Jody and Silas got to sleep in today and Sarah and I were treated to 7 hours of suffering. Only 42 miles and a couple 1000 feet of advertised elevation change but the ride was filled with STEEP ravines and a STIFF headwind and some of the worst road surface imaginable. There was nothing to look at for the first 32 miles except the endless rolling hills and sagebrush, so I had a lot of time to think about the 4 ride Gods that determine the fate of each ride:
1)The Mountain God is my personal favorite because he is fair and gives one foot of downhill for every foot he makes me climb. Although we generally get along, he let me down a bit on this leg with relentless 3 mph uphills and downhills that were too steep to enjoy because of the treacherous road conditions.
2)The Wind Goddess is fickle. Some days she curses you, some days she blesses you and some days she is no where to be found. On this day, she was a hater.
3)The Earth God was in a foul mood. Instead of smooth hardpack, he sent 4 inch deep washboards filled with golfball size gravel that turned the climbs into weaving, quad busting slogs and the downhills into white knuckle pucker fests.
4)The Rain Goddess is an old friend from Seattle and showed us a little mercy on this leg with cloud cover and a few sprinkles to keep down the heat.
At mile 32 we entered an Aspen forest where things seemed to be improving when we were hit with a text from Jody "having engine trouble near town of Encampment". Unable to reach her, we were left to wonder if she would be at the pick-up point or we had been sentenced to another 20 miles of hell in order to reach a broken down RV. With no other options, we slogged onward until shortly before reaching the pick-up point when another text got through letting us know that she had made it. We arrived at the RV a short time later and with a bit of research figured out that the RV warning light was just letting us know it was time to refill the diesel exhaust additive. After the difficult day, we decided to stay clear of the ride Gods for awhile by skipping the next leg and driving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a day of R&R.
More pics here
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