Sixty Three to Star Lake

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:25 Am the last thing I wanted to do was get my cycling gear on and head down the road. Last night I had insomnia and I remember looking at the alarm clock at around 1:45 Am so I did not get a bunch of sleep. However with only a few days left on the ride there is no way I am giving up my EFI (Every Fantastic Inch) and getting in the van. Micheal has crashed twice and is covered in road rash and his one wrist is swollen, but he has not being in the van. Besides it is only 63 miles and there is only 3500 feet of climbing.

After a quick breakfast I set off with Ed but he dropped me like second period french. So I rode along catch a few riders here and there. As I did this I was talking to them about their trip. I want to write a separate blog entry which is going to the kind of the "best of/worse of" Of course it is very subjective and everyone has a different point of view. Some of answers I got were very illuminating. Some made me wonder if I was on the same trip.

just before the first water stop there were a number of riders who were all strung out so I thought it was time for some action shots. So I jumped on the pedals and rode on ahead. Once I was about 300 yards ahead of the first rider I jumped off my bike and lay down to get the best angle. By doing this your perspective makes the riders seem taller and the action seems more imposing. First rider goes past -- great shot. Second rider comes up but there is a semi truck and I am sure he thought I was injured as he jumped on his brakes. I waved and he flashed his lights. At the water stop Bruce who is a sectional rider took my picture from the ground.

Picnic at the 35 mile point came up by 9:30 Am and I hung there as long as I could but after vacuuming up all of the watermelon I had to leave. I rode the "Jan Express" for a 15 miles and got his opinion of the best and worst. Jan is this really strong rider from Holland who always seems to be pulling an assortment of riders along behind him. So with 12 miles to go I stopped for a root beer. The last 12 miles were though this winding country road. There were a number of steep climbs and descents. There was forest on either side of the road as we have left the farms and are now starting a different sort of terrain. Star Lake where we are staying is a tiny lake surrounded by small summer cottages. It looks like there is one bar/hotel, a gas station, fire hall, and an IGA.

One day to go before a rest day. Yahoo!

Terry