Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Thursday, June 19, 2008 - Tour de Kota: Mitchell to Chamberlain (75mi)

I'm not all to sure that I have anything good to say about this day. I got a free beer coupon for a bar in downtown Chamberlain, and that tasted pretty good. Other than that, the second day of the tour was painful.

Wind was the word as I pulled out of Mitchell heading west. I can remember being chilly riding through town and wanting nothing more than the open fields so the sunshine could fall down on my shoulders and warm me up. Once I got out of town, all I wanted was the buildings and trees back to block the wind. About a half hour into the ride I passed a man I knew and expressed my hope that the wind would die down. He told me not to hold my breath. He was right.

To spare you the details on my misery, I'll just say that this wind was my demise for what would turn out to be the rest of the tour. It was gusting directly into us for about 70 of the 75 miles we rode. Someone told me it was about 40mph. I was pulling an extra 30 pounds on my trailer. To put it mildly, I said some things about the weather under my breath which would not have made my grandmothers proud.

The only saving grace about the day was when I ran into a friend in Whitelake and she and her friends allowed me to draft them ( follow in line right behind them so that the person in front of you takes the wind and gives everyone behind them a bit of relief). I never would have made it through the day if they had not done this. Many thanks!

No comments:

Post a Comment