Two more contrasting days I could not have invented; Today (hwy 89 to hwy 16) was easy & relaxed, yesterday (hwy 89) was hard and stressful. Today I floated along nearly effortlessly, yesterday it was a struggle to turn the pedals each and every stroke, until the end of the day. It made today like a dream. This is how it unfolds on Pac Tour; and yielding to it is a key element is having a successful tour. when I woke up yesterday morning, I was sleepy. I got enough sleep the night before, but I did drink two glasses of wine in honor of Eva's yartrzeit, maybe that had an effect, but by the first sag, about 20 miles in, I was beginning to feel dead, and this feeling continued to develop throughout the day. Despite the unrelieved beauty of the Snake River Valley, I felt myself sinking and could do nothing about it. So I backed off, didn't try to do anything except get to the next stop. y legs were good, but the rest of me was pretty beat up. I seriously thought of packing it in at lunch and taking a ride to the hotel, however the internal pressure to ride every mile is pretty real; being tired or grumpy means nothing. Anyway, the two climbs of the day were coming up in the next two segments, where it had been flat up to that point. I thought a bit of climbing would change the rhythm and the mood, which it did to some degree. The pesky headwinds were back too, making each descent a battle against a force so much larger than yourself tha there was really no option other than to keep on keeping on.
After the first climb, the sag stop was welcome, and I stayed there for quite a while, being tired, resting in the chair, and then when I left I rode really slow. REALLY slow. There was 18 miles to go, and if it took a while, no problem! Surprisingly, I started to feel good, so when we hit the mile or so of very rough gravel one lane construction with wind and sand and cars coming straight at you with your bike slipping around all over the place, it was fine. Then to top it off, I had a crappy dinner that night! but I got horizontal early and slept it off; and woke up today feeling refreshed and had an easy ride.
We rode along Bear Lake; which is huge; had a nice climb and an equally nice descent with no wind for once; then entered Utah and the high desert vistas: THe ride from the second SAG to lunch was in a paceline with Joel & Ruth, but powered by Lil and Ray; got there at 12:30 and I then stayed there for abgout an hour and a half; eating schmoozing and playing guitar; then rode in the 13 miles to the motel with the turtles, the self descrbed slow group, and played more guitar at the hotle: I feel apreciated for my playing in this group:
The lunch conversation included a talk on sustainable farming with Anna Cat Berge; an excellent cyclist and veterinarian who is quite passionate about both the animals and about feeding the masses. It was an interesting conversation; including "the Omnivores Dilemma;" she liked his descriptions, but doesn't see that he had a solution that would feed the masses. A good steak dinner with David, Joel and the Carl and Martha Stock.
So our community is developing; this is a major undertaking and shared experience, and by the end of the trip we'll all know a bit more about ourselves and each other.
Big day tomorrow; hardest one of the tour.
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