164 miles today and the RAAM qualifier dream is alive.
Today is the seventh day of our tour and the effects of six hard days of riding were showing this morning. Cyclist's moved a bit slower and were a little quieter at breakfast.
Once we left the hotel parking lot the the order of the day was pretty much Git-R-Done. The scenery was less than breathtaking and on the flattest day of the tour the only thing to do was to get as many miles in as possible before the cross winds picked up.
Since the ride today was pancake flat and would most likely be windy I thought that this might be a chance for me to ride with some of the better riders and take some of their pictures.
- A bit of explanation for the non cyclist readers. Cycling is cruel, not a little bit mean but downright cruel. Heavy people like me work like a dog to get up hills that skinny little guys ascend without even noticing. This is called power to weight ratio, literally your weight divided by the amount of watts you can create. The skinny guy beats the fat guy every time. However there is a silver lining for guys like me. We get really strong trying to follow the skinny guys up the hills and our larger bodies do make more power. Take away the hill add some wind and the big guy has an advantage over the climber.
So today I rode at the front with the strong guys. Mark Pattinson is also doing this ride and for the last week I haven't seen him only his name on message board at the end of the day, because he is often listed as the first rider to complete the days ride. Turns out that he does exist and that he is an accomplished ultra endurance racer.
Also riding at the front today where Brad Reid and Charlie Combs, both of these men had a rough beginning to this tour and battled through some real misery in the desert. They are recovering very well and rode very strong today. The four of us rode from the lunch break to the finish together, stopping/slowing only to allow Mark to repair three flat tires. One characteristic I have noticed in really good riders is that they don't let stuff bug them. Mark didn't miss a beat. One flat "it happens", 2nd flat, a shrug, 3rd flat "today is my day" If that happens to me I'm thinking forget this ride and it is time to buy a new bike.
We finished together and had another safe day on the bike.
Thanks for checking the blog and sending the emails and comments.
4 comments:
George,
I only know you vicariously! And for that I want to thank you for your pictures and their captions, your humor and your reflection -- I know those are are qualities that are necessary to be a great rider -- Pls pass along best wishes and positive thoughts to all the riders and especially the guy riding the Bike Friday -- Jeff Linder, the Salinas boyz say "You Rock, Dude!!" Thanks George.
Terry, Jim and Ken
Hey there Tex, way to go, good job pulling all those guys across the line behind you! It was cool to see your name on the board! As you pull into OK tonight, 2 more states are down, & your half way to that other ocean! Hope today's scenery was better, you can only look at so many steers & trains. (Yeah I've been in Tx.) Your doing an awesome job, keep your head up!
Eric....
Hi George, you are doing a great job. Did you meet some aliens in Roswell?
Today it will be 26 days until I come and then I will have some nice cappucion chocolate for you in my luggage :-) So you have to keep going unless you don't want it !!!
Kathrin
Dear George,
Best wishes from our family! (Our son Mike Jr. used to work for you.. .We live just across the valley.)We have been having fun checking your posts every day, and we are rooting (and praying)for you. What a dream come true! Keep up the great work!
Mike, Barb, and the family
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