This is a portion of the trail I regretted not photographing last year. Trying to picture Bill hauling his heavy bike through here.
Bill did a lot better on day one with his rental suspension bike than he did last year on his fat bike (Surly ECR) — zero crashes compared to four last year, much less exhausting trying to stay upright, and of course it’s much cooler this year. A mere 91 degrees. He did just tell me he almost fell off a cliff. Fortunately he had his “ball saver” seat down and could easily put a foot down. I didn’t mention these while we were riding the past three days, but these bikes had a handlebar lever with which you could lower the seat in anticipation of technical stuff. Definitely makes it easier to bail out in an emergency.
the scenic detour. should have gone straight from 8 to 10
As for my first day, it was similar to last year. Started out way at the back of the pack, then started picking off the bunnies. Unfortunately one of the bunnies I was gaining on took a wrong turn and I and one other person followed her a mile up a steep trail before I realized our mistake. This was disappointing of course but it’s hard to be too bummed when I wasn’t sure I’d finish at all. In fact my overall pace was 9 seconds/mile faster than last year but I added a half an hour with that scenic detour. There are a lot of super fast people this year and Amanda kicked ass today. I haven’t heard about any vomiting.
Obviously the same scenery as last year but I’m not sure I included this blobby view in the blog.
colorful human photographs colorful reptile (on rock)
having fun with those knee socks.
Right now I’m sitting with my legs elevated wearing a pair of compression socks Mikey lent me. Bill wears these all the time for his DVT so last year I borrowed some for the flight home. We stopped for coffee in Grand Junction before going to the airport and the young hipster barista said “have a good day, and you kids enjoy those knee socks.” We’ve never stopped being amused by this. I could have said "these grampies just finished a 150 mile race in 100+ degree heat; what did you do last week?" but I didn't.
Tomorrow is twice this length. Weeee. Let’s hope these socks work.
Running-themed shirts
post-run Sharpie tattoo session