May 7, 2003
Day 5: Onward to Prescott
I didn't get on the road until 9 AM because of various chores such as writing my journal, shaving, and putting two patches on the punctured tube. I repeated the route through Camp Verde (3150 feet elevation), with some road construction. Then south on Interstate 17 for 8 slow and tedious miles. The first 6 miles are uphill, climbing 1200 feet while dodging nails and tire fragments on the shoulder. Finally I got to Highway 169 and exited west towards Prescott. The road has a good paved shoulder but heavy traffic and gusty side winds blowing me around. The road is remarkably level for several miles but eventually begins a gentle climb. The scenery is drab high desert, with very few trees.
After 15 miles the highway merges with Highway 69 at Dewey where I stopped for a late lunch, only 16 miles from Prescott. Highway 69 is the main road from Phoenix to Prescott with 4 lanes of nonstop traffic. At first the highway has a paved shoulder, but starting in Prescott Valley the shoulder is replaced by a wide curb lane. The strong crosswind turned into a strong headwind and it was steady uphill. The only good thing was that the weather was perfect. The temperature was in the low 70's for most of the afternoon.
I arrived in downtown Prescott (5350 feet elevation) at 4 PM and checked into Hotel St. Michael. This is the only place on the trip where I had an advance reservation for the night. I wanted to soak up the atmosphere of Prescott's courthouse square and historic Whiskey Row. Downtown Prescott is charming with a large shady courthouse plaza in the middle of the business district. On the west side of the courthouse plaza is Whiskey Row which was a very wild strip of saloons during frontier times. Hotel St. Michael anchors the north end of Whiskey Row. I had a 3rd floor room overlooking the courthouse. The hotel was rebuilt in 1901 after a 1900 fire that destroyed most of downtown Prescott. After checking in I hauled the bike and panniers up the staircase in two trips, took a shower, and then went out to walk around the courthouse plaza. I took several photos of the Yavapai County Courthouse and read the various historical markers in the area.
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The hotel recommended the food at the Grand Saloon, just two doors south of the hotel. So I went there for an excellent dinner of trout stuffed with salmon and capers, washed down with their in-house microbrew.
Today had the worst traffic on this tour and a net climb of 2200 feet. Nevertheless, I wasn't extremely tired when I arrived in Prescott. The charming hotel, walk around historic downtown, and a great dinner were a wonderful ending to an otherwise bad day of cycling.
Distance: 51.5 miles (82.4 km)
Climbing: 3560 feet (1086 m)
Average speed: 8.2 mph (13.1 km/h)
Maximum Speed: 34.7 mph (55.5 km/h)
Hiking: none, except 1 mile on the sidewalks in downtown Prescott.
Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 216 miles (348 km)
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3 weeks ago