quasigeostrophy | Part 3: Mormon Point (sea level) to Ashford Mill (?), 11 miles

Did I forget to mention that since Badwater the road surface condition was also turning rotten? Well, south of Mormon Point, it got even worse. E and I hammered out of the rest stop, with J close behind. "We need some downhills, and we need them NOW!" I cried. No luck. More climbing. The road (what there was) seemed to get farther away from the mountains, leaving us completely exposed. The winds got worse, or at least felt like it, and started to change direction again. We had trouble beating 9 mph for quite some time, and I could feel the clock ticking. I know the ride wasn't supposed to be a race, but I really wanted to make that cut-off time!

I bite into the Clif Bar I had opened at the stop, and I just can't handle it. It tastes miserable, and almost as though my stomach is refusing it. I have no idea why, as I trained on them all summer and actually like them. I decide I have to violate one of the most sage pieces of advice I got during training: Don't change anything on the day of the ride. Oh well... I have to eat what my stomach wants.

E is leading for a while as we round a turn and head into a slow climb. She starts to downshift, and I begin to pass her while coming around the turn, when I hear the sound of both cursing and her chain going slack. It came off while she was trying to downshift her front chainring. "Aah! I don't need this now!" she cries. I stop. J pulls up behind and gets off his bike to help. "I've never done that before. You guys don't have to stop!" As I'm helping hold her bike up, I grab her wrist. "We're teammates. We're getting through this together, alright?" J gets her chain re-threaded, and we continue.

We come upon what looks to be a decent downhill, but the wind won't let us take advantage. It appeared similar to ones on which we were doing 17-18 mph earlier, but we could only muster 11 mph here. I literally felt like I was being pushed back uphill. Argh! I keep looking down at my watch. E asks, "How far is it?" "Well, if I'm right, a couple more miles." "I hope you're right!"

The road appears to straighten out in front of us for quite a long stretch. Not level (we couldn't be so lucky), just straight. I start to feel some drops of water coming down very lightly. Lovely. The first riders coming back start to pass. One girl yells out, "The wind gets better on the other side of that ridge." We'll see... Up and down again. I don't notice the wind dying down. Which ridge did she mean? We start what seems to be a really long slow climb, and E starts to get farther out in front. I can't tell where J is behind me either. The sprinkles turn into real rain. I get water on both sides of my sunglasses. First my right, then my left eye starts burning, killing my eyesight, and I struggle to get a tissue out of my pocket to wipe them without wiping out. I can feel the quadriceps burning, and this hill is still pretty long. We're obviously already starting the initial climb toward Jubilee Pass. Finally, I just have to stop for a minute and take a breather. My stomach hurts. Damn! I've been concentrating so hard on making it to the cut-off that I haven't even been drinking from my CamelBak! And I don't think that I just had rainwater in my eyes...

After a moment, I hop back on the saddle and power the rest of the way up the hill. I'm not sure I can see E ahead of me any longer, and I definitely can't see J behind me. I crest the hill, and can see the tent, though. It is 11:10 AM. Crestfallen, knowing I've missed the cut-off time, and physically miserable, I coast down into the Ashford Mill rest stop and look for E. She was not too far ahead.

"Have they cut it off?" I ask, just as I notice several riders heading onward. Hmmmm... "I don't know. I haven't talked to anyone yet," she replies. We grumble about that last segment and head for the food table. The Indiana chapter President and the Special Events Coordinator are there. We hear that they've extended the cut-off until Noon, thanks to the late start this morning.

Decision point. I'm feeling like crap, but I know exactly why, and I know what I can do about it. I ask E if she's going to continue on, and she seems positive. She asks me. I tell her that I'm totally non-committal. Since we've got some time, I want to take a longer break, get some water back in me, get some food and rest, and then decide. So, I do just that. I take in a LOT of Gatorade and water, and I eat THREE PB&J sandwiches. Finally, we see J pull in. He's spent. He declares pretty convincingly that he's done for the day, and will ride back on the SAG van. E and I are disappointed, but we know what the morning has taken out of us. I take a pit stop, hand the chapter President my CamelBack for minute, and put on my rain jacket (even though it has lightened up, it now seems even cooler).

"C'mon, Dan! We can do this together!" says E. She talked me into it. I had wanted to do it all. I wasn't going to pack it in at Ashford Mill, but I wasn't sure if I should not just turn around there and finish with 90. That little extra encouragement helped me keep the commitment to myself I had made back in May. We hopped on the bikes, and rode out of Ashford Mill at 11:36 AM.

Next: Part 4 - Ashford Mill (?) to Jubilee Pass (1293 ft), 7 miles