Juniper Flats by Bike

As promised on Thursday, I did indeed ride my bike up to Juniper Flats yesterday, and picked a cold, blustery day to do it. Only 49 degrees at the summit, and quite windy. This was a much shorter climb than last month's Mt. Lemmon ride, only four miles versus twenty-six, but the grades were much steeper—over 20 degrees in parts vs. Mt. Lemmon's 4-5 degree average. And the steeper parts were gravel and I slipped and slid up in fits and starts with my slick tires.

The pass at the Divide where the gravel and grades begin.

Another dorky selfie, with a beautiful backdrop.

The descent on the two miles of gravel to the pass were treacherous and I rode the brakes all the way to Tombstone Canyon Road. There I was finally able to pick up some speed as is evidenced in the analysis below.