Day 11: Ash Fork, AZ

 Day 11

May 27, 2015

Miles: 53

Prescott to Ash Fork

We left the motel around 8:45.  It was tough to get an early start because the bed was amazingly comfortable.  The mattress had just the right amount of firmness and the comforter was so soft.  Di says she is going to email the owners of the motel to get the type of mattress because she wants to buy one for our house.  I told Di that was a little weird, but she said it wasn't weird at all and the owners wouldn't mind.  We'll see.

Di leaving the motel and its amazing bed

 We rode about a mile and stopped to have some breakfast.  We met an older couple that had passed us on the road yesterday and wanted to know how we were making out.  We told them of our trip so far and they told us of all their travels.  They are going to London for five or six weeks later this year, but the gentleman said it was going to be the last trip abroad.  "I'm over 80 now", he said, "time to stay closer to home."

Pigging out at breakfast

Our ride today looked easy on the map, but by the time we rode the 53 miles our legs didn't think it was easy at all.  The first part of the day was flat and we rode mostly in the valleys.

A representative valley

The second half of the day was mostly uphill, with some downhill that served only to make the next uphill longer.  I hate descending when I know I still have a lot more elevation to gain.  I call these by a variety of different names and acronyms: UD (unnecessary descent), MD (meaningless descent), PD (pointless descent), or the combo PUD (pointless and meaningless descent).

Di climbing

 Another thing I hate is a shudder road.  A shudder road is one with a zillion cracks that we have to ride over.  As we go over each crevice the whole bike and the rider shudder with the impact.  Its also onomatopoeic - as the front tire goes over the crack the noise it makes sounds like "Shud".  As the back wheel goes over the crack you hear the noise "Der".  Hence, a shudder road.  Also, a rider shudders when such a road is seen in the distance.  There's a lot of shuddering going on with this kind of road!

The kind of road to make a rider (and bike) shudder

Di is happy she is off the shudder road

Insertion of nice scene here to serve as a transition shot

We rode passed Hell's Canyon.  I don't know why its called Hell's Canyon.

Hell's canyon

We rode by a sign that said Historical Site Marker in one mile.  This kind of sign is similar to a TV commercial that says something like "The most amazing thing in the history of the universe happened today!  Details at 11."  Just tell me what the heck happened.  Out of spite I did not stop when we came upon the marker.  I told Di I already knew what was written on the marker: "On this day in 1934, this historical marker was erected."

Di bought this shirt in Glamis and she loves it

 Sometimes I avoid putting pictures in the blog that might raise consternation, but on this occasion I couldn't resist:

Di wins (naturally)

The victory smile

Di on the descent into Ash Fork (not on a PUD)

Di told me Ash Fork was a large city with over 80,000 people.  I was a little surprised, so while we were having lunch today I pulled out the bicycle map and checked for myself.  Sure enough, the map listed the city name and in parenthesis listed the population.  Shortly afterwards I began a conversation with somebody who actually lives in Ash Fork.  He was out for a drive with his wife and granddaughter.  "So", I start confidently, "Ash Fork is a pretty big city, huh?"  He looked at me with suspicion.  "It has over 80,000 people", I said, but with a little less confidence.  "Over 80,000 people!  That's a good one!  Ash Fork has just over 400 people!"  Well, I felt a little foolish, that's for sure.  But not as foolish as I felt when I went back to the map and realized the number in parenthesis was actually the zip code. Rats.

Any way, Ash Fork is a small place and has only two motels.  The first motel was fully booked.

No room at the inn for Di

The second motel had vacancies, but Di said any hotel that had rooms for $29 had to be infested with bed bugs, so we couldn't stay there.

Really cheap motel equal bug infested room (according to Di)

Di asked the woman working the counter at the Shell station if there were any campgrounds in town and learned there is an RV campground at the end of town.  We rode our bikes there and were able to get a tent site for $18.  All I have to do now is let Di select a motel and then tell her I heard a rumor it is infested with bed bugs.  We'll be tenting for the rest of the trip!

We pitched our tent and went into town to get some dinner.  Di wasn't happy with her dinner.  She said the lettuce in the salad was old and inedible.  She didn't like her steak.  The only thing she liked was the baked potato.  I ordered the hamburger steak and mashed potatoes.  It is possible that my meal also wasn't good, but I devoured it without paying attention to its quality.  I was more interested in quantity.  When I then ate Di's salad she was shocked and accused me of doing that just to annoy her.  I smiled and asked her if she was going to eat her bread.

Di getting ready for dinner

Totally out of order picture from Di's phone

Totally out of order picture from Di's phone

My back is hurting from writing this blog in the tent so I'm wrapping up without doing anything sensible with those two pictures above.

This is what I look like blogging from inside the tent.

We are headed for Valle tomorrow.  It will be about a 48 mile ride with a lot of climbing again, however, we are staying at a bed and breakfast and we are taking a rest day on Friday.  And, the camera Andy sent should arrive tomorrow! Yippee!