Heidi is supervising my work

This was awesome – pic does not do justice..
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The rocks show the water marks of the ocean

view done the descent with Pat

The narrow canyon opened up to this vista!!!

3 mile descent into the canyon

Happy Memorial Day everyone,

This was a long day through areas that were for the most part sparsely populated. There was very little traffic on the road. I did see lots of flags, many at half mast, in honor of our veterans. I had plenty of time to contemplate the sacrifice of our veterans for all of us. I am riding for The Wounded Warrior Project , and one way to honor those who have lost their lives in the service of our country is to help those who have suffered physically or mentally in the service of our country. This was supposed to be the first or second hardest day of the entire tour but that pain in transitory and minimal….

We started off the day in several waves separated by about 15 minutes. The earliest went at 6 am and the latest at 7:15. I left at 6:45. It was in the low 40’s when I started and we all had on jackets, arm warmers and leg warmers. The sun was in our eyes but it warmed up quickly. The first SAG was at mile 27 and most of us shed some of the extra clothing. This was a day of massive topology change. The early part of the ride resembled classic midwest grasslands with grazing cattle- that changed around mile 31. We went around a curve and the we descended into a canyon that open up to  different world. It was something to behold. I took a few photos but none do it justice. What we descended into was the remains of an old ocean. The terrain turned into desert.

The climbing today was 30% less than the day before but we had a lot of hard hills. Seemed like it was never flat, either going up or down with a bias towards descending. The second SAG was at mile 47. Usually there are restrooms but this was in the middle of nowhere so folks used available bushes. There were NO SERVICES for the first 76 miles.

At mile 57 or so we were advised to eat some energy gel because we had a big climb at mile 66. It was only a .7 mile climb but it had been aptly named THE WALL. When you approach it it almost seems the highway goes straight up although it is “only” an 11% grade. Somewhere had written periodic notations of the pavement to encourage your climbing such as “get in your granny gear”, “your knees and quads must be screaming now”, “this will end eventually”,”keep pedaling”, “almost there” and “you can see the top”. Tracy was at the top handing out congratulations and chocolate milk (it is a good recovery drink). During the ride we were constantly reminded to drink lots of gatorade and remain hydrated.

The last SAG was at mile 76 and as it was getting hotter (100 or so) I did not linger. The last 32 miles or so were a lot of climbing and descending. Most folks feet and posteriors were screaming for relief. I was in the lead bunch so I tried to stay on the aero bars and keep hammering. It was definitely getting hotter and the winds were in our face. To make matters worse, the road, while light in traffic was very bumpy making riding more difficult and jarring.

All in all, I finished what I consider my best day of the ride. Yesterday was my worse so I guess it all ends out. The wind was no way as bad but it did inhibit progress. I wound up averaging almost 16 MPH which considering, the wind, terrain and temperature variation was good (for me).

Tomorrow is another tough day with almost 98 miles of riding. I am getting ready for route rap and dinner but will add some pics after dinner.

I’d hope that everyone had a safe, happy and memorable Memorial Day. I especially want to dedicate my ride today to our vets who have given so much. Thank You!!!

Chuck