| Today
was one of our toughest days yet. We started the day with a breeze in
our face, rode through the middle of the day into a stiff wind, and wound
up the day with rain and thunderstorms. In between, we covered 84 miles
of rolling road.
Scott and I had breakfast duty, and were the last ones to climb on our
bikes. Unfortunately, I had a flat rear tire. With all of the staff looking
on, Scott and I started working on the flat like a NASCAR pit crew. Within
5 or 6 minutes, we had the flat fixed and were cruising through the neighborhoods
of Hardin. The town is in the middle of the Crow Indian reservation, and
Caucasians are definitely in the minority.
We stopped at a couple of small stores for soft drinks, and found the
selection a lot less than we are used to. In Crow Agency (the town name)
there was a lonesome puppy wandering around. At the edge of town, we came
up to an unfinished new installation of teepee sculptures with horses
and flags. The whole thing was made of rusting steel and was quite powerful.
We’re not sure what the purpose was but probably some kind of memorial.
After all these stops, we had advanced to the back of the pack, and spent
much of the rest of the day riding with the two couples on the Big Ride;
Beth and Alan, and Catherine and David. The conditions were so difficult
that we needed to band together in a rotating line to make any progress
against both the hill and the building wind. We struggled the rest of
the morning and by early afternoon, I think each of us was questioning
our reasons for coming on this ride as well as the possibility that we
would have to catch a ride and not finish the day.
Just when all of us but David were just about out of gas, we saw the rest
stop. We had just climbed the biggest hill of the day and really needed
a stop. I don’t usually eat that much on the road during the day,
but my body really needed the fuel today. All of us at the rest stop were
stuffing our faces and filling our drink bottles for the 34 miles ahead.
The stop had renewed our purpose as well as our legs. The pending thunderstorms
gave us incentive to get to camp quickly. First, we had to get across
a mile of highway and freeway construction. Our route included 1 mile
on the Interstate, which was under construction. The workers were great
to us, even slowing traffic on the now 2-lane freeway when we crossed
the last bridge. Several times, we had to pick up our bikes and walk across
the mud. Cyclocross was not in the brochure!
Camp is a nice KOA outside of Sheridan. We are sitting at the small outdoor
restaurant after a meal of buffalo burger writing up the day.
This kind of day is the reason I came on the Big Ride. I want to push
myself to the limit and feel myself struggle with that psychological wall
I need to ride through in order to finish the day. Having done so today,
I feel a deep satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Tomorrow is our
longest day of the Big Ride, 111 miles. I know that wall is out there
waiting for me again. |
