With Matt gone last night and today, I figured it would be a good time to plan a little "scooter ride" (or motorcycle ride) for today. Now I know somebody told me I had to ride 89 A or maybe 89 S but 89 something. So last night I scoured the map and found an 89 A starting at Ash Fork.
This morning I woke up to a wonderful 50 degrees and after hearing from Matt that he did not become dinner for a mountain lion or black bear last night, I started loading up the Vision (bike). I brought all the essentials like a jacket in case of rain, my black short sleeve victory t shirt just in case it got warmer and a pair of sunglasses. I wore my long sleeve thermal shirt since it had warmed up to only 65 when I took off about 8.30.
I jumped on I-40 west towards Ash Fork a mere 19 miles away. It was a beautiful trip out of the mountains down to Ash Fork, which was about the time I realized I didn't bring my camera. Dang. It felt so good that the sign that said Los Angeles 455 miles was tempting. At Ash Fork I went south on 89A towards Prescott and fell in love-with Arizona that is. I passed through Chino Valley after 30 miles or so and was loving the lack of everything. Traffic, people, wal marts etc. By then it had warmed up to a great 80 and the ride was going perfect. Wide open spaces with beautiful scenery and Jake Hamilton blasting from the Vision's speakers. Mentally I had already moved here and sold everything in Rock Hill. I even imagined I think my soul saying I should have been a cowboy, except for the horse thing.
But everything changes in Arizona as I was about to find out. During the next thirty miles to Prescott the heat changed for one thing. It was now about 10 o'clock or so and was getting close to 90 which wasn't all that bad. I figured I could always pull into Prescott and get something to wear besides a black t-shirt. Besides Prescott had to be famous for something in the past. What I didn't realize among many things, is Prescott is about 15 miles past 89A. I figured what the heck I'm here I ought to go see it. By now it is pushing past 90 and I know I need something white to wear and something to drink. Yeah thats right I took off without a thing to drink. C'mon how hard is it, there's c-stores on every corner, right? I beelined to the first SafeWay I see and purchase two bottles of water and sunscreen (yep forgot that too) 100 spf I might add. I then walk over to Walgreens to get a small cooler for my drinks, because I'm smarter than the average bear and I like my drinks cold. I also pick up a sweet WHITE Arizona T-shirt and hat combo for 50% off (7 bucks).
I immediately down my first bottle of water just to make sure I stay hydrated in this "dry" heat. I put my other bottle in my cooler with no ice. I mean how much ice can you get in a 9 inch cooler anyway and the drink was cold? I lather up with the 100 spf sunscreen including my nose and back out to 89A. Any inspection of Prescott would be another day because I want to get to Sedona. I get back on my scooter after changing into my new Arizona white flag t-shirt and the temperature gauge says it's 96.
I backtrack to 89A and head out to Sedona only 60 some miles away. Now somebody failed to mention to me that alot of those 60 miles is DESERT! I will say that stretch of 89A is awesome as after about 20 miles you start climbing Mingus Mountain. They have a sign which prohibits vehicles longer than 50 feet on that stretch of road, now I know why. I love mountain turns at 15 mph with no guardrail or shoulder and 2,000 feet straight down. At least it was cooler up here at 7,800 ft. After cresting the mountain I passed through a cool mtn village called Jerome, but since heat stroke had not set in yet, I figured I should press on to Sedona. Well by this time it was close to 11, well actually 10.45. By the time I got down the mountain it was now 100 degrees and Cottonwood was 7 miles away. That 7 miles felt like a toaster oven. If it's a dry heat how come my head was sweating like you know what in church on a Sunday morning? I looked for the first non chain restaurant to escape the blazing heat. I found a closed mexican restaurant with a porch that was at least out of the sun.
After 15 minutes of relief and more water and more sunscreen, I ventured out again searching for a lunch spot. I found a hole in the wall cafe with slow service thank God. After lunch and alot more water it was time to leave the air conditioning. Sedona was only 19 miles away. I figured worse case I could do something there until evening to escape the heat. I got on my scooter and the temperature said 111!!!! But after a little air movement it dropped to 106, what a relief. The 19 miles passed pretty quick and the closer to Sedona I got the cooler it became due to the elevation change.
I wanted to see Sedona as we were planning on Rv'ing there next week. Sedona had some cool geography with the Red Rocks and all but I just couldn't get a good feeling about it. One thing, the planning commission or whoever dictates everything must be the same color as the red rocks???? It had cooled down to 100 and I needed more a/c, so I made a gas stop and another water. Being the observant idiot that I am, I had noticed all my fellow bikers were wearing long sleeves in this heat. So I took off my AZ t-shirt and put my long sleeve thermal shirt on. All I can say is what a world of difference that made.
