Grand Canyon Century Ride!

Our home in Seligman, the Historic Rt 66 Motel

Kiabab Lake, north of Williams, Az

Lunch at the Lake, Matt, Richard and Tara (our masseuse)

The Colorado Trio - Gary, Dave, and Greg

At the entrance to the Grand Canyon - Mark, Stephanie (Trek Guide), Richard, Matt, and Frank

Day 8: Seligman to Grand Canyon National Park
106 miles; 6,600 Kcals burned
6:06 riding time

Morning started with breakfast at Westside Lilo's Cafe a great "country diner" with home cooking. We normally had a group breakfast with two of the guys leaving early to get a head start. Breakfast today consisted of two hotcakes, one one, hash browns, 3 strip of bacon, OJ and water. By 6:30 walked back across the street (Rt 66) to finsh backing and making last minute ride preparations prior to rolling out of town.

The morning was cool and crisp, in the 60's, as we left Seligman at 7:00 for out second century ride of the adventure. After our last 18 miles on Route 66 came a 20 mile climb on I-40 to the town of Williams, AZ the main funnel for all tourists headed to the Grand Canyon. After lunch at Kiabab Lake the group headed out for the final 60 miles of today's trip. At this point we climbed from 5,200' to over 6,950'.

The ride to lunch took a little over 3 hours covering 46 miles. the last 60 miles took under 3 hours. Less than 15 mph for part 1; over 20 mph for part 2!

Once we hit about 6,500' on the way to Williams, the geography changed noticeably. Trees started to appear and there was much more color in the foliage. At Kiabab Lake, the water was surrounded by tall pines. I doubt the temps hits 80 degrees today as a cool southerly wind blew steady all day.

After lunch the ride turned nicely in our favor, the wind was behind us and we had downhill for nearly 30 miles. I hit my top speed of 44 mph just prior to starting the final climb up to the Canyon. The only bummer of a downhill on rides like this is we usually have to reclimb it and in this case we climbed up to 7,000' by journeys end. For the day we climbed over 6,000' total over 106 miles.

When we passed through the park entrance we still had 6 miles to go to reach the South Rim. What an awesome sight as I rode up on my bike to see the Grand Canyon. A week ago I was at sea level; today I was looking out over the Grand Canyon! Life is good!

Today's ride was a great confidence booster for this Floridian. We've ridden 677 miles in 8 days. The climbing has been work but i'm handling it well by keeping to my pace. Now that we're out of the heat, I feel stronger so hopefully all will continue to go well.

Although I have laundry to do, I will enjoy my rest day at the Grand Canyon. On Tuesday we head out to Tuba City, AZ, a small town on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Several flats today - 3 for one of the Colorado trio.

Highlight of the day: my massage was in the trees; listening to the wind blow through the pines was equally relaxing as the message.