Incredibly Uplifting Moments
There were a lot of incredibly uplifting moments in this year's Race Across America. First of all, as long as I was moving forward and was not experiencing one of the lows in the last post, I was generally in a good mood and enjoying the ride. Here are some of the highlights:
- Box Canyon Road: Last year, Box Canyon Road really messed with my head, but it's not a particularly bad climb, it's very gradual and long. I put my game face on at the bottom and said I'm going to rock this climb. I felt great during the entire climb and was wide awake at the top. I pushed on to Chiriaco Summit, stopped briefly and then pushed on to Blythe. That put me way ahead of last year.
- Climbing the Yarnell Grade felt almost as good as last year. While I hit it earlier than last year, there were less people around me than last year.
- There was a detour to Prescott and I was rocking it until my dad shouted out the window..."There's 8 more miles of this easy stuff before the HARD CLIMBING begins..."I still felt good and I still powered up the climbs, but some of the wind had been blown out of my sails.
- When the temperature started to moderate between Williams and Flagstaff and I was rollin' along on Route 66, feelin' like I could ride forever.
- Mexican Hat, Utah: Getting word that Terry Zmhral, the race director, had said I could keep going to the next time cut-off in El Dorado, Kansas. I literally felt like I was on top of the world. I had solved my GI and vomiting issues, I was on great terrain, and I was ready to ride. This high lasted most of the way to Cortez, Colorado.
- Seeing stars (actual celestial bodies, not the oxygen deprivation kind) on the climb to Durango. I was cold, but felt good.
- Wolf Creek Pass: My crew told me I took 2 hours from bottom to top (and then 15 minutes back to bottom)...While I was sitting in a heap at the top, Lee Mitchell came over and in that "I know what you've been through" kind of way, shook my hand.
- The climb to La Veta Pass was a big ring kind of climb, nice and gradual. Then flying down the other side on my Softride.
- Team Pheonix lending me Anthony, their Massage Therapist for 5 minutes. He worked on my IT Band and it's felt fine ever since. That man is a god.
- Cuchara pass felt good until I got dehydrated near the top.
- After getting an IV in Springfield Colorado, I felt like I could hit El Dorado within the time cut-off.
- Even when I got to Ulysses and was told I was out, my legs felt great. I felt like I had the legs to get across the country. The saddle sores were bad (lanacane bad), but I could still ride. The numbness in my hands couldn't keep me off the bike.
So even though, I knew at the Kansas border that I was going to be pulled from the race, I still felt like a winner.