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.