The Longest Day
Well a long day in the saddle today. The Longest Day of the crossing. 7:20 in the saddle and 8:28 overall including stops. Nevertheless it certainly beats those 24 hour trauma shifts or back to back to back cardiovascular cases of my not too distant past. Besides one of the breaks included un dejuener de Megan! It even made the video below. I really try to limit my feeds to 250-300 cals/hr to avoid ” gut rot ” but was unable to resist this time. Luckily we started after lunch with a slow roll out. The Trek Cross country experience has really stepped up its lunch game I’m told, and I’m a believer, yes I am.
Our big climb was certainly manageable today and occurred towards the beginning of the ride instead of the end. Paul powered up to the top (Strava Segment?). Pat told me to go ahead but she is very good at climbing and we chatted our way to the top in good order. The descent was reasonably fun. After that it was rollers and flats. Thank goodness for Pat and Paul. A good pace line is a wonderful thing. We picked up a couple of other riders but instead of just hanging on to the back, they tried to lead as well. This led to over exertion (red zone, “burning a match”) and they had to drop off meaning more work for them. Each to his or her own I’m learning. It is very interesting to see who is significantly improving and who is just hanging in there at this point. There are some real surprises. We are all encouraged by the guides who ar ecstatic to have such a fast group overall. I’m sure they say this to all their groups. However I can see that a super fast rider and a very slow rider in the same group would certainly spread their eloborate support system pretty thin. Apparently last year on this ride, several riders took over 12 hours to complete. The Trek way is to always have a guide trailing the last rider so that is a long day for that lucky person.
I love Bozeman downtown and did a quick circuit before a quick meal then back to the hotel for some elevated feet time and a date with the Theragun . The really exciting news is that daughter Taylor will be joining us tomorrow evening in Columbus MT. The following day she will ride with this renowned group to Lovell. That day will be my last “official” day of retirement. I’m currently on vacation so am in pre-retirement. So far so good!
| Distance (miles) | Elevation Climbed (feet) | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|
| 1004 | 43,769 | 36,929 |
| Fitness | Fatigue | Form | TSS Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | 204 | -78 | 312 |
2 responses
CT Lin says:
August 31 . 2022 at 4:53 am
Great storytelling, Bruce. I totally get the ‘burning the match’ metaphor, having ridden in Sacramento with the River Rats who were clearly a few mph faster when I joined as a visitor. Even a small difference in speed when leading a pace line pushes you over your anaerobic threshold and then then =poof= your day is done. Thanks for the armchair experience of your ride! Keep posting!
brb5280 says:
September 5 , 2022 at 12:01 pm
Thanks for following CT!
Wanderings 