Day 17 - 80 miles down hill on the 4th

Day – 17 Dubois to Riverton, WY (5,500’ elev)

Cindy (Boston) and Buckeye Bud (Canton Ohio), two of the seasoned vetrans really scoot along. They are always near the front of the pack going at a good clip.

Euphoria Meter (1-10): 9.5

This was a special ride. How many times have you gone out and done an 80 mile ride, averaged 21 mph and called it a recovery day?

Alloise had two sayings that have stuck with me. 1) "Like song of stones,....you can't always get what you want." and 2) "Life is like a mountain, once you get over the top things speed up!" Today we were over the top.

Ride Stats

Distance: 83 miles

Riding Time: 2:47 hours

Max Speed: 37.1 mph

Average Speed: 21 mph

Weather:

A little chill in the air when we started at 7:30 in the morning ~ 60 degrees, no clouds, a little 5 mph breeze from the NE. Temperatures warmed up to 93 degrees in the early afternoon.

Incidents and Rider Report

Everyone made it in without incident today. Brett had to borrow one of my Armadillo extra tires that seem to hold up really well. He had troubles with his lighter weight tires. Steve Bennett had to replace one his tires today due to a tear. Alan Williams from Blaine WA had a touch of what he thinks was altitude sickness and took the day off.

How I Feel (1-10) : 10

After the lousy end to yesterday, both Rich and I seemed to get a really good night sleep. I think this was the first time that I slept all night without getting up and so did Rich. We had the big windows in “The Stagecoach Inn” open wide and a power fan cooling the room down. It was a good night and I believe that added to my feeling good today. That and the great breakfast at the cowboy café we had… pancakes, eggs over easy and a big bowl of blueberries and orange juice. See mom, I’m eating well!

Despite the good ride feelings, it is the 4th of July and both Rich and I are missing our wives and the festivities in beautiful Upper Arlington. Thanks Cindy for letting me do this! We are getting there!

Stuff happens:

Long quiet roads on the 4th of July, no traffic and momentum riding.

The ride started off with some more great photo opportunities. I was able to take a lot of pictures and had fun doing so. Rich, Sarah and I worked together after the first sag stop. At the second stop somehow we’d worked our way to the front of our group. A fun little game of cat and mouse ensued after that as John Knapp took off with some zeal as we approached the stop. Sarah and Rich wanted to take it a little slower on the next stage so I pursued John who rode very well today. He eased up a bit somewhere along the line and gave me a chance to catch him. We rode in first together and had a nice lunch at the DQ.

Tomorrow is our longest ride of the trip 120 miles. Headwinds are forecast. We’re going to have to work together to make this a good day.

Me and my shadow in the early morning.