Wednesday June 6: What a difference a day makes. Yesterday was very depressing. After just 35 miles I threw in the towel. I couldn't handle it. The gap between me and Pat grew larger and larger. There was a headwind but the grades were moderate. I was even wobbling across lanes. Fortunately there was almost no traffic. As Pat said later, "It was like riding in sand." I flagged the van down and put my bike on the rack. We drove to catch up with Pat and found him walking his bike. He was finished, too.
An early motel in the rustic town of Austin gave us a chance to rest. It was truly the first real rest since the beginning.
This morning began with a 3 mile, thousand foot climb. We actually zipped up and raced down. It was fun. Pat and I stayed together on the long flat stretch and just had a good time laughing and telling stories.
At one point Pat stopped to make a minor repair. I continued on, I felt so good I got down onto my aerobars and started to fly. Poor Pat, it took him six miles to catch me. I kept looking back knowing he was going to catch me but I wanted to make him pay.
Anyway, we rolled comfortably into Eureka with 70 miles and two big climbs behind us. After lunch, we climbed out of Eureka into a head wind. On the down side of the climb we were buffeted by the warm air rising from the heated valley below. Try to imagine pedaling downhill. On the other side of the valley the wind gave us a nice boost and we comfortably(well not exactly comfortably) finished the day with a 100 miles.
An early motel in the rustic town of Austin gave us a chance to rest. It was truly the first real rest since the beginning.
This morning began with a 3 mile, thousand foot climb. We actually zipped up and raced down. It was fun. Pat and I stayed together on the long flat stretch and just had a good time laughing and telling stories.
At one point Pat stopped to make a minor repair. I continued on, I felt so good I got down onto my aerobars and started to fly. Poor Pat, it took him six miles to catch me. I kept looking back knowing he was going to catch me but I wanted to make him pay.
Anyway, we rolled comfortably into Eureka with 70 miles and two big climbs behind us. After lunch, we climbed out of Eureka into a head wind. On the down side of the climb we were buffeted by the warm air rising from the heated valley below. Try to imagine pedaling downhill. On the other side of the valley the wind gave us a nice boost and we comfortably(well not exactly comfortably) finished the day with a 100 miles.