We hit really strong headwinds in spots along the Greenbelt, but the winds seemed to keep the trails relatively clear, which was nice. After a quick break to refuel, we took off up Shea Boulevard - the eight mile climb over Saddleback Mountain into Fountain Hills.
On the climb into Fountain Hills, I heard a loud pop come from my front wheel while we were passing through an intersection, but was pretty sure my tubes were intact. Upon further examination, it became clear that I had popped a spoke - a pretty serious problem when you're 30 miles from your car and your wheel is staring to warp slightly. Thank God for smart phones. I was able to locate the nearest bike shop pretty quickly and gave them a call to expect me. We rode the remaining few miles uphill into Fountain Hills and eventually found our way to the Slippery Pig bike shop. The staff was VERY helpful and managed to replace the spoke and true my wheel relatively quickly. And the bill ended up totaling a little more than $16.00. Once we got everything settled, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Subway and got back out on the road.
The ride back toward Tempe down the Beeline Highway was sublime! The views of the desert rock formations, mountains, and plants (especially the wild flowers) were such a beautiful sight to see at the end of a long ride. Off on the horizon, you could see Camelback, South, and Estrella Mountains. It was remarkable.
We reconnected with the Greenbelt in Scottsdale and headed South toward Tempe. On the way, we passed through a short spot that's been flooded for a few weeks (just a few inches of water) and nearly came head-on with a couple other cyclists. Tyler hit a hole in the puddle and fell in, banging his knees and ankle up pretty bad. After we got him wedged out of his bike, he decided he was good enough to continue, so we pressed on.
We completed the stretch along the North bank of Tempe Town Lake to Priest and made the final turn toward the car, rode the full length of the South bank and made it back in three complete pieces in time to grab frozen yogurt at Yogurtini for a job well done.
61 miles down and a total 3,400 calories burned for the day. Beautiful. I think we feel that much more prepared for the Paul Hulse Memorial Century in two weeks!
I particularly enjoyed the ride when we passed the landfill. Nothing like breathing in fresh air when the pollen count was already high and affecting our breathing!
ReplyDeleteWhat landfill? I don't remember a landfill.
ReplyDeleteThere was a landfill right off the B-Line. Maybe you were just going too fast to notice ;)
ReplyDelete