Epic Bike Ride Day 17 June 13
Thoughts from Kelly: Well, waking up at 11,300 feet did not sit well with me. I was quite dizzy and uneasy on my feet. It took me awhile to get myself oriented. With the help of liquid IV and a decongestant with Tylenol, I felt good enough to drive. This time it was my fault that we started at 10:30. As we were leaving (this seems to be happening more frequently) another rider was passing by. We ended up leap-frogging with him a few times throughout the day. We even saw Mitch today just after the Indiana Pass (the highest point of the entire ride at 11, 930 feet). We descended 4,000 ft in 20 miles and ended up in Del Norte CO. We bought some more supplies and had a yummy meal at the brewery. We saw Chad there as he was leaving, and saw Mitch riding down the street. After spending some time talking to our realtor, we accepted an offer on our house! Hopefully it will go through and we will be out of the house by August 17th. Against Mark’s wishes, we pushed on for another 12 miles on a very difficult to drive two-track road and found a nice spot to camp for the night.
Thoughts from Mark: It’s amazing how much easier it is to ride a bike downhill! This should be the case, but on these washboard, rocky roads I have to “deathgrip” the brakes so hard, because I am terrified of crashing. Today was mostly downhill, as Kelly said, and it was amazing how quickly the scenery changed from pine and aspen trees to high desert brushy stuff. Del Norte was a much needed stop, and the pizza I had at Three Barrels Brewery was so tasty! I had a sausage, pineapple and onion pizza (the best toppings combination - fight me), and should have stopped eating with two pieces left, but since “nobody likes a quitter,” I finished it. I was fully content staying in Del Norte for the night, but Kelly somehow managed to talk/coerce me into getting back onto the bike for a few more miles. As we turned West, a very strong headwind picked up, and if I’m completely honest, I was cursing her for a couple of miles. Luckily, she was in the truck behind me, and probably couldn’t hear what I was saying. A very short time later (we were surprised to still be in cell service), our realtor told us a buyer had agreed to buy our house in Michigan. What a boost to my spirits this was!
I should have talked more about meeting all of the fellow riders. It’s a great emotional boost seeing other people along the way. Even if we only have the chance to talk for a couple of minutes, it’s great to share stories of the suffering we are all going through, or our favorite parts of the ride/scenery/animal encounters. I really look forward to seeing the racers coming southbound in the next few weeks. These are people who will ride through the night, often sleeping for just a couple of hours, before getting back on the bike to ride again. The elite of the elite will finish the entire 2,775 miles in 14 days (or less)! This is an entirely different level of commitment/craziness, and my hat goes off to all of them. Maybe I will return to this course in a few years to try the race, but somehow I doubt it!
Miles for the day: 46.32 Feet climbed today: 2,556
Total miles ridden: 742.51 Total feet climbed: 50,617