Day 5 - Wednesday, May 16th - Blythe to Wickenburg, AZ

Distance: 115.8 miles

Elevation Gain: +3710 ft. or 32.0 ft./mile

Net elevation change: +1928 ft.

This was our first true century of the tour leaving four more and our first of twelve state line crossings. It was also pretty much uphill all the way.  After yesterday's cramping I wasn't recovered enough to try to do the full ride.  I elected to do the first 22 miles That included a small climb of about 750 feet over 7.5 miles at what I call sightseeing speed.  Felt decent at the first rest stop in Quartzsite, but with a similar 10 mile climb of 820 feet coming up next, I elected to get in the SAG wagon and help keep track of the other riders.

It was 275 miles and three nights to cross California. Arizona will take about 425 miles and 5 nights, one of which is our first of five rest days in Flagstaff, AZ. 

Flagstaff is the carrot. The stick is the most serious stretch of climbing on the tour that started with today's 3700 feet.  It is the most to date and roughly half of what the group has done in total over the previous 3 days. It is also a warm-up for the next three days where we will climb over 14,000 feet and more than double the tour to date total. Frankly, I do not expect to be able to do all of this. We will just have to see how it goes. 

Five miles down the road we get on I-10 and cross the Colorado River and enter Ehrenberg, AZ (population 1400). When I got up this morning this was my only real riding goal for the day. I wanted to be able to ride across the border and get the picture. Yea....I'm not in it, nobody else was around at the time.

After this, the group started the first of today’s three climbs followed by a gradual descent into Quartzsite at mile 23. Quartzsite has a population of 3600 and in the summer and is one of the hottest places in the US with recorded temperatures as high as 122F. It’s a popular RV camping area in the winter months and, along with the warmer winter temperature, there are nine major gem and mineral shows and 15 general swap meets that attract about 1.5 million visitors a year, mostly in January and February. Here are some pics from the road to Quartzsite.

Quartzsite is also the burial place for Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali), a Greek citizen who was one of the first camel drivers hired by the US Army as they experimented with using camels as beasts of burden.  He became a local legend of sorts and the monument at his gravesite is the most visited location in town.  I find this hard to believe since Quartzsite is also the home of Joanne’s Gum Gallery which contains Joanne Brunet’s personal collection of gum still in the wrapper, started in the 1940’s when Joanne was a little girl. Over 100 cases contain 4,000 specimens.  Now how can you pass that up?

Right after this stop the group rolled into the second ascent of about 820 feet over the next ten miles. At mile 36 our time on I-10 is done when we head north east on US 60, a two-lane highway with a fairly large shoulder. This second roller bottoms out at about mile 48, after passing through Brenda, Pioneer and Desert Wells.  

Brenda was once the site of mining activity but that closed. The ghost town that followed was a popular tourist site into the 1960’s, but that to is gone mainly because of the opening of I-10. Today it is a growing community of RV parks along with Pioneer at mile 44, Desert Wells at mile 48, Hope at mile 56, and Harcuvar at mile 59.  Harcuvar is a bustling metropolis compared to the previous three stops. Pretty much RV and camping related with one exception…the Iron Horse Grill, with 17 reviews on Trip Advisor and overall 4 out of 5-star rating.  I didn’t see a lot of competition in the area. It was closed for the summer.

The group did have a full SAG stop at this fine establishment in Brenda.

The group started the third climb, about 800 feet over the next 12 miles as they go through Salome.  Salome has a population of 1530 and was founded by three men in 1904, one of which was Dick Wick Hall, an American humorist of some acclaim at the time. He published The Salome Sun, a newsletter of tall-tales and humorous prose. His most famous character was a seven-year-old frog that never learned to swim. Excerpts of the Sun were a regular feature of the Saturday Evening Post until Dick’s death in 1926.  I guess this helps explain this front license place hanging on the wall of a Country Market and Hardware store a bit further down the road in Wenden, the next SAG stop

We stayed on US 60 and passed through Wenden and Love. Wenden is at mile 67 and has a population of 550. It has experienced two major 100-year floods due to flooding of the Centennial Wash (yes, we are in a desert). One in 2000 and the next in 2010.

At about mile 90 we passed through the center of Aquila, the final SAG stop. with a population of about 800.  It once relied on mining but today the primary economic activity is cantaloupe farming which likes the desert climate. I saw the fields off in the distance, suffice it to say these patches of green looked very out of place.

US 60 then turned dead east for the final 26 miles into Wickenburg.

Sneak peek at tomorrow

Big climbing day tomorrow with nearly 6,100 feet of climbing in just under 60 miles on the way to Prescott. The mountain goats in the group are so looking forward to the next three days. The good news, increased elevation means cooler temps.

Prescott was founded in 1864 and today is a city with a population of around 40,000. Arizona’s first territorial governor, John Noble Goodwin, is responsible for selecting the site of Prescott after his first tour of the territory. Goodwin became governor when John A. Gurley died before taking office. Each man has a street in downtown Prescott named after them. The city is named after William H. Prescott, one of the most eminent historians of the 19^th century in America. 

Historic Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott is known for its bars and live music and until 1956 it was a notorious red-light district. It contains many historic buildings, including The Palace, Arizona's oldest restaurant and bar. Finally, Virgil Earp, the older brother of Wyatt Earp lived in Prescott in 1879.