I broke my morning routine and had more then just cereal this morning. I had half a bagel and a piece of fresh baked bread that I immediately started to smell the moment I got out of bed. I knew the day was going to filled with hill climbing and that I would need all the energy to get me to the top of the mountain and to Silver City. Once we all ate breakfast we got all our equipment ready to go and gathered out front for a prayer of safety over us and the rest of the crew.
Today was different in that we didn't really have a warm up. You see Kingston sits at 6,000 feet, so when we rode the 200 yards to the end of main street and got on the only road in or out of Kingston you start climbing very quickly. As I took the first 20 pedal strokes I could feel my legs beneath me, they felt alive and ready to go. That was a good things because we had a lot of hills to climb. The first 8 miles would carry us to the top of Emory Pass and to 8,200 feet. It was full of switchbacks cut into the side of the hills and making a path right to the top. I had my Ipod on and listen to David Crowder Band a majority of the way. I did lean on some Amy Lee from Evanescence to help out. Something about her voice.. Much to my surprise we made it up to the top pretty quick considering this was we were on day 5 of a 5 day run. Your legs came to life when we needed them. The view from the top was breathtaking. To stand up there and look as far as you can see and to know you just rode across that valley was something I won't soon forget. If you look in the valley below you can see Kingston were we rode out of this morning.
The only bummer about standing up there and admiring the view was cold air blowing us around. By the time we reached the pass the wind was really moving. Thankful coming up the mountain we were somewhat shielded from it. On the top, we were fair game! We loaded up on water and food while we were up there and then headed down the backside. This is were it got both fun and scary for me. The descent was steep and fast, both things that I enjoy. When I am going down a hill I don't use my brakes that often. Weird really, I am afraid of roller coasters, but going 40 mph down a hill on 2 wheels don't make me shake at all? Anyway I am working this road back and forth coming down switchbacks and s-curves just humming along. I am heading into a blind right corner and I set up just like my Carmichael Trainer taught me. I was on the center yellow and I found the axis point and dove for the white line to get me out of the corner carrying the max speed it had to offer. When I hit that white line and I came out of the corner I was meet my a black cow standing on the edge of the road! The scary part was when I saw him, I scared him and watched his rear end buck up and his feet kick up. I hit my brakes and because I came out of my saddle my back tire locked up and now I am sliding and this cow is now trying to cross the road. I came to a stop and he stopped and we just stared at each other. I can't remember what I said but I said something to him. I stood there for a few minutes to motion to Shannon that there is a freaking cow in the road - proceed with caution! Once Shannon got there he ran it off the road and we started riding again. After another 2 miles down the road I am coming around a left corner and when I clear this corner there are 9 deer all hanging out in the road. There were 4 on the right side and 5 on the left. Well I was on the right center and the 4 on the right all sprang into action and darted to the left. We missed by 10-12 feet, which sounds like plenty of room except when you are moving down there hills as fast as we do - you can close 12 feet pretty fast. I worked so hard all morning to keep my heart rate under control and in a few short miles these animals had it racing!
The last 27 miles were up and down hills. The wind had now picked up to a steady 20 mph and gusting at 35 mph. If you have never ridden in winds this strong before, then you are lucky and I wouldn't suggest it. We did what we are now trained to do - we just rode and rode until we arrived at our end spot. It was very exhausting! We arrived at the RV park we will be staying at for 2 nights about 30 minutes after noon.
Tomorrow is a schedule rest day and since we finished early in the day, we took advantage of the time and knocked out the choirs. Shannon took care of the bikes. Mona washed our cycling clothes here at the RV park and Shane and I headed into town for Ice Cream! Ha! Just kidding, we headed into town to a laundry mat to wash the sheets and towel and regular clothes. We heard from a little birdie in the RV park that the dryer there didn't work to well. Since we have had enough bad experiences with dyers on this trip, we took the birdie's advice and went to the laundry mat. The cycling clothes were fine because they all air dry. The laundry mat was by far the nicest on the trip so far. I took my book and read a few more chapters and Shane took a nap in his chair. Once everything was dry and folded up we headed back to home base.
Mona prepared a great dinner for us tonight. It was Mona version of hamburger helper, except she made it all with the real ingredients and even added a little Mona flare to it. The best part was there was a ton of it and we all loaded our plates up! Some of us twice! After dinner I retreated to our cabin on the property and put my clothes away and spent some time on the computer.
Tomorrow as I mentioned we have off. I think we are going go to some shops, there are a few things we need to pick up. After that I plan to spend as much time off my legs as possible.
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