Well, at least I can say I survived the day…
We climbed over 4K in elevation gain today. It also took us 6 hours from leaving the hotel to arrive at our rental house. This doesn’t include a long leisurely lunch stop. There wasn’t one! 28.8 miles of mostly up hill. Yeah we knew today was going to be hard, and personally for me it delivered.
Took off from the hotel at 8am. I had R behind me since we knew it’d be level going through town. She being the older child is also larger and is harder to pull than when I have L behind me. Ty being the beast he is, isn’t bothered by either or both behind him.
We rode through town for a bit then Ty made the very wise decision that instead of riding along the highway we’d take this side road. It was my first taste of brutal. The road just kept going up. At times the grade was up to 15%. After a while I just needed a break. So Ty being the superstar took both kiddos. It was glorious! I felt light as a feather.
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Right when Ty first took both kiddos. I gleefully raced up the road. This why he’s so far behind. The only time I can make this happen is to saddle him with both kiddos.
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Please note the childless trail-a-bike!
Well after a 15% grade hill and probably 20 minutes of him working like mad, my freedom was over and I had R behind me. The theme of the day was to just keep churning those legs. Ignore the burning.
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I was beyond facial expressions.
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Just the endless road going up.
Here was a nice level bit!
I needed a water refill, had emptied a few bottles and we hadn’t stopped for lunch yet. Nothing like some local gas station water to feel refreshed!
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On the bright side of things, there really wasn’t any wind, the sky was cloudy as well, so it wasn’t swelteringly hot. However that did not stop me from sweating like I was trying to push every ounce of liquid out of my body. Growing up in Alaska we just don’t sweat like this! (Warning gross sweaty photo ahead)
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We saw this very beautifully named church 😉
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A bit more riding and I was starting to get super hungry so we had a brief lunch break on the side of the road. Basically food we’d scavenged from breakfast at the hotel. Ty knew there wasn’t going to be many lunch options. Smart man!
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Then it was back to the slog. More climbing, followed by even more climbing!
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Finished off with the most gigantic, never ending hill I have probably ever ridden up. By this time, I couldn’t pull R any more. I just didn’t have it in me. I was worried I was going to have to dump L on Ty as well. But like the Little Engine that Could, I pumped some techno music in one ear, and just started peddling to the beat. I actually passed up Ty as well!
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Never mind the fact he’s pulling more weight than I am. We were 15 minutes from our house when we crested this hill!! It felt so good to arrived but then I started to get chills and I think my body was just shot. A hot shower helped but I’ve been trying to warm up ever since.
The kids were just happy to get to be free and play. Ty seems totally unfazed by our day. I meanwhile was huddled on the couch under the only blanket I could find!
We did finally rouse ourselves enough to bike to get dinner. Which would have been find, but of course it’s drizzling. Ugh
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Then we waited for 40 minutes to get our food truck Thai. But again the kids didn’t mind because they just played.
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I was battling my hanger. A quick bike home and thank goodness the portions were generous, the food was hot, and delicious.
R seems super congested but I’m pumping her full of vitamin c, and Mucinex so I’m hoping for the best. L is back to being mostly healthy like Ty. I’m still hanging onto my health but I’m sure as soon as we get back home I’ll succumb to the sickness.
Today was the last of the hard days (knock on wood!) We’ve biked our longest day. We’ve biked our largest elevation day. From now on it should be easier distances and no major hills 🤞🏻
