We rode our bikes to breakfast, the sun was just coming up over the top of the mountains. It was so cold my fingers hurt! After breakfast it had warmed up a bit – still cold, but bearable.
Bob towed us the first 25 miles to Wikenburg, it was really nice to get some miles in without a ton of effort. After Wikenburg we shed our coats and did a climb, lost Keri, but waited for her at the top of the hill. Then it was kind of a grind into the wind to the checkpoint 50 miles away. I wandered around the area for awhile, taking some photos and picking up rocks.
After the checkpoint the next item on our DRG was a cattle grate in 10 miles – something to look forward to – a cattle grate! We had 112 miles to go and it was just going to take awhile. Keri and I just kept peddling into a kind of a side/headwind with some up and down to break it up. The scenery consisted of a few different cacti and rocks with a glider plane up above thrown in for fun. It was only about 25 miles more until we reached suburbia, where there was more to look at, but also more directions to follow. Keri and I met up with Steve and Skip in Scottsdale. Steve pulled us for many miles at 28 mph – what a way to make up some miles! We finally couldn’t stay with them and we were back on our own. After about 6 more miles we met up with Dave and rode with him until he pulled over with a flat. We went by a few others who had stopped for food and it became Art, Keri and I to the finish. I lead us in the final miles at about 19 mph, feeling good! We turned into Dobson Ranch almost the first to finish – Matt was first, he started riding at 5 am – mostly ‘cause the guys stop for food more.
111.4 miles - 2,510 feet of climbing