101.28 mi max 49.0 mph 7:43.03 avg 13.1Today was the best day ever! I think it was mostly downhill, which would be why I went so fast! I left on the early side, so I could at least see people as they passed me. For a short distance (3 miles maybe?), I was even able to draft behind Brian before I fell behind (see the picture). The first part of the day took us 1200 ft. up through a canyon. I was with Maria for a little while, and we saw some deer (pronghorns maybe?) just around a corner. They blinked inquisitively at us for a moment, and then unhurriedly bounced back up the hill - well, unhurried until one of them slipped on the slope, knocking down a load of sand and gravel. It quickly recovered and took off after its friends.
Bob stayed with me through the climb. We both agreed that this would be the perfect place to come back and visit - so many great hiking spots to explore, if only there were more time. Maybe when I retire I'll get a little cabin like the one pictured - a small place surrounded by mountains, with a little bubbly stream flowing behind the house (wait, that's JUST like the cabin!)
I observed another funny sound coming from my bike - after my spoke episode, I'm hyper-paranoid about bike sounds - so I stopped to look. I noticed that one of the spokes was rubbing against the rear derailleur, and Bob saw that the rear wheel couldn't complete two rotations in free spin. He likened it to hauling a forty pound load, so when I reached the top of the climb, I stopped by Alan's van so that he could work some magic on my wheels.
And the magic he worked! The downhill was crazy fun!!!!!! I hit 49 mph going dooooooown the other side of the hill I'd just climbed. I can't begin to describe the view...it's something that you just have to experience. Since you all can't be here with me, though, I'll try to tell you what it was like. After I checked in with Paula, at the top of the climb, the road flattened out, with some gentle rollers, but no more extreme elevation change. I could see for miles to either side of me...and the horizon met the earth, that connection unbroken by mountains. The road suddenly curved to the right and seemed to drop off the face of the planet...and by my speed, it felt like it, too. I tightened my body into the most aerodynamic position - the wind ripped the breath right out of me as I flew. The hills are so round and huge and there are so many that are visible from such a vantage point. The road is simply insignificant, an old, almost-healed scar on the land. Me? I'm nothing more than a speck of dust...the world is so big and I can't take it all in as I'm shooting down wherever the road takes me. My focus narrows to the road a couple of hundred yards in front of me - one slight move the wrong way and I'll find out what oblivion really means. I enjoyed that ride.
White Sulphur Springs is the only town between Avon to Harlowton (really...for my friends from MA, when we think of distances between towns & services, they are NOTHING compared to out here. Barre is a happening place!). Many people stopped for a second breakfast at Dory's. In our Daily Route Guide (lovingly referred to as our DRG), it was listed as "Big Ride Food To Remember." I skipped over that, because I knew that I'd be last in, which meant last out, which meant that once the people I was with left me, I wouldn't see anyone else for the rest of the day. I do know that someone has to be last into camp every day, but I just don't always want it to be me...and even if people do pass me on the road, at least I get a little bit of human interaction (while I have tested 100% positive for introversion, it doesn't necessarily mean I don't like being with other people!).
When I stopped at Anna's van, she laughed and asked what I was doing there so early - there were NINE people behind me! I guess I shook up the status quo :) The deerflies bit viciously, so standing around the water cooler wasn't an option - I took off quite rapidly.
As it turned out, Bob & Larry caught up to me at the final watering hole (Dennis's van). I hardly stopped there at all - I was feeling good, there had been an awesome tailwind and it was mostly downhill all the way into Harlowton. I probably should have stopped for a bit longer, because about 5 miles after, my stomach cramped up...and as focused as I'd been earlier on the road, my world was reduced to omphaloskepsis...and it wasn't pleasant.
At the end of the day, Dennis offered to ride with me some time to see if he could give me some pointers. It's not that I WANT to be slow...I just am. It gets very frustrating.
While I was biking, I compared my musical life to my cycling life. When I was in college, each fall for three years running, I was placed in the last stand of the second violins in the second-class orchestra. By the third year, that placement stung. If I compare myself to the riders on this trip, I'm probably the best violinist here...but judged against a jury of my peers, I'm a mediocre player. And now with cycling, the majority of EVERYONE I know wouldn't even think about undertaking a project like this....but when I compare myself to the people here, I'm weak. The riders on this trip all seem to be really, really strong cyclists. There are people who have actually said that the route we're taking goes out of its way to make it easy on us (i.e. going through the lowest pass in the Rockies)...but I'm just lucky to make it into camp at the end of each day!!
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