http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33975362
Today was a tough day at 178 miles. We racked up about 9,400 feet of vertical ascent during the day, most of which was in the last 80 miles.
The day began in the low 40s leaving Kayenta at sunrise as we headed north toward the Utah boarder which was about 20 miles away and the gateway to very scenic Monument Valley. The only way I can describe it is that is looks just like those Road Runner cartoons.
I spent most of the day with five other riders as we kept good pace up to the lunch stop at mile 83. Things slowed down a bit from there as I think we all ate a bit too much (PAC Tour feeds thier riders incredibly well. They even take requests). That, coupled with increased heat and climbing took its toll on many of us, present company included. We ran into some rough roads as we entered what I would describe as high plains areas where we saw many cattle and horses in the open range. As we continued to climb, we could see the snow capped mountains in the distance where we will be heading tomorrow.
As we continued to climb into Cortez, the pavement improved and we also stopped at a Dairy Queen which was a life saver. We picked up a few other riders there to begin the last push to Durango where we are staying this evening. The day concluded on a very high note with a 10 mile screaming decent into town.
Tomorrow is going to be another challenging day as we climb Wolf Creek Pass at about 11,000 feet. Now that we have five days and about 825 miles under our belts, things are starting to settle into a normal state .. soar. Hands, feet and bum have all taken a beating but surprisingly the legs are strong and want to keep going.
Here are a few pics I took today:
Entering Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Brad, Me (head), Tim, Randy, Rob, John
Thars oil in dar hills!
We hit the big stuff in the distance tomorrow.
Final descent into Durango
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