We woke up this morning still feeling the effects of yesterday’s grueling 82 mile ride and a bit apprehensive about what today would bring. As bad as yesterday was, today was as good. God smiled on us today – sunny skies, light and variable winds (primarily head and cross) and cool temperatures (54 – 73 degrees). This along with the smooth roads and a flat ro
ute (change in elevation of about 900 feet with only 951 feet of climb) allowed us to ride 138.1 miles today, averaging 18.7 mph. This is the 7th consecutive day of net descent since crossing the continental divide. Maybe the climb was worth it after all.
Yesterday at 1:30 PM, we had ridden a grand total of 27 miles. Today, we had 87 miles in by 1:30. What a difference 24 hours makes. We “banked” an additional 32 miles today (riding past our hotel into tomorrow’s ride) which means we will only have to ride 131 miles tomorrow to get to our hotel. Tomorrow’s ride was scheduled to be 163 miles by an over-aggressive planner (yet to be identified). The temperatures are forecast to be relatively cool tomorrow, but unfortunately is looks like we will have a stiff head wind. Hopefully the forecast is wrong and we will get another day like today.
We rode past a billboard today the stated “Now entering ‘the middle of nowhere’”. My guess is that the past few days have been the beginning of nowhere and the next few days the end of nowhere. We are now starting to ride through small towns every 10 miles or so. This makes it easier riding.
