Wickenburg, AZ to Prescott, AZ 60 miles and 4359 feet of climbing

 I have so much to write about and such little time each night to do it. 

Because I'm four years older or the route length each day is longer than in 2019, I'm finding I don't have as much time to devote to this blog as I did in 2019's ride blog.

I plan to catch everyone up on all the goings on during our first day off. You can look forward to hearing about the man I call "Gene Gene the Pedaling Machine"—a 74-year-old retired physical therapist from Scranton, PA, and of course, the sad saga of my faulty bike, and the complete lack of qualified support from Crossroads Adventure Cycling. At least they got the adventure part right.

Today's ride was a grinder for me—sixty-one miles with lots of climbing. I'll post pictures this weekend, but I know you can visualize it. Think John Wayne, desert, mountains, and cacti.

I had dinner tonight with seven other riders at an Italian Restaurant in downtown Prescott. I thought the food and service were very good. The only one who didn't care for it was the Italian rider, Vincenzo. "Ita wasa not real Italian fooda. Ita wasa American- Italian fooda.", he said with a smile. He didn't say anything about it at dinner. He is the most gracious guy. And he can speak at least two languages, which is one more than I can speak. 

Everyone at dinner was delightful, and we all enjoyed chatting about everything from sports to travel. 

More about my fellow riders when I get time on our first day off. 

I believe that is in the next three days. I'm losing track of the days. 

Tomorrow brings more climbing and fewer miles.

"He rode a blazing saddle....."