Back in the saddle.
The weather has tempered a bit, coming down to a high of 65 with relatively low winds. It was the perfect temperature where I was sweating with my light jacket on, and shivering without out. An awkward median like a movie that has too quiet dialog and too loud action. However, that became the least of my worries.
I had to battle a lot of up hills. Specifically, to get out of Sterling Canyon, I had to follow a two mile switchback with no shoulder and busy traffic. I'd like to say I did it, but I'm not a liar. I walked my bike up most of it. I even ran across a fellow tourer who was also heading to Seattle, but was doing it by going South through Phoenix then West to San Diego and up the Pacific Coast. At that moment, I really envied her and her lack of pedaling. But I also knew that I definitely didn't want to be here and go the entirety of California. I pushed Kona onwards, to the top of the canyon.
Finally, I made it to the top and was "rewarded" with a nice view. I put rewarded in quotation marks because while it was pretty, I still had some more riding. And as I sat on the edge of the cliff, I realized that I had zoomed past "tired" and was now heading into "exhausted." The next stretch into Flagstaff was going to feel longer than it was. Still, the view wasn't bad.
I decided that it might be in my best interest to lie down for twenty minutes and just relax. Maybe a quick nap would refuel and refresh me. So I put my helmet down as a pillow, set a timer on my phone, zipped up my jacket, and put my legs up on Kona; And, what felt like a second later, my timer went off. I can't say I felt more rested, but it was time to move.
I got back on Kona and trudged North, into constrcution. The section of US 89A I was going to be on the for the next few miles had been torn up. There was still asphalt, but it was roughed up to a sandpaper-like texture of 1 grit. The road was also reduced to a one lane road with shoulders that were cratered like the surface of the moon from the treads of heavy equipment. And on top of that, Coconino National Forest was having a controlled burn today. I was quickly becoming a liability on the road. But, I had no other options but going forward. And after some well-timed breaks between passing groups of cars on top of hill crests, I quickly pushed through the construction and to a frontage road into Flagstaff.
I also want to apologize for the lackluster quality of writing lately. There aren't many calories left for creativity after long days of biking. As much as I hate my sub-par writing recently, I don't really have a solution to it beyond just getting it done and probably editing it when I get home. (Editor's Note: Yup).
I'm also surprised that people are still reading this blog. And I'm thankful you are. It's nice to know people are interested; though I think it's much in the same way I'm in interested in NASCAR: I'm not there for the racing, I'm there for the crashes.