Friday, July 17, 2009

Our Longest Day

As we headed out in the morning yesterday for our longest ride (67 miles), we stopped to take some pictures by the first lake along the way. Here is a photo of Russ and me. Russ was our oldest rider on this trip. At age 72, Russ biked everyday on his mountain bike that also was equipped with a little motor that came from a weedwacker. How cool is that?

The bike man and I headed out by 6:15 am to try and beat the heat. The morning temps were in the middle 40's when we started riding. By our lunch break it was already hot and the mosquitoes were biting.
We biked through one little town that had a nice little cafe/espresso/bakery...whoo woo, my kind of place. The bike man bought a piece of pie and I enjoyed a nice ice cold latte. We only spent out 20 minutes there and then hoped back our bikes and took off riding again.


Poor Jean, what a trooper she is. Jean and her sister Nancy were really cranking along good and then all of a sudden a bee flew into her mouth and she ended up crashing her bike! Road burn on her arms, and legs made for a bloody mess, but she survived.....no hospital visit thank heavens.



This was our last meal together last night. The Adventure Cycling staff and kitchen staff was awesome. They made the trip so enjoyable. I'm certainly going to miss talking to all these cool people!
Guess what? I biked the whole 67 miles yesterday!!!!! I did push my body beyond what I've ever done before, but I did it. We climbed 4,400 ft yesterday while biking. The bike man and I were in the saddle for 10 hrs & 45 minutes, but that includes walking breaks up the mountain pass and our quick lunch break. I think Huckleberry Pass was around 5,000 ft. elevation. The sun was very intense when we reached the summit and the horse flys and mosquitoes were plentiful, but at least we had a nice breeze at the top. Like usual, the decent went for miles and miles, along with a few surprise uphills, but then more descent. What goes up, must come down as they say. I've never had to use my bicycle brakes as much as I have on this bike trip....geez.
Another post will come soon to talk about our last day, and final thoughts on the trip.




6 comments:

  1. There must be something wrong with the font in here somewhere.
    It said "67" miles....and I know that must be a BIG mistake. Noone bikes 67 miles...do they??!!
    I'm hurting all over just thinking about it. I'm going to do some adjusting on the font portion of blogger and come back.
    I'll be riiiiiiiight back.
    ***********
    OK...I'm back. My mouth is dropped...there is nothing wrong with blogger. "67" miles still show up, no matter how hard I fram and bam and beat on the computer....so, I'm just going to say: Jeeeez Louise!!! You are an incredible athlete! Go girl!!!...and thanks for taking us with you along the way. Have a good day....and a safe trip home.
    We'll be waiting here for you.
    I'm looking for an ice pack. I'm hurting all over just reading your post...be back later.
    Smiles,
    Jackie

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  2. You are truly an amazing biker Lisa!! You go girl!!!

    I took a bike ride with the kids the other day. We only went 2 miles
    and that was enough for me. Yikes!!

    I bet you are going to be one skinny-minnie when you get back!!

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  3. You iron woman you! Despite the ache, I bet you're glad you did it.

    I feel sorry for the lady that took the bad spill. Did she get stung by the bee too?

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  4. Sounds like fun. Ok, I better put away all my excuses and get in a 10 mile ride before the day is over. That's nothing compared to your ride!

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  5. I'm so so glad that you did the long day. Now you can say that you did the whole trip and just think how strong you are!

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  6. Fantastic! What an awesome trip. Good for you! Thanks for all of the posts and pictures!

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