Flagstaff was 35 miles away and feeling ok I went for it. All I can say is 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff is an awesome road for a scooter ride. Even better than that was the drop in temperature down to the mid 80's. Thank you Jesus! The scenery is great and those tall pine (?) trees suck you into feeling very secure. I loved all the mountain curves and even more so avoiding dehydration and heat stroke. 89A merged with I-17 and I-40 in Flagstaff so my adventure ended with a nice 35 mile I-40 ride back to Williams. So the moral of the story I guess is I won't be getting "Always be Prepared" boy scout medal this week. Thanks for reading and God Bless, Art
This morning I woke up to a wonderful 50 degrees and after hearing from Matt that he did not become dinner for a mountain lion or black bear last night, I started loading up the Vision (bike). I brought all the essentials like a jacket in case of rain, my black short sleeve victory t shirt just in case it got warmer and a pair of sunglasses. I wore my long sleeve thermal shirt since it had warmed up to only 65 when I took off about 8.30.
I jumped on I-40 west towards Ash Fork a mere 19 miles away. It was a beautiful trip out of the mountains down to Ash Fork, which was about the time I realized I didn't bring my camera. Dang. It felt so good that the sign that said Los Angeles 455 miles was tempting. At Ash Fork I went south on 89A towards Prescott and fell in love-with Arizona that is. I passed through Chino Valley after 30 miles or so and was loving the lack of everything. Traffic, people, wal marts etc. By then it had warmed up to a great 80 and the ride was going perfect. Wide open spaces with beautiful scenery and Jake Hamilton blasting from the Vision's speakers. Mentally I had already moved here and sold everything in Rock Hill. I even imagined I think my soul saying I should have been a cowboy, except for the horse thing.
But everything changes in Arizona as I was about to find out. During the next thirty miles to Prescott the heat changed for one thing. It was now about 10 o'clock or so and was getting close to 90 which wasn't all that bad. I figured I could always pull into Prescott and get something to wear besides a black t-shirt. Besides Prescott had to be famous for something in the past. What I didn't realize among many things, is Prescott is about 15 miles past 89A. I figured what the heck I'm here I ought to go see it. By now it is pushing past 90 and I know I need something white to wear and something to drink. Yeah thats right I took off without a thing to drink. C'mon how hard is it, there's c-stores on every corner, right? I beelined to the first SafeWay I see and purchase two bottles of water and sunscreen (yep forgot that too) 100 spf I might add. I then walk over to Walgreens to get a small cooler for my drinks, because I'm smarter than the average bear and I like my drinks cold. I also pick up a sweet WHITE Arizona T-shirt and hat combo for 50% off (7 bucks).
I immediately down my first bottle of water just to make sure I stay hydrated in this "dry" heat. I put my other bottle in my cooler with no ice. I mean how much ice can you get in a 9 inch cooler anyway and the drink was cold? I lather up with the 100 spf sunscreen including my nose and back out to 89A. Any inspection of Prescott would be another day because I want to get to Sedona. I get back on my scooter after changing into my new Arizona white flag t-shirt and the temperature gauge says it's 96.
I backtrack to 89A and head out to Sedona only 60 some miles away. Now somebody failed to mention to me that alot of those 60 miles is DESERT! I will say that stretch of 89A is awesome as after about 20 miles you start climbing Mingus Mountain. They have a sign which prohibits vehicles longer than 50 feet on that stretch of road, now I know why. I love mountain turns at 15 mph with no guardrail or shoulder and 2,000 feet straight down. At least it was cooler up here at 7,800 ft. After cresting the mountain I passed through a cool mtn village called Jerome, but since heat stroke had not set in yet, I figured I should press on to Sedona. Well by this time it was close to 11, well actually 10.45. By the time I got down the mountain it was now 100 degrees and Cottonwood was 7 miles away. That 7 miles felt like a toaster oven. If it's a dry heat how come my head was sweating like you know what in church on a Sunday morning? I looked for the first non chain restaurant to escape the blazing heat. I found a closed mexican restaurant with a porch that was at least out of the sun.
After 15 minutes of relief and more water and more sunscreen, I ventured out again searching for a lunch spot. I found a hole in the wall cafe with slow service thank God. After lunch and alot more water it was time to leave the air conditioning. Sedona was only 19 miles away. I figured worse case I could do something there until evening to escape the heat. I got on my scooter and the temperature said 111!!!! But after a little air movement it dropped to 106, what a relief. The 19 miles passed pretty quick and the closer to Sedona I got the cooler it became due to the elevation change.
I wanted to see Sedona as we were planning on Rv'ing there next week. Sedona had some cool geography with the Red Rocks and all but I just couldn't get a good feeling about it. One thing, the planning commission or whoever dictates everything must be the same color as the red rocks???? It had cooled down to 100 and I needed more a/c, so I made a gas stop and another water. Being the observant idiot that I am, I had noticed all my fellow bikers were wearing long sleeves in this heat. So I took off my AZ t-shirt and put my long sleeve thermal shirt on. All I can say is what a world of difference that made.
Flagstaff was 35 miles away and feeling ok I went for it. All I can say is 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff is an awesome road for a scooter ride. Even better than that was the drop in temperature down to the mid 80's. Thank you Jesus! The scenery is great and those tall pine (?) trees suck you into feeling very secure. I loved all the mountain curves and even more so avoiding dehydration and heat stroke. 89A merged with I-17 and I-40 in Flagstaff so my adventure ended with a nice 35 mile I-40 ride back to Williams. So the moral of the story I guess is I won't be getting "Always be Prepared" boy scout medal this week. Thanks for reading and God Bless, Art
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