Day 9 - Payson, AZ to Heber, AZ

Daily Stats:

Time: 3h58m16s
Distance: 101.09km
Avg Spd: 25.46km/hr
Climbing: 1,385m

Today was a great ride.  We started climbing pretty much right out of Payson this morning.  It was a steady 5-7% grade for until about the 45km mark.  And the sights were gorgeous.

When we reached the top of the Mongollon Rim (at 7,500ft elevation), we were greeted by a SAG stop at the visitor center.  There was a sweet deck off the back of the building that overlooked the whole valley.

The "Top Guns" took the opportunity for their first group shot of the tour.

At the top, five of us took a 10 mile detour to check out another viewpoint and Woods Canyon Lake.  It was definitely worth the extra kilometers.

The weather today was quite pleasant.  It's 31C outside, but we've been giving a cool gym at Capps Elementary School to spend the night.  Tomorrow we drop 1,000ft into St John's, AZ so the heat will likely return.  We'll make the most of the coolness while we're here.

I'm off to explore this little town...