Sunday, July 20, 2008

We're in the mountains now

A view from our pavilion of our tents.

I made history with my first century ride yesterday thanks to a “short cut” and a mini-tour of the University of Utah. The ride was amazing. The mental energy that went into that ride was powerful. Camp the evening before and morning of was so tense! I’m glad I left at 6am just to break free from the looming cloud of intensity. Another plus was getting in 60 miles before the heat. It was great to ride with Hans yesterday—we are (seemingly) miraculously similar in our riding pace, which is something I am always thankful for.

Local churches provided 2 rest stops on the way, with the best service so far—girls were eagerly serving me special-order drinks and energy bars from my chair. It was great to start making some connections in my new home of Salt Lake City as well. I already have hopes of a rock climbing buddy.

Our first pass up Emmigrant Canyon was beautifully winding, our second was tediously straight up a highway. But it does feel good to pass overheating trucks on a bicycle. Momentarily, I struggled with the moral dilemma of stopping to help with my limited resources, but realized any one in need had plenty of time to ask while I inched past at 7.3 mph.

The two most emotional times of the day were arriving into camp and realizing we were staying in a “walk-in” campsite requiring a ½ mile walk to our tent sites. There were far more tears shed over the camping situation than over the biking.

And a storm is here....we’re in the mountains.

3 comments:

Winnie Langelaar said...

Great cycling! I admire you! It sure is a lot of miles behind you already!
If you bump into Bert and/or Diane Slofstra, pass on my greetings. Bert is cycling and Diane is on the kitchen crew.
I pray you stay safe as well as being able to spread your message of poverty.
Keep it up!

Laura said...

I sure will. thanks for your prayers.

Anonymous said...

Wish I was still riding with Team Sweet. I keep up with the tour with your's and other blogs. Take care. Sorry that your ride is coming to an end, but not with a huge week of riding.

Steve Witvoet