Hi from Provo, the home of Brigham Young University and thus the Y in white on the mountain side!
We started the day with great temps and it was to be an easy and fun 65 miles – it turned out to be fun, but it wasn’t necessarily easy! Shortly after we began, there was an accident that we were rerouted on a detour. That wasn’t too bad, but immediately after that, there was another detour and there was a road sign missing. So, about 7 of us stayed together for most of the day.
Oh, and did I forget to mention a 20-25 mph headwind??? Cyclist friends, take note of the flag in all of its glory standing straight out!! It was quite struggle to fight it, but the scenery, company, and temps made me feel quite strong through most of it. We had our SAG stop at mile 29 and more construction – we had to move through a detour as a big group onto another frontage road. This road had lots of traffic and construction workers on it.
After a couple of miles the van came by and gave us another set of directions, as you can see on the bulletin board. Several miles after that the van caught up with us and changed the route again.
This picture is one of a beautiful scene that we saw when we made a left turn today.
This picture was taken from my hotel room window - you can see why I say it is beautiful here!
I found this little sculpture/sign after I had dinner at Sizzler tonight.
What should have been quite a short easy day turned into a fun and long easy day. Now that brings me to tomorrow – tonight at route rap we were given two pages of directions for tomorrow – lots of construction again – places we will have to walk and yes, they do it out here too – tar and chip!!! But the scenery is to be beautiful!!!
I want to explain a couple of terms I have been using that several people have questioned;
SAG – support and gear vans
Bonk – to have a very low blood sugar level due to not eating and drinking sufficiently
Cue sheet – directions with all our our turns and cumulative mileage for the day
Route rap – a meeting with the staff to go over the next day’s cue sheet.
Today's hurrah goes out to my friend Nancy in Conn. who told me I have inspired her to get her bike out of the garage after a few years and take it to bike shop to be serviced. Now, Nancy you must do as the song says and "put one foot in front of the other" and push, push, push!!! Go into the "granny" gear and ride up your hill and you will be very proud of yourself!!
Thank God for the safety, health, and energy!
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ReplyDeleteSorry, I deleted my post that showed up under Perry's name - keep forgetting to check the log-in. I also won't give you a history lesson :) Anyway, I was saying that the pictures are beautiful. The weather, despite the wind, looks great - it's pouring rain here. I was going to ride my bike to work yesterday, but I wasn't sure it was going to rain (excuse #1) and when I filled the tires with air, I noticed a small bulge on the side of the tire, so I was afraid to have a blow-out on Route 97 (excuse #2). I'm taking the bike to the shop to have it tuned up and checked out next week, so then I'll run out of excuses!!
ReplyDeleteKeep on spinning!
Carole, Great pictures and glad you're having such a grand time! We're trying to help you out by keeping the rain here in PA! (It's pouring here AGAIN!) I'm amazed at the mileage you're putting in but can see how the sights help the days whiz by! Hope the weather gods continue to favor you and that the next sight you see is better than the last! Thinking of you often and more then a little jealous. Be safe and keep pedaling!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Carole, glad to hear that you had a day to rest! I know exactly what you mean about the weather in the west. It was so great last year, climbing the rock formations in Sedona and not sweating a bit. But, keep drinking water, as I'm sure you know! Our trip to FL ended with no sight of the launch! Very bummed!!! Eddie did get to see the ocean and we took him to Sea World. Our place was fantastic, but the ride home yesterday was NOT FUN!!! It took us over 14 hours to drive back from Orlando. However, We thought of you and how we could have driven past the bumper to bumper cars on a bike. Much, much faster!!!! We did notice that truckers do seem to be heeding the speed limit, though. Is it the same for you out there? Keep on trucking!!!
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