By 6 am the car was packed and I was ready to hit the road, 1st stop was Montezuma's Castle for a little history lesson. The castle is located about 2 hours north of Phoenix and about 10 miles South of the Sedona exit. The drive went fast, I got out, stretched the legs and headed towards the tourist center where I paid my $5 and took one lap through the little museum to gain some knowledge about this Montezuma's Castle. Come to find out Montezuma never even made it this far north from his home town of Mexico City, so why it is named after him boggles me. So I asked for a refund and hit the road… just kidding. I headed down the path to get some great pictures. One might ask why would they build this castle so high up and recessed in the cliffs??? And nope it wasn't to protect themselves from enemies. They did this to provide protection from the desert sun and the cliff helped hold heat in during the winter months. The Sinagua obliviously were not cyclists… I can't imagine coming home after a 4-5 hour ride and having to make this steep climb into your house. (See Pic)
Next I was off to Sedona for a good bike ride along route 89A. After taking Friday off the bike my legs were feeling good and looking forward to getting in a good ride. I reached Sedona and the first thing you notice is the Red Rock on the Canyon Walls. I made the turn onto Rt. 89A and immediately noticed no bike lane or shoulder; I started to get bummed and drove a little further hoping the roads would open up. No such luck, with the roads filled with traffic, tight turns, no shoulder and tourists being tourists not paying attention to the road, I decided I better use my head and accept that today was going to be another day off the bike. I wasn't going to let this ruin my day; heck there was a lot to see. My first stop was Slide Rock State Park. This place was beautiful, quite possibly the most picturesque place I've seen. The trees and rocks were filled with amazing colors, accompanied by the peaceful sound of running water it really just made you relax. Well for a minute anyway, then it was off to explore. I decided to head up the river to see what I could find. It was fun boulder hopping trying to get across the water and the flyer I grabbed at the entrance talked about a steep rock wall that you could scale if you were feeling adventurous. I scaled up the rock wall and down the other side and hiked for a little bit and then decided to turn back before I got into trouble. This place would be a blast during the summer months when the air and water are both warmer. Today the water felt like it was 65 degrees. They say the rocks are so smooth that you can actually use them as a water slide, there's also a deep area that acts like a pool with rock jumping possibilities.
Back on the road I headed north to Flagstaff, which could quite possibly be the coolest city ever. It screamed outdoors and mountain bikes. Seriously there were mountain bikes everywhere, and not just some beat up huffy chained to a light pole. I'm talking big name expensive bikes. Anyway I spent about an hour walking through town checking out the local shops and grabbed a quick bite to eat before I headed back to Phoenix.
