May 14, 2023
Day 8 - Rest Day in Flagstaff
Tour stats to date - 548 miles - 23,297 ft (4.41 miles) ascending - 36 hours in the saddle
There is no ride to report on this rest day, so I thought you might find it interesting to learn about the daily routine:
5:30 Alarm goes off, check bike tires for flats, stretch, partial dress in cycling kit
6:00 Breakfast at the hotel (Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Best Western) - Typical breakfast hotel buffet - I usually stick to the oatmeal, yogurt, muffin, banana, bagel and avoid the eggs, sausage and biscuits and gravy. Don’t want any issues on the road!
6:30 Back to the room for repacking the 2 Crossroads Cycling duffels bags, finish getting dressed and lather on the sunscreen and chamois cream (to prevent saddle sores) A couple of the riders already got saddle sores. It can make for a miserable ride or no ride at all.
7:00 Carry to duffles and roll my bike to the front of hotel. Top off bike tires with air. Sign out on log book. At every rest stop and hotel every rider signs in and signs out. No Crossroads’ rider left behind!
7:15. Route Rap - Paula goes over the cue sheet for the route that day. She explains any tricky turns, locations of SAG and point of interest along the route
7:30. Roll out of the hotel
SAG Usually every 25 - 40 miles depending on the route and distance ( 1 to 3 SAGs a day)Typically hang out at SAG for +/- 30 minutes filling the water bottles, enjoying bananas, oranges, apples or grapes, energy bars or gel. The few days in the desert where there was not much around Crossroads would provide light lunch of PBJ or wraps.
SAG Shenanigans!
Mid Afternoon Arrive at destination town - Crossroads advises to get drink and food (‘power hour”) as soon as you get into town and before going to hotel. The last couple of days we have got to town before the hotel rooms are ready. When arriving at hotel - Sign in on the log book. Grab your two duffels out of the lineup and take them and your bike to your room. I check my tires for any road debris. Recharge my Wahoo, headlight, tail light, etc. Fill water bottles and put in frig. Wash cycling kit in shower or sink and hang to dry in front of the HVAC unit. Lay out tomorrow’s cycling kit.
5:00 Dinner Believe it or not you are ready for dinner even if you got food when you got into town! Most nights Crossroads provides dinner, either catered into the hotel (my preference) or a group dinner at a nearby walkable restaurant
6:30 Back in the room for relaxing, talking to family, working on my blog or watching TV
9:30 Lights Out
Eat.Ride.Sleep.Eat.Ride.Sleep.Repeat!
Favorite Jersey of the Week
No comments:
Post a Comment