Day Sixteen

Locomotive John & Kiwi Rick with their new bikes.

With John Hurley the three Massachusetts boys are happy to tick off another state.

We were proud to hammer in with Chief Larry & Lester.

In Heaven There is no Beer

So I did eventually find out why Green River, UT exists. It is the only place within 100 miles where the Green River could be safely traversed by the Native Americans, explorers, and pioneers. Eventually a ferry service was established and today, although we can build a bridge and traverse the river anywhere we still have the community of Green River!

This morning everyone was comparing weather forecasts on their I-phones and Blackberries. They were nervous about battling the winds again but I was totally at peace because I had taken out my secret weapon for the second time on our trip…my wind eating socks. Laugh if you want but I got these socks for my birthday and they haven’t failed me yet. The best thing is that they work for everyone around me so we all shared a fabulous TAILwind at the end of the day today.

The first SAG was at 25 miles and we were cooking along after an early start when I got a flat on my front wheel. The van was right behind me so Gerard replaced the tube although neither he nor Judy could find anything wrong with the tube or the tire.

The next SAG was 40+ miles away so this was going to be a key leg to keep moving before it got too hot or too windy (JUST in case the sock magic took some time to kick-in!). Ten miles down my front tire started making a racket as if a screw was in it. I immediately stopped and found that it had a giant blister about the size of a dime. I called the van and told them I would continue to ride as long as possible and they would eventually catch-up and put on a replacement. The blister actually got smaller, then bigger, then disappeared by the time I connected with the van about 15 miles along. The tire was barely holding air so Gerard replaced it and I caught up with Robb and Lester who were waiting at the SAG.

Forty miles to go with 5 miles to the state line. Everyone’s feeling good after the photo op and the wind is just starting to build at our backs so we put the hammer down for the 26 miles left on I-70. The only hiccup we had was the free ice pop lady who positioned herself under an overpass at the bottom of a 36 mph run with a hill dead ahead. I don’t know about the other guys but, at that point, I’m not stopping for anyone except maybe Beyonce. It was a great run in with Robb, Lester, and Larry Fredrick. Just over 100 miles for the day and feeling fine.

My virtual rider today was my friend, Gerry Gaudette, who sadly passed away a few years ago the morning after my fastest century ride. I never got the chance to tell him about it. He was an inspiration to me in many ways and was partly responsible for getting me into biking.

Fat Tire draft with dinner…YAHOO!

Today’s ratings: (the higher the better or easier)

Scenery: 4

Road conditions: 8

Grunt factor: 7 (hey it’s still 100 miles!)