Day 11

A relatively modest 80 miler from the Grand Canyon to Tuba City, AZ. We started with a spin around the rim with lots of view opportunities, and everyone wondering why they were so short of breath. We were at 7500 feet! Lots of rollers and the vertical added up, but then some very long descents - into the wind but fast nonetheless - followed by lunch at a deli in Cameron. We even stopped several times to check out the views - very uncharacteristic but it'll keep Marquette happy as she keeps telling us to "smell the roses". While we missed the gourmet lunches from the van, my turkey sandwich tasted great. Post lunch it was a pretty quick 25 mile ride to our hotel and my massage.

We returned to our Jeff, Joseph, Bill and Austin foursome and the two J's were fairly subdued most of the day, though we still managed an average of 18.7 mph. Toward the end the two 40 somethings put the pedal down and first dropped Bill (who is 60 something and a remarkably strong rider for any age), then dropped the 50 something, who wanted to live to fight another day. Thunderstorms were in the forecast today, but we managed to miss them, and arrived around 1:00. Tuba City is part of the Navajo Nation and we find ourselves in an interesting position. One side of the main street is one hour ahead of the other! So, we'll be leaving our hotel at 5:00 to walk across the street to our 6:00 dinner reservation.

We have 117, 101 and 141 mile days in our next 5 - so energy conservation may be important. It's a skill I never mastered, and J&J make me ride like the 40 something I'm not, so things should get pretty interesting!

Stay tuned.