Doc Holliday: Nonsense, I have not yet begun to defile myself. – Tombstone

I thought today was going to be an easy day, I was wrong. It was a very cold morning, perhaps the coldest yet. It is hard putting on your cycling cloths when it is cold and even harder putting on cold chamois crème. Everyone tends to put on layers, but when you start to climb early on, you heat up quickly and off come the layers.

I wound up riding about 58 miles; some of which were extra because I went off course a couple of times. Once was on a big climb and I just kept climbing for an extra 1/ 2 mile or so until Mr. Garmin said, “OFF COURSE”. My only recompense was that I got to ride downhill a little more. Normally when you go off course, you first go downhill and then realize that you must climb again.

By lunch, I was starting to fall behind my normal pace. I probably wasn’t drinking enough. As I noted before, there are a lot of fires in the region and it was hard to see the mountains across the valley. I assume that breathing particles from the forest fires is not good. They are far away but the smoke is here and the next two days will have route changes to compensate for the fires. The area desperately needs rain as well.

Anyway, there was quite a bit of climbing, it was hot and my pace seemed to get slower and slower. I just set my mind to getting to camp and not worrying about speed. The downside is that it compresses my available time window for chores, lessens the recovery window and increases the time in the sun and heat. It is a balance.

I arrived at camp very tired and gimpy. Bathing was in the lake. I had a little to eat, took a nap and felt much better afterwards. The food is very good. Gerdi and Emily are excellent cooks. Last night we had tacos. Everything is made from scratch and exceptional. So far nothing has been repeated but often the leftovers make their way to a soup the next day. I ate spinach soup and enjoyed it!

The evening / night was the warmest that I have experienced and I was too warm in the tent. I am getting the camping routine down well and it has not been that much of a lifestyle imposition. Lack of connectivity hurts and sometimes the restroom / shower facilities leave a lot to be desired. However, I knew what I signed up for and really can’t complain – overall it is better than I expected.

Thanks for reading!

Tailwinds

Chuck