After only 5 hours of sleep i felt a bit tardy this morning. Left camp at 7:45am - one of the last ones to leave. Soon hopped onto Johnny's fast paceline that came by, and we did the 30km to the first SAG wagon at an average of 38km/h, and found out I could keep the bike at 45km/h in fastest gear at a cadence of 80rpm. That is when the grade is not more than 1%. The road we travelled on was very busy and trucks, etc were passing us, some really impatient with the 140 cyclists on the road. We were good about keeping single file. One smarty pants guy in a blue pickup truck honked his funny sounding horn and tried to see how close he could pass us. Andy that rode behind me said that the side mirror mised my left arm with only inches! There was much less climbing today than the previous 2 riding days. We were ascending most of the day, but at easy gradients. The heat on the road today was very bad, but Walter surprized us with a treat of watermelon at the SAG wagon. Some riders struggled today as result of the huge climbs of the previous 2 riding days, and mentioned that their legs felt heavy and energy was on the low side.
As we left Dushesne on the lower side of town, we saw all the irrigation they are putting in place with all the green fields of crops. The landscape became very dry with ridges of lovely and interesting mountains.
At noon it became terribly hot on the bike, but we just pressed on. I helped some of the slower riders by pulling them into the head wind, as the last 20 miles were all uphill, but only slightly.
Early in camp, some of us set up the tents of some of the slower riders, to encourage them. They sure were glad! The village of Dinosaur is tiny, and we are camping on the fair grounds. Some significant dino bone finds happened here. The mountains on the way were magnificent. Nestled against a lovely mountain range was the town of Vernal that we passed through, with possibly the loveliest mountain views anywhere. in camp all are content after a days hard riding, and a great dinner. The internet is working nicely today and has been for some time now. We are blessed with two great media people doing a great job at that. Jonathan and Megan are taking lots of photos and video, and are producing a DVD clip for the celebration in Grand Rapids.
2 comments:
Hi Marti , It is great how you keep up with your blog, on top of the cycling and helping others. We sure appreciate it on this end of the tour. You sound like you are getting stronger and stronger. Prayers for all, especially those that are struggling with health issues. Corrie van der Kuur
Greetings from Alliston,I'm Corinne Smienk's mom (she's on the tour too)...we're really enjoying your informative blogs since Corinne is a no-news-is-good-news- kind of girl(probably as a result of being really tired and the fact that she has Asperger's Syndrome).She trained for almost a year before this tour but seems to be struggling,especially with the climbs.I suspect it has something to do with her shifting(or lack thereof)as well as her lack of experience in riding with more than one other person.The person she often rides with is leaving when you reach Denver. If it's not too much to ask,could you 'take her under your wing' for an hour or two during a climb or even some evening and see if she's mastered the 'granny gear'?I'd hate for her to get frustrated and give up after all her hard work.She was doing so well at home and managed a brisk steady pace for extended periods so we're rather stumped as to why she's having such a hard time now.Thanks and God bless. We will continue to pray for safety,health and grace for all the riders.
Anne
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