2,895 mi on SLR
70 degrees to start at 6:30am, 56 cool degrees on top (my hands got cold) I put on my heavy Breckenridge vest and did fine on the way down.
-Rode w Larry & Bill. Sharon & Robbie drove w me to Safford on Friday and we stayed in the Comfort Inn. Bill drove me to the start near the prision at 5:45 am.
-we rode up & down together. It us much steeper than Mt. Lemmon which we ride on Monday. We really had to use our brakes on the way down since it was so steep, with sharp turns and gravel on the road. It made my hands numb but it was still a lot of fun.
*I kept my heart rate low 137 bpm on the way up to pace myself for the 3 days in a row and to stay with Bill and Larry.
It was very pretty as we worked up the mountain. There are great unimproved dry camp grounds amongst the pine trees and there are about 25-30 houses/cabins up there too. Near the end of the ascent the roads moves over to the west side of the mountain with expansive views down into the countryside below.
*many of the younger bikers passes us on the way up but we did well and were steady. We averaged 7 mph up and I had 150W normalized power.
*All in all, a great first day.