By Mike Rutherford
Today we ventured out of the Arizona Desert and up to Williams, AZ, the gateway to the Grand Canyon. We were looking at 60 miles of headwinds leaving Peach Springs and the group wasn’t thrilled with dealing with the headwinds yet again. Thankfully, the route was a little more forgiving with less climbing, calm traffic, and it seemed the wind wasn’t quite in our faces. After the 65 miles of headwinds we turned east and joined I-40 to climb to Williams.
Since I’ve just joined the Parks to Peak ride this climb from 5,000-7,000 was my first major climb of the trip and the group was apprehensive about the long climb at the end of the day. We were pleased at the climb with wide well paved highway shoulders, pleasant drivers some calming tailwinds and beautiful views as the climate changed from desert to forest.
Everyone enjoyed exploring Williams, AZ after they arrived and we made ourselves at home in our host church for the night. Tomorrow is the long awaited ride to the Grand Canyon and some down time enjoying God’s creation.
