Day 19 started similarly to the last few days we’ve been on our bikes. We woke up and began our usual struggle against the headwind while we waited for the heat. The 95o to 98otemperatures never arrived, however. For better or worse, most of our ride was spent surrounded by smoke that came from a wildfire in Canada. It lowered temperatures dramatically, but made it harder to breathe for everyone.
Throughout the whole day we knew that at some point the wind was likely to change; we just weren’t really sure when. After so much time fighting the headwind, I was pretty used to it and part of me believed the vengeful wind was here to stay. Thankfully I was wrong. About 70 miles into our 107 mile day the wind finally switched. I had forgotten how nice a tailwind is. It felt like we were flying. Before we had to hold a tight line and the lead had to sprint to hold 18. After we got our wind we biked out of formation and joked around, but still were easily doing 20. It felt like a miracle, and everyone was in a much better mood.
Around this time I was in such a good mood I decided it was time to take the jersey off. I think at the time I thought it would be a great way to tan and cool off. I definitely thought I looked cool too. Unfortunately, I don’t tan, it barely cooled me off, and I don’t think it’s possible to look cool in only a biking bib. In fact, I don’t tan to such an extent that I’m really regretting my decision.
Throughout the whole day we knew that at some point the wind was likely to change; we just weren’t really sure when. After so much time fighting the headwind, I was pretty used to it and part of me believed the vengeful wind was here to stay. Thankfully I was wrong. About 70 miles into our 107 mile day the wind finally switched. I had forgotten how nice a tailwind is. It felt like we were flying. Before we had to hold a tight line and the lead had to sprint to hold 18. After we got our wind we biked out of formation and joked around, but still were easily doing 20. It felt like a miracle, and everyone was in a much better mood.
Around this time I was in such a good mood I decided it was time to take the jersey off. I think at the time I thought it would be a great way to tan and cool off. I definitely thought I looked cool too. Unfortunately, I don’t tan, it barely cooled me off, and I don’t think it’s possible to look cool in only a biking bib. In fact, I don’t tan to such an extent that I’m really regretting my decision.
Sidenote: All of the guys on the trip decided it would be a great idea to shave our legs. It was a long and disgusting process, but it happened. I think we all did a pretty good job, except for Reid. He didn’t listen to us when we told him it would take years, so he only had time to shave most of one leg. He’s going to have to do a lot more work today to fix it. Everyone’s starting to itch pretty bad, so we’ll see how that goes.
Jacob
Jacob