Day 2: Easy Ride

A  few days ago, I started to remember some of the less desirable aspects of our coast to coast bicycle adventure. These are the things that have the shortest half life and fade from memory sooner than the good memories.  For example, waiting in line for the shower, shivering between bursts of cold water, listening to your camp neighbor's Fiesta music, or walking a quarter mile to the Pamper Zone because I forgot to pick up my towels when I got into camp.

 

Less than twelve hours later, those experiences are replaced by the thrill of descending a mountain at 40 mph, chatting with John and Eddy as we ascended the next climb going 8 mph, discussing bicycle touring with Bruce and Mike, drafting behind 2013 C2Cers, or enjoying the mountain scenery at twelve miles per hour with your significant other.

The weather today was discussed infrequently, which meant it was a great day to ride - cooler than yesterday and the wind remained favorable.  The route was relatively short, 31 miles, but we were either ascending or descending (6%).  So we were either going fast while coasting or going slow and working hard.

Not surprising, I am finding the riding to be more pleasant and easier than our last trip.  The pace is slower and we are taking longer and more frequent rests.  Lisa, on the other hand, is finding it to be a greater challenge and more difficult, physically and mentally.

My next challenge is to quickly learn everyone's name.