Dodgy internet connection last night, that was the only reason for the delay in posting.139 miles, one hundred and thirty nine miles. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE MILES. Easiest 139 miles I ever rode.
It was meant to be raining this morning, but started out overcast, warm and with a good wind in our direction. Usual team of 4 started out at a brisk 20 mph along flat roads. Again with this sort of distance it's important not too think about it for the first several miles, otherwise it just gets overwhelming. For example when you reach 30 miles, try not to think that you're still less than a quarter of the way.
First SAG was next to one of those covered bridges. Another three state day today. At about mile 65 we entered Pennsylvania, then at about mile 110 we entered New York, The Empire State. There are the usual photos of the four of us lined up underneath the sign. I haven't bothered posting these, but look back a few days, swap say Kansas or Ohio for New York and you get the idea.
All going very well until mile 90 when it started to rain. That continued for about an hour and got heavy at times. When it stopped the roads were still wet so got filthy with road muck. Even the rain didn't slow us down and our total ride time for the 139 miles was 6 hours 52 minutes, which is an average of just over 20 miles an hour. That included having to stop frequently at stop signs in the country and then negotiating our way through a few towns, so when we were travelling it was generally at 22-25 mph. That's testament to how good the wind was, but also how well we're still riding. The main problem at those continuous high speeds is avoiding pot holes, bits of debris and mainly each other for such a long time. That time doesn't include SAG stops, photo opportunities, toilet breaks and punctures. Yes I got my fifth today, just 5 miles from the finish. The guys stopped with me and fortunately the van was only a couple of minutes behind so we had it fixed in no time. It was a small sharp piece of stone and it's quite a big rip, so it means another finished tyre.
A lot of the afternoon was spent near the shores of Lake Erie. A bit foggy so couldn't see very far, but Canada is out there somewhere.
Very busy this evening. There was a new tyre to put on. Also the bike needed a wash and as the hotel couldn't provide a hose you can see from the photo that I had to improvise. Also we've been without any laundry facilities for the past few days. I'm doing better than most due to the nice man at the Motel 8, but even I needed to get some done. There's only one washer and one dryer, so a strict rota system was quickly set up with notification going to the next person on the list. Yes it is a bit over the top, but these things take on huge importance out here.
I wrote about Jack yesterday. This morning he left 40 minutes before us and we didn't see him all day, he must have been really flying and quick through the two SAGs.
I said in the prologue to this blog that there's a joy to riding a bike, fast. That was it all over today, a great day, but you've really got to love riding that bike. Can imagine that for most the idea of putting the hammer down for 7 hours would be a nightmare, but I'm really going to miss riding at these speeds in these pacelines. Only 5 days to go and everyone is starting to realise that our adventure is nearly at an end.
No comments:
Post a Comment