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| Leaving Dardanelle... |
...and a couple little rollers take you to... |
...the first warning sign! Can't read it very well here, but
it says something like "Danger, danger, Sonora Pass ahead, GO
BACK while you have the chance!" On the right you see
Dick, appearing to be held prisoner by the 26% grade warning
sign. We really should have gotten the message by now. |
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Many of the photos need no real introduction. The story's
always the same...climb, climb, climb. |
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| If you look closely at the middle of the photo,
you'll see the road heading down the valley. |
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| 8000 feet...just 1700 to go! |
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The entrance to Blue Canyon is legendary... enough to make it
appear that Dick's about ready to fall off his bike! In
reality he's simply getting ready to unclip from his pedals and
enjoy the scenery. |
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| Exiting Blue Canyon the road levels off a bit in anticipation of
the top. |
Almost there (but isn't that what they always said in Star Wars
just before getting blown away?). |
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| At last...the first crossing of the summit! |
Here's a group of cyclists from Reno that had climbed up the
other side. |
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| Every once in awhile the road straighten out a bit and you can
relax and let your speed climb a bit. |
Not much traffic... so little, in fact, that the
occasional car is almost noteworthy. |
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| That's the road down there...a very short distance down an
incredibly-steep grade! |
Coming up on the Marine Corps winter training camp that marks
the turnaround point of the ride. |
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Leavitt Meadows Pack Station |
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| Incredible vistas are everywhere! |
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| One of the few fairly flat spots on the trip back up the east
side. |
Hard to see, but that's a cow at the left side of this photo! |
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The last chance to breath before the final climb to the top! |
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-Go back to the
main Sonora Pass page- |