I was the lucky winner of the 'best in the face of adversity' title today, so I'm today's guest blogger. Hello web-o-sphere!
Tuesday night in the Grand Canyon ended roughly for me; I had an upset stomach that kept me from getting any food down at dinner, and my sleep was interrupted by chills and fever in turn. Wednesday didn't start much better; I was still nauseated but I got a few calories down at breakfast. The plan was to ride from the Grand Canyon back to Flagstaff, possibly with an extra climb up Mt. Humphries for the most hardy of us.
We stopped at the general store on the way out, and Shawn bought more Gatorade than he could carry, but Sherpa Owen helped out. We rolled out of the Grand Canyon together after a quick group shot at the rim. I wasn't sure how I was going to do without much food, but I wanted to try, so I hung at the back of the pack. Our first bike leg was nearly exactly 30 miles to the gas station, and I mentally committed to at least getting there before waving the white flag. It was mostly downhill with some short climbs, so how bad could it be? Twenty miles in, I had lost sight of everyone else in the group and was struggling to make the pedals go around, when Brian returned to help me get in. The company was nice, but I could hear his freewheel spinning when he coasted and figured it probably wasn't that much fun for him. Ten impossibly long miles later, I called it a day at the gas station and loaded my bike onto the Suburban. The whole group was there, and everyone else headed out for the long flat stretch before the climb over the mountains back to Flagstaff.
Jill and I leapfrogged the riders in the truck, with quick stops to get some action shots as they went by. The weather was turning colder, but the grey clouds with smears stretching down to the mountains in front of us were more foreboding. About 20 miles past the gas station, Angie called it a day and climbed in the truck. Owen, Luc, and Shawn were making great progress in their paceline. Brian and Bill looked like twins in their matching kits and were moving quickly, but not quite fast enough to catch the other three guys.
The rain started coming down, drizzling at first, then picking up. A few cracks of thunder and some distant lightning later, and we went to pick up Shawn, Owen, and Luc. As Shawn said "it doesn't seem that bad", thunder boomed above and convinced the Seattleites to climb in the truck. Luc wasn't as easily convinced, and he rode off into the greyness. Five of us in the Suburban headed back for Brian and Bill, who were thoroughly soaked by then. Bill and Brian didn't put up a fight and soon we were seven. We all worried about leaving Luc, the one camper riding a metal bike frame, to ride through the lightning storm.
As we drove on, rain turned to torrents. After driving what seemed like miles without seeing Luc, we had just about decided we must have missed him when we finally spotted him ahead. We parked the truck at the turnoff for Mt. Humphries, ostensibly to help Luc, but really to make sure he didn't make the turn to head up the mountain. Wow, Luc is tough. Brian gave him directions through Flagstaff, and we marvelled at the standing water in all the city streets and the rain that turned into sleet, then hail. Sure enough, Luc pulled into camp not long after we did, and made a beeline for the hot shower. We all have more respect for Luc tonight.
After showers, lunch, and naps (for some of us) and easy runs (for others of us), Jill made yummy soup for dinner. We talked about recovery after dinner and plans for tomorrow. I'm hoping for a solid stomach tomorrow to get through our swim, bike, and run, while everyone else is keeping their fingers crossed for better weather.
Polita
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