TdS - Day 2

I woke up tired on day 2. Didn't even hear the alarm go off actually. Must have been really out of it. Took a bit to get ready and finally headed down to breakfast. Had an english muffin and cereal but really should have eaten more as find out later on. Went back to the room and started getting my things packed. As I was dropping off my bag in the SAG, a big crew was heading out. Orton, Matias, Katie, Craig, Scott, etc were all rolling out together so I decided to quickly get my things together and roll out with them. Wasn't sure where Kunkel was or even what room he was in.

The ride started with a longg uphill. I noticed my speedometer wasn't working, must have been from the rain the day before. Within 5 miles I was unzipping everything and even taking my hat off. It was hot and only 8:30am! The first 20 miles, most of us rode together with breaks and gaps here and there but we'd always group back up. The SAGs were doing a great job (I'm pretty sure I would have been happy with any support as I didn't have much the day before). We then hit a patch of fog with about 15 miles to go before lunch along with a nice uphill. A few miles later, I was thrown off the back and felt completely dead tired. I had no energy. Must have been from the light(er) breakfast and dinner. I must have burned a ton of calories the day before between the ride and shivering. Riding solo in the cold with the fog with no energy pretty much sucked. With about 5 miles to go before lunch, a familiar face caught me. Orton! "C'mon Nate, hop on" he says. Mentally that turned me around 100% and I hopped on his wheel. I'm not sure I had enough energy to help pull at the time. but I could ride faster with someone for sure. We climbed a hill, caught Dan and another guy and strolled into lunch. Because of the fog, Orton rolled right past the stop and ended up riding a few extra mile or two. Woops!

Lunch was amazing. I went straight for the bathroom so I could stand by that warm heater and dry off/warm up. I must have stood there for 15-20 minutes. I think my hunger eventually took over as I headed over to find some grub. On the way over, I saw Eric and Kunkel roll up to the lunch stop. I think they left 20-30 minutes behind us so they most likely rode a similar pace. I quickly sat down, ordered hot chocolate, bowl of soup, some kinda chicken pot pie and a side salad. I also ate a powerbar. I noticed Craig and Scott rolling out and had to pass because I knew I had to refuel. I was seriously thinking of stopping because the lunch stop was once again miserable and the first 50 miles were miserable on day 1. After eating I recovered some of my energy and decided I'd roll out and see how I felt. Besides I didn't think there was much room in the SAGs for me anyways.

I try to plan to roll out with Kevin and Eric and 1 or 2 others but hafta hit the loo first. Upon getting back, they are just rolling out and I scramble to get my things on and packed up back in the SAG before sprinting out of the lunch stop chasing them. It took me a few miles to catch them. I was still cold, feeling average now but definitely much better than before lunch. After so many miles of riding, I'm not sure who I rode with during every second of the ride but at some point Matias caught me and we rode 10 miles together. It was a nice opportunity to get to know him as well because we both have a running background. Kevin and Eric were up the rode together but Kevin had to stop for a restroom break (one of a trillion) and rejoined us around mile post 27. We all strolled in together at the rest stop around mp 23 right before the toughest climb of the day.

Upon arriving at the rest stop we grouped back up with a slew of people. Maybe 10-12 of us total. I quickly refilled one of my water bottles (I had been pretty low) and took a cliff gel (GU Vanilla Bean is 100x better than Cliff Vanilla). As I was sitting there Kunkel took off alone up the road. I watched everyone else who seemed content waiting for a few more minutes. I was ready and decided I'd go chase him as I was feeling the best I had all day. I could see Kunkel up the road the entire climb. I'd say Kunkel had 1-2 mins on me and I had 1-2 mins on the rest of the group but both of us were pulling away slowly. As I was climbing the 3 mile hill, I noticed a team car with a number of bikes on the roof roll past and wondered who else was out here. Periodically I would look back and see noone behind me until I looked back and saw 2 or 3 riders about a min back. It seemed like 30 seconds later but it must have been a few minutes because I looked back again and they were 50 yards back! Holy crap, I was gonna get caught just before the top of the hill. I decided to pick it up and managed to roll over the apex before getting caught. No looking back I hopped in my big gear and took off down the hill. I was going to make it tough to catch me. After a few minutes of steaming down the hill I looked back and saw noone. I then reached the second climb and started my way up the 2 mile hill alone again. Approximately 1/4 way up the hill I found myself closer to Kunkel than I had been since the early part of the first hill. I must have gained a ton on the downhill. Halfway up the second hill Matias caught me (turns out Matias and a pro rider were the two guys chasing me up the first hill. Matias hopped on his wheel as they were doing repeats up JUST that hill and hadn't ridden 80+ miles like the rest of us). We talked a little as we slowly started pulling Kevin back. He decided to bridge faster and took off up the hill chasing him. Over the apex of the second hill, Matias had not caught Kevin yet and I was now chasing them both. The Bonzai SAG had been trailing me near the top of the second climb and rolled past over the apex. I pretty much hopped on behind another car and flew down the mountain determined to catch Kevin and Matias. At the bottom of the hill I flew by the SAG as it got caught up behind another rider. Soon after I caught both Kevin and Matias and ended up riding the last few miles with them. Naturally I made them chase me down the next hill as I had been chasing them most of the afternoon. =)

It turns out that I passed Stacy somewhere along the latter part of the ride. I guess I had been so focused on catching Kevin/Matias that I didn't even notice her or hear her say hi. Lol. Woops! We all chatted briefly at dickey ridge and Chris Stacy and I went to the local burger place in Port Royale meeting up with a number of others. I had a great time riding even though half of the time the weather was pretty miserable. Descending in the fog isn't really much fun. Especially when you're cold and trying to avoid shaking.

Thanks Kevin for putting together such a fun weekend! I spent my entire Sunday being a zombie and couldn't focus on much of anything other than watching tv and doing nothing. haha.