Day 4 - 9/9 - Riding Day # 3 - Pinedale to Atlantic City, Wyoming
It was 37 degrees when we woke up at our hotel in Pinedale, so we combined the hotel's continental breakfast with some of the delicious porridge that Anneke and Elske had made and ate in the pool area. We were on the road by 8:20, it was a beautiful sunny day and it started to warm up quickly. I got into a fast peloton for the first 12 miles and quickly realized that my legs would not finish the day if I continued. So I backed off and rode the next 31 miles either alone or with one other person. Overall, the morning was quite enjoyable because of the mild weather, some tailwind, pavement for the first 31 miles, and good gravel roads for the next 12 miles to lunch. The morning highlight was being stopped by cowboys as they herded a bunch of cattle across the road! Believe it or not, this also happened to me in Colorado a few years ago, but I was in a car! It was kind of cool to watch this happen!
I took a shorter than normal lunch break because I knew that I needed to keep going to reach my final destination at 88 miles. Immediately after lunch, it became apparent that we were going to be tested. I rode about 10 miles alone and the gravel road conditions became worse with more sand and more washboards. The whole washboard concept is new to me as I am new to mountain biking, but try driving your car over a berm for a while and you will understand what I am trying to explain. The rolling hill after rolling hill and 25 to 30 mph crosswinds was unrelenting! Then my chain broke at Mile 66.6 and in my book, I kind of chuckled and thought how ironic that was. Fortunately, Jim came up in the lunch van a few minutes later and I didn't have to use the chain links that I had with me. He quickly had me back on the road and shortly thereafter, Bob and I reached pavement at Mile 71 after 40 miles of gravel! Only 17 miles to go!
We rode on the pavement for the next 5 miles but a headwind of at least 30 mph was unrelenting. We got a slight reprieve at mile 76 when we turned onto a gravel road, but after a half mile, you guessed it, we turned into the wind again. Without boring you, I can just honestly say that the next 11.5 miles were as miserable as I've ever been while riding! We felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere and the climbs kept coming. We passed riders and got passed and the fog came rolling in as temperatures dropped into the high 30s. We made it to Atlantic City, not the New Jersey one, and were frozen. Unfortunately, the "forest camp" we were staying at was a mile and a half climb out of the town! We painfully climbed the hill, saw the van they were sending out to pick up riders (NONE got in!) and arrived around 5:30 PM! We were frozen and the staff immediately threw wool blankets over us, had us sit by a roaring fire, and gave us hot water bottles to warm our hands. Four bowls of soup and 2 hot chocolates later, I was able to get up to put my tent up only to immediately come back at 6:40 to help serve and clean up from dinner, as I was on the list for the night. We had an incredible dinner of hot stew, salad, and hot apple crisp. It couldn't have been any better after burning over 6000 calories for the day! I got back to my tent to unpack my bags at 8:15 and crawled into my sleeping bag by 9:00. Unfortunately, I did not sleep well due to exhaustion, wind and rain outside my tent, and very cold temperatures, but I had finished the ride and I was super happy about that! We'd ridden 88 miles with a total seat time of 8:07 and a climb of 6429 feet and a descent of 5490 feet!
As I look back on the day, a few things stand out. First of all, this ride was kind of like life can be. The first part of the day was enjoyable and relatively easy, while the second half was just not very easy or fun! However, through all of that, the simple things like warmth, food, and a place to lay my head at the end of the day were so rewarding. It is amazing how the simple things that we take for granted can mean so much at times. I was struck by the fact that 7 people finished after us and 2 of the guys didn't arrive until 7:30 PM! They had to be frozen but they and everybody finished for the day. Finally, it is amazing how and when you see simple acts of kindness. I was sitting frozen in my chair and I didn't have the desire or energy to leave the fire, get up and get another cup of hot chocolate. My new 33-year-old German cycling friend, Florian, we call him Flo, caught my eye and went over quickly to bring me another hot cup. In his wonderful accent, he said something like, "Bill, I got in a bit before you and I was not doing well. I feel better now so I thought I would help take care of you". Honestly, it made me feel so good that I almost shed a tear. I know that is shocking to some of you! Ha! Bottom line, those simple things we can do for people every day can mean so much. I need to take more lessons from Flo! Signing off!
Bill