This was the inaugural Humboldt Mtn 119km brevet that Mike made! What a challenging hill climb, in the 90 degree heat. 4 miles that get steeper at the top. Many times I considered stopping for a rest, yet just kept moving. Thankfully Mike was up there as planned with water, snacks and some V8 for me that he specifically made another stop to pick up. Thank you Mike. Ah but the beginning was a challenge. I set of from the parking lot riding with Louisa. Then in those first 3 miles I began to think that maybe I did not close my driver side front door on the car. So after 3 miles I turned around and went back to the car. Result - I lost contact with Louisa and the door was shut and car locked! UGGH. So now 6 miles behind and strong headwinds to face on that 10 mile run east across Carefree Hwy. For a couple miles I hooked up with a guy riding a 1x12. Man, that large rear cog was huge! Eventually I caught and passed another Rando rider as we approached Scottsdale Rd. Went on without him. Then up to turn to Bartlett Lake where I refilled water and ate some of my dates. Then on to end of pavement and onto the packed dirt...yet not much gravel. So glad I put on the 32mm tires. I have not done much riding on gravel like that so took a bit to get used to. There was more climbing than I recalled on that section. Eventually made the turn to Humboldt. On the way up, there was a bit of headwind. I met 2 of the Randos descending as I was about 1/2 way up. Then up ahead I saw another rider. The closer I got I could see they were walking. That was another Rando. Finally made the top. Mike had a chair in the shade and I stayed a long time. Finally headed down. Very fast descent that needed to use the brakes the whole time on the top half. Once back to the gravel, I noticed I was running short of time to get back! So worked hard to pick up the speed and was lucky the wind was now at my back most of the time. Once I got to the top of the turn to Bartlett, it was a super fast run down the Carefree and the Apache Wash Trailhead and my car. Great route