Day 5 - 9/10 - Riding Day #4 - Atlantic City to Rawlins, Wyoming
Nobody was happy the night before when Rob, the trip director, said we had to be up at 5:30 AM for breakfast at 6:00 and a leave time of 7:15! I know I was thinking about a 9:00 AM wake-up call after the experience on Friday! But Rob has done this before and he is a wise man about how long rides take, so we did it. Needless to say, I had my worst night's sleep out here so when we left this morning at 7:30 in 32-degree weather, I was already tired!
We flew down into Atlantic City on the huge hill we'd climbed the night before and immediately took another road straight up out of Atlantic City and I couldn't believe it, but I had to walk my bike near the top of the hill!! Great start Bill! I stopped at the top of the hill, removed 1 of my 4 upper body layers and drank, and told myself that I had to remain disciplined in my ride that day if I was going to make it. At that moment, all the other riders were long gone from me. Honestly, my goal was just to make it to lunch at 37 miles. My legs were shot, but I just kept slowly cranking and by lunch, I'd passed a few people. Again, I took a shorter lunch break, and my buddy Bob told me to go on ahead since he had leg issues. So my goal then was to make it to the next water stop, which was mile 62. So I would stop to drink or eat every 5 to 8 miles and it seemed to work! When I got there, some of the better riders were still there and some left. I knew that I just needed to fill up my Gatorade bottle, grab a couple of items to eat, and get going! I did that and told those other riders that I was leaving and that they would pass me soon.
Those final 31 miles were comfortable and went by more quickly than I would have ever dreamed! There was no wind, it was in the 50s, and we had no major uphills, relatively good roads, and a heck of a lot more downhill than uphill! As expected, 3 of the 4 riders caught me down the road, but my young friend Flo yelled to me as he went by and said 35K to go! Even in my fatigued brain, I knew that translated to about 21 miles, so I was fired up! I got even stronger and when I got near the end, I flew down the last 2 miles to meet Jim and the transport van for a shuttle into the city of Rawlins, which was 40 miles away. We had to wait for everyone to arrive, but we finally loaded up the bikes and piled in the van, and were greeted with guess what, soup, bread, cheese, drinks, and homemade mac and cheese! It was a perfect meal to end 3 consecutive days of about 90 miles! Today, I had ridden 93 miles with a seat time of 7:47 and a total climb of 3835 feet with a wonderful descent total of 5168 feet. We finally got into our rooms after 7 PM but a shower never felt so good. I was able to check on college football to be sure my beloved Buckeyes won, and all was good in my little world despite my aching hands and my buddy's leg tendon. So there was plenty of ice in the "old man's " room last night!
As I noted earlier, discipline was key today. I had to stay calm and avoid going away from my plan, which I needed to follow to not cramp and to have the endurance to finish the 3rd long mileage day in a row. Maybe at the age of 66, I've finally learned to occasionally do this. That hasn't always been my strong suit, but I think we all know that preparation, calmness, and discipline will usually lead to some form of success.
The one new thing I saw today was the antelope. I'd seen a lot of cows, but the antelope
the sighting was new. I couldn't help thinking of the song "Home on the Range", but I haven't yet seen any deer playing with the antelope! The high desert, the sagebrush, and the gravel roads reminded me of a trip out west many years ago when we used maps. Being the guy who wants to take the shortest route and the driving that day, I outvoted my wife Mary, my son Billy, and his friend Scott, and we took a shortcut on a gravel road that scared us all and took a lot longer. For whatever reason, I thought about that "fun time" often over the past few days.
Again, I thank you for reading and I hope that you have a good Sunday! Over and Out!