Day Forty Five

Today didn't quite go as expected, but it was okay nonetheless. We rode 104 miles from our hotel at the Grand Canyon National Park to Seligman, AZ.

We got up this morning and trekked over to the cafeteria to grab cream cheese. We're probably not supposed to take it, but hey, if it's free when you buy a bagel then it should be free if you don't buy a bagel. We ate in our room, packed up our bags, stopped by the market to buy snacks, and were on the road around 10.

The first 60 miles were okay, just a lot slower than we'd hoped. We thought that the elevation of Williams was lower, but it actually wasn't. That combined with a light headwind, made for some slow going. We got in around 5:30, and got dinner at Jack in the Box, only because we didn't want to waste miles in to town to find a better place. After a pit stop for McDonald's smoothies, we were back on the road at around 6:45.

That left us with about 40 miles to go. We were on I-40 (yes, in Arizona bicycles are allowed on interstates) so we had a good road and good shoulder. After a few miles of a slow climb, we found a "6% Grade Next 6 Miles"'sign, which was awesome. It was about a 10 mile decline, all told. We got a great sunset, and took out reflectors and lights. It's very nearly (or maybe it actually was) a full moon, so we had enough light to ride. There were some big rolling hills, but we made
it to Seligman just shy of 10.

We have one of the nicest $60 hotel rooms I've ever seen. And the town seems really cool too. I wish we had time to explore. It's the "birthplace" of historic route 66, and apparently the movie Cars was based on this town (the tow-truck is parked just across the street.)

Tomorrow: Needles, CA.