This day was one of the best days of the race. My 6'04'' 230 pound frame had been absolutely roasting for the last week. Sure this day got hot but it was only like 95, I mean c'mon that's child's play compared to what I had been riding in.
I started out on smooth pavement after downing a breakfast of chicken Mcnuggets (I fell asleep the night before with a mouthful of food and only halfway through a 20 piece chicken nugget box.) The road out towards Pie town was pretty rough but my body was properly beat into submission at this point and I just cruised it.
It's funny looking back. I remember the morning being an easy cruise but on the map, it was like 60 miles to Pie Town.
In Pie town I stopped at the Pie Town Cafe', or was it the Pie-o-neer Cafe. Which ever one is on the right as riding up the paved hill. I still can't believe that a town with like 20 people had two cafe's across the street from each other.
This sign is on the dirt road leading to Pie Town. It cracked me up so much I was in tears.
I downed a burger, fries, some other snacks, four bottles of gatorade, and two pieces of pie with four scoops of ice cream. I struck up a conversation with several people in the restaurant, to include the owner. He was a former navy guy that waited tables with a gun on. Because you know, if you aren't exercising your rights... The Terrorists Are Winning.
I bolted from Pie Town with one thing on my mind. Getting going while the going was cool. About midday, it started to heat up a bit but not enough to kill me. As I was headed out of the high ground, towards the highway crossing I noticed that my rear tire was pretty low. I decide I would wait until the roadway to fill it up. MISTAKE.
Coming down a big descent I flatted, as in I pinch flatted my TUBELESS tires. Not really that big of a deal. I had made it ~2400 miles without an actually tire failure. I changed in no time and I was going again. (Looking back, this was actually a bit detrimental. Had I not stopped for a bit, I might have actually made Beaver Head Work Center. But hey, whatevs.)
I stopped at the same church Matthew Lee stopped at in the Divide movie. It was cool to see it for myself. And, I got some water from the same fountain that Matthew Lee drank out of... Yeah, I freaked a little knowing The Man had consumed water from the same hose nozzle.
It was Über pretty out there....
I hit the road up towards the work center. There was a huge electrical storm rolling in and the rain started to come down pretty good. It is amazing just how comfortable one can become with the outdoors. I only brought a rain jacket for the race. I donned it for the rain but I might as well not have. I had the sleeves pulled up to my biceps, the jacket unzipped, and the hood off. I just let the water wash over me and the mud get all over my body. I soon realized that I wasn't cold, or hot, or wet, or uncomfortable. I was....
Well, I just WAS.
I guess I'm trying to say that I realized it had been weeks since I thought about the weather as inclement. I wasn't uncomfortable. I just was. The pain just was.
In my current life I use the phrase, "It just is", to conjure up the same meditative focus. For example: Histology doesn't suck, it just is.
(Ok, ok. This example really breaks down because I mean, histology DOES suck. But, if I use that mantra, I can make it through the suckness with much more vehemence.)
Oh yeah, this is a blog post about the Tour. Let's get back to it shall we?
The road out to Beaver Head was awesome. The cooler weather, rain, and general beauty really made life good. As it started to cool off in the evening I really let the hammer go. I was pretty set on hitting up Beaver Head for an awning to sleep under.
As I continued on, the road started to get pretty wet and the going got slower but I continued on into the night. As the sun continued to go down I realized that I might not make Beaver Head. The road degrades from a nice graded roadway to a rutty washed out hick truck wonderland. Normally I would be ok with that but my pen-light-from-a-gas-station-head-lamp-replacement didn't really give off much light.
I ended up going over the bars several times. After my fourth Superman impression I decided that discretion was the better part of valor. I laid down in the roadside grass when the rain let up a bit and hoped that: 1) it would stop raining and 2) that I wasn't on somebody's farm. I obviously wasn't too concerned about the situation because I woke up only laying halfway in my bivy, half in the dirt, and next to my sleeping bag.
How I fell asleep without even putting my sleeping bag IN my bivy is beyond me.
