What a great day to ride. Started at 0555 (yes RWGPS is still wrong) as 4 of us set-out on the ride. Temp was 53F at start, so I took along vest, arm warmers, just in case I would be out late. I had them on at start and shed them before we were even out of Flagstaff. Chris, Roger, Thomas, and I set off for Leupp. Since it is all downhill to there, it would be fast. Road surface was awesome. There was 1 section somewhere around mile 11 that I was leading and a couple big elk without racks, ran onto the road and then veered back toward the right side, pretty much right in front of me! Scared me to see something so large running toward me. The 4 of us were pretty close until turn on Leupp road mile 16.6 and soon after Thomas was easing off. We had a nice pace until I had to take a nature break at mile 28.6 at which point I lost Roger and Chris. Finally caught them at Leupp c-store mile 45.2. Then it was Roger's turn to ease back while Chris and I barreled to Winslow. Fun riding with Chris. He was determined to moderate his early speed to ensure success later, as he has DNF before on these longer-ish rides. Since Chris was going a bit slower, I was able to stay with him. So much fun going downhill to Winslow ( elevation 7,000 ft at Flagstaff to 5,000 at Winslow). Chris and I took a camera shot at Standin' on the Corner, then headed for the c-store turnaround. About 0.5 mile from store a procession of about 100 motorcycles passed us and were heading to the same c-store and we all arrived at the same time. It was various veteran legion groups coming together for a ride to honor their fallen war buddies. After a pretty quick water refill and eating some snacks I had, it was off for the solo part of the ride, I said goodbye to Chris as I was not wanting to nor could I have kept his pace for the 50 miles up to Clint's Well. What a beautiful ride it was. A few clouds kept it shaded most of the way. I took a photo to capture the vastness of where I was heading to. That Blue Ridge ( part of the Mogollon Rim) is hugh and full of trees! Had to rest a bit and eat lunch at the Blue Ridge Ranger station, mile 119.6. Used the pit toilet and while the station was closed I noticed a spigot at the end of the rail fence separating parking lot from ranger station, so re-filled H2O there. That was after I had eaten my waffle sandwich and after Roger appeared and together we looked for the water source! I was ready to ride off and left Roger to rest and eat. The climb up of the last part of the Ridge at mile 122.6 was challenging as that section of road did not have a shoulder and it was pretty step, and I was pooped! LOL. Oh, the descent down to Clint's Well was fun and great payback for the climb, as the road had widened and was smooth. No stopping at Clint's Well and I set off up Lake Mary Rd toward Mormon Lake. I like riding Lake Mary Road with its decent width, low traffic, pine trees, low traffic and the smell of the pines. When I arrived at Mormon Lake Lodge the store was closed, so used the Showers/Restroom building for water. On to the rest of the loop around Mormon Lake. The sun was getting low in the sky so good shadows. This was one of the highlights of the entire ride, with perfect pavement and no cars, and pine trees! I made a goal to get to Flagstaff before sunset! I knew it would be challenging. Yet I pushed it. Finally, the run home, after completing the Mormon Lake loop road and returning to Lake Mary Rd! Today there was not much headwind and the temps were good. Some clouds partially obscured the sun. Did I reach my goal? Well I essentially got to the last little hill as the sun set, leaving about 2.5 miles to the finish, so I I essentially achieved the goal. Great day of cycling! Chris' car was gone when I arrived, so of course he was long done. I headed over to Freddie's for the usual post-ride meal. While eating, I received a text from Roger that he had finished and another from Thomas saying he abandoned the ride and his wife had picked him up. All-in-all I was very surprised at the good quality of roadway surface and my initial concerns of too much traffic on the Blue Ridge, never materialized. I was happy with my pace as it was the first real ride I had ridden at about my normal power since I had a tooth extracted and bone graft ( 2x). I would do this ride again! Big shout of Thanks to our RBA Mike Sturgill for organizing the ride!