I started from my house, over 11km south of Flagstaff, Az. The ride started with a 60m elevation loss and then a 122m gradual climb, over about an even split of pavement and dirt (with patches of snow and muck thrown in for good measure). I rode into Flastaff along the FUTS(Flagstaff Urban Trail System), called my friend Wayne along the way, and he met me on his Coker, and rode a while with me. We cruised the streets of downtown Flagstaff and then back out, 37.2km total with some snow and dirt credit on my score. And the wind. It was howling both days of my QR, but day one was somewhat easier. The winds were 45mph or 72km per hour steady, both days.
3/15/2008
205
I decided to drive down to a lower elevation for day two of the QR. I started at the junction of Interstate 17 and Hwy 179, near Sedona, Az. The elevation there is 4200ft, or 1280m. I rode out past the Beaver Creek ranger station where the road turns to dirt. I had a plan to ride out the full length of this road, then jump on the pavement and into the town of Camp Verde, making a roughly 50/50 pavement to dirt loop. But things went wrong, way wrong. A crash on dirt from a gust of wind left me in serious doubt, and when I got to the pavement of Hwy 260, traffic wasn't giving much room to the uni rider, struggling in the wind. So I decided to go cross country, up and over a steep, rugged mesa to get back to the way I came. That turned into a death march. Ride some, hike some, ride some more...repeat. That was a good 54.1km of harsh conditions, with plenty of climbing. So day two was a crazy mix of 25% pavement, 50% dirt, and the rest...wrong. Maybe on a 26" muni ride you could get some fun out of it, but not on a 36er. I was really glad to get back to my truck, and put day two behind me.