really enjoyable as it was downhill, fast, nicely paved, and hardly traveled at all. It's kind of sad rolling through tiny towns whose time has passed them by only because I-40 siphoned off all of their visitors. Must've been tough times for the locals as they saw their towns wither. I'd love to be able to see how some of them looked in their prime.

Even with such a long ride, we rolled in comfortably under daylight. Then, to keep with the day's  theme, ate dinner at the Route 66 Diner.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1218348275
https://www.relive.cc/view/1218348275

1 continental divide summited
1 flat tire, trending down
1 homemade blueberry pie slice with ice cream eaten

Hotel: Knight's Inn, 1 of 5 stars (lousy breakfast and inflated price for shabby room).
Restaurant: 66 Diner, 4 of 5 stars (comfort food, but still good, and did I mention the blueberry pie?)

Some scenery:

Evidence of the pie

McBRAAM Stage 6: Winslow, AZ to Gallup, NM..."A starving ostrich and petrified wood in need of a polishing."

689.2 miles ridden.
29,105 feet climbed.

Nothing like riding 125 miles uphill. But we had a tailwind all the way, so life was good. The late evenings and early mornings are something to behold in these western deserts. They're very clear, the air seems so crisp and clean, and you can see such vast distances. It's really easy to just pedal the miles away and enjoy the scenery. I find myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. I was expecting this part of the journey to be a slog through the wilderness.

Speaking of the wilderness, to me it's quite humorous the lengths the local businesses go to just to get a passerby to stop at their little "attraction". One such locale was offering opportunities to feed their ostrich,and for FREE no less! I saw no cars in the parking lot, so that must be one hungry ostrich on most days. Another enterprising soul offered to polish your petrified wood for free. I was disappointed that I had left all my petrified wood at home.

Very near the AZ-NM border, I thought for sure we would be yielding our scalps to the Navajos. Route 66 took us along the base of a beautiful red rock cliff formation. About half way up on a large shelf, there was a large tribe with tee-pees, horses and "Indians" surveying the land. But as we drew nearer, it became apparent that they wouldn't be causing any trouble as they were made of concrete. Can't get more stoic than that.

But we also had 4 flat tires between us. Fixing the flats cost us about 1.5 hours of transit time, and coupled with the long miles, made for a very long day. We were also due for a laundry night. We got to the hotel, freshened up, went to dinner, then returned to the room to do chores. While laundry was running, we had an inner tube patching party. By the time we finished, we had nothing more to give the day.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1217106727
https://www.relive.cc/view/1217106727


1 very long climb

1 very nice tailwind

2 states ridden in today
4 flat tires

7 fake dinosaurs spotted

Hotel: Econolodge, 3 of 5 stars (settling in as a consistent place to stay).
Restaurant: Badlands Grill, 5 out of 5 stars (excellent steak and world's best hamburger according to Lance).

McBRAAM Stage 5: Cottonwood, AZ to Winslow, AZ..."A Tale of Two Rides"

564.3 miles ridden.
25,414 feet climbed.

Feeling a bit sleepy at the moment, so if I'm more incoherent than usual, you know why.

This ride felt, looked and smelt like two completely different rides. Our first 40 miles were mostly uphill, passing through Sedona on our way to Flagstaff. The ride was gorgeous, blue skies, nice roads and cool temps. Going up Hwy  89A north out of Sedona is spectacular. If you ever have a chance to ride it, drive it, walk it, hitch-hike it or snowmobile it, do it by all means. The road meanders up a canyon following a mountain stream.Then it gets to the end of a box canyon, and you climb right up the wall of it via a series of switchbacks, popping out on the plateau at about 6,000 feet. If we'd have taken as many pictures as were warranted, we would have finished the ride under the full moon.

After lunch in Flagstaff, we followed Route 66 and I-40 for 65 miles to Winslow. Along the way we lost about 2,000 feet of elevation and had accommodating breezes most of the way. The road was the most perfect 65 mile stretch of cycling pavement I've ever ridden. Butter all the way. It was amazing how much the scenery changed in that distance. It went from the red rock forests of Flagstaff to the desert prairies of Winslow.

We were walking to dinner and passed a lady who looked at me and asked, "What sport do you play, hockey?" I knew immediately that she was referring to the rather pronounced "untan" line running down the sides of my face in front of my ears. I laughed and replied, "Cycling." She finished with, "I knew it was something with a helmet." Once we were out of her earshot range, we had a good laugh, wondering how deep of a tan one could get playing hockey.

2 arrows, a point of interest along the way with two massive parallel arrows with tips on the ground and tails up.
2 guns, not to be outdone by two arrows, another point of interest a few miles further down the road.
2 forest fires seen from afar.
1 forest fire smelled up close and personal.
10 pizza slices eaten, along with...
2 plates of spaghetti, along with...
2 spinach leaf salads, along with...
3 servings of fruit, along with...
1 serving of chocolate pudding.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1215612544
https://www.relive.cc/view/1215612544

Hotel: Econolodge, 3 of 5 stars (one of the better Econolodges we stayed in).

Restaurant: Captain Tony's Pizza, 3 of 5 stars (not exceptional, but not bad either).

Some of Sedona in the background.

At the top of the swithbacks between Sedona and Flagstaff. Look closely and you can see the road just to the left of my face, and even further over to the left you can make out the same road way down the valley. We rode right up the valley you can see. The furthest mountain in the far center background is the summit we came over yesterday before dropping down through Jerome and into Cottonwood.

My "untanned" face. And yes, I am sporting a super short haircut, just for the occasion. Figured shedding the extra grams would help my hill climbing.

McBRAAM Stage 4: Congress, AZ to Cottonwood, AZ..."Our first misfortune, we ran out of Kathy's homemade butterscotch oatmeal cookies."

459.2 miles ridden.
19,741 feet climbed.

A great book saves its best chapter for last. Today was like a great book. Or to use another metaphor, we took the stairs up and the elevator down. We had 3 climbs, each climbing progressively higher with the final one topping out above 7,000 feet. And then the floor dropped out from under us. The plunge down into Cottonwood was a pure white knuckler, an e-ticket all the way, making any Six Flags ride proud.

Prescott, AZ folks take their cowboy image seriously. Or maybe just their visitors do. At any rate, as we ate lunch in the town square, and a rather ginormous square it was, I believe we observed the largest concentration of cowboy boot wearing tweener girls ambling around since, well, probably yesterday.

We satisfied my pizza hankering at the Pizzeria Bocce in Old Town Cottonwood. Definitely a 2 thumbs up. After we had downed 2 medium pizzas, the waitress asked us if we liked the pizza. I replied, "What pizza, there's no evidence of any pizza here." She gave a wry smile, took away our plates, and returned with a parting gift. "I boxed your leftovers...just as evidence." Well played, Miss Waitress, well played indeed.

We still have not seen a single cloud since we rolled to from Newport Beach. Let's see how far east we get before one shows it face, or maybe hand, or giraffe, or what ever we want it to be.

Thanks for comments. Your support helps us keep the pedals spinning.

0 of Kathy's cookies left.
1 trip to Walmart.
43 of the largest grasshoppers I've ever seen.
7,023 feet, the highest point of today's ride.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1214099620
https://www.relive.cc/view/1214099620

Hotel: Super 8, 3 of 5 stars (this chain has really improved)
Restaurant: Pizzeria Bocce, 5 of 5 stars (incredible pizza and clever waitress).

The only remaining pizza crust as evidence.

The last of Kathy's cookies. Thanks, Babe, can you FedEx some to Winslow?