Phoenix, AZ — Yesterday we only rode an hour and half in anticipation of today’s ride, Tortilla Flats. This is one of my favorite rides down here. Heather and I have ridden it at least once during every trip we’ve taken to visit her folks who used to live in Sun Lakes. This time it won’t be as epic as before because we’ll be starting out from Higley, not Sun Lakes. When Heather and I did it from Sun Lakes it was epic…over 6 hours in the saddle!

Today I’m estimating around 4 hours. We headed out west towards Apache Junction and it seemed like we had a tailwind. Due to the warm weather, the air in the valley has been smoggy to the extent that they issued health advisories. But once we got past Apache Junction it was crystal clear and beautiful out there. Ted and I agreed that we’d ride at our own pace, so no need to wait for each other except at designated spots.

There was little traffic on the way out. We stopped at Tortilla Flats and bought some water, then continued east up the hill. I kept my HR at 155 and it felt pretty good on the 5-mile climb to where the pavement ends. We regrouped and turned around and descended. I hit 51.7 MPH on the descent…fun! We rode separately out of all the ups and downs until the last downhill, then we went into team time trial mode and booked towards Apache Junction. The wind had shifted and we had a tailwind on the way back. We were cooking at 30+ MPH! We stopped to get some refreshments and then enjoyed the tailwind home. We did it in 3hr 53 min. I think the wind gods were smiling on us today!