Tour Day 95 Mellow John Sept 28 2010

Here is how my mind works. I had a great day yesterday that I am pretty sure I could not top so I voluntarily pushed on into terrain that I knew was going to be rough and make sure that today did not live up to yesterday.

After a days rest it was tough forcing myself to get up at 5am and push off into the night but I knew that it was something that had to be done. Today was a little different because it was cold. I went out in just my jersey and shorts, which I thought would be enough because I usually start sweating right at 6am. Today however I had to bust my jacket out for the first time since Newfoundland. Infact I was tempted to pull out my winter gloves but I refused to give into this season called fall. The whole situation was kind of funny because the guy at the front desk thought I was completely bonkers for my clothing selection, then he ask where I was from and lost hit. He automatically hoped over the counter with his phone and started snapping pictures of me and everything I touched.

After getting nice and toasty in my jacket I was back riding down the road. The road itself was rough. Not only was it constant up and down but it was built with this different kind of asphalt that was not broken but it just shook the pee out of me for 100kms. When you getting shaken like paint can for that long it just zaps your body. Your going on average 3km/h slower, and your muscles are having to put out so much more effort to go that speed. Adding to the misery was the fact half way through this paris-roubaix style ride was the fact that 80km in I got a front flat. It just figures. I change the rear tire and now the front is acting up. After changing this flat I was feeling pretty negative about the day because I started it with such high motivation, and such high goals for the day.

After the flat it started to get warm so I started to down my water like a camel. Which if I was thinking I would have topped up in the large city I passed at kilometre 100, but I thought I would be able stop at my lunch stop 20km down the road. I even had a back up town that was only 6 miles past my selected lunch stop. Well a plan is awesome if it works. In this case it didn’t and boy did it suck. The heat had now hit at around 90degrees, the terrain was still rolling (a little less mind you), but thankfully the road had smoothed out a bit. I passed the first town I had planned to stop and because the only building it had was a post office. I then passed the second town because it literally had nothing.

So it is now 2pm I have completed 130km on nothing but breakfast and 2 cinnamon buns with very little water because I had to conserve it. I was not having a great time and my body was letting me know because it started to shut down. My legs started to slow down, and my head started to pound with a wicked headache.

I kept riding and hit over 150km with no water on the bike and broke down. My mind was cooked; body, and bike were cooked for the day. I pulled over 10 miles from my rest stop in Mason and was struggling. Seeing I was in trouble John L. Hinnant pulled over on his way to a muzzle loaded shooting competition up north and offered to help me out with a ride to Mason. I could not deny the offer because I was beyond blown up. I actually like talking with strangers like this because you learn that everyone has a story. In this case John decided to tell me about his motorcycle ride up to Alaska that never made it to Alaska because he stopped in BC. Curious I enquired why he stopped. Then john opened up. He was on his motorcycle and saw a native man on the side of the road standing next to his steaming multi coloured pickup truck. John asked if he needed any help. To which the native man named Robert said, “Thank you pale face but it looks like I am going to have to shoot old paint”. John then offered the man a ride to the reserve on the back of the motorcycle. Once at the reserve john was offered a nights stay that turned into a 2-month stay full of dancing and a possible marriage to Roberts’s sister. The only thing john could not remember was where exactly in BC this took place. Just being a cheeky bastard I said, “that sounds an awful lot like the Okanogan”. To which he responded “the more I think about it the more I think it was infact in the Okanogan”. I had a good chuckle at that.

Once dropping me at the rest stop we exchanged cards, which is normal for me. I was just excited to get some food in my stomach finally because by now it was close to 3:30pm a full 9 and a half hours after my last meal. By the time I started to eat I had that blackout feeling again which is the most unpleasant feeling in the world.

When I got a few minutes to myself I took a look at johns card and I was left with a few questions. On the top it says, “dedicated to the art of the spiral tube” and on the bottom hand written it says “God and Texas”. Both of those statement I don’t exactly understand but that does not matter because john was sure a character to remember.

If the rest of the ride is going to be like this it is going to be a mentally exhausting push.
Trip Distance: 155km
Ride Time: 7:43hr
Avg. Speed: 20.16km/h
Total Distance Time: 14339km
Total Ride Time: 664hr
Destination: Mason, Texas