What Doesn't Kill You...

They say, "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." I thought about that quite often as I was pushing myself beyond reason on the long grueling climbs of days two and three. It turned out to be true on subsequent riding days when I found myself better able to deal with the climbing. Not even close to Eric's level, but closing the gap a bit. There's lots more riding to come, so it's important to me that I make steady improvement, to make this journey even more enjoyable.

I give Ian a tremendous amount of credit for riding with me throughout the challenging climbs, watching out for my safety, and providing advice and words of encouragement. He was having no difficulty at all with the climbs. He's really in great shape, and would probably rather have been racing Eric to the top.

I was sorry to see him leave, but he was only ever interested in doing a short part of the ride with us. He picked the right days, for both of us. The scenery was breathtaking, and the riding; while difficult, was absolutely exhilarating. There will be some great lasting memories for all of us.

Ian's coaching comments are still ringing in my ears; "Shift to a lower gear and get your cadence up. Take a drink. Move closer to the line. Stay away from the edge. Here comes a car, so move over. Drink some more water. Are you drinking enough water? Move left of the white line, that shoulder drops off too far. Stop at the next shade spot for a break." It wasn't always so serious. There were long stretches where we'd talk about something totally unrelated, like a book he's reading, "The Four Fishes." This made the riding time seem to go faster.

A rare opportunity to get a photo of Eric approaching us. He'd been temporarily held up by mechanical difficulties.

As we got up to higher altitudes we were rewarded with fantastic vistas.

Somehow, I could relate to these gnarled old trees.

Sunset reflecting off the cliffs above Silver Lake.