|
Day 12 also started with a large climb at the beginning. I had a hard time getting going this morning but after 5 miles I finally felt better. Once the climb got steep I started riding with Les at a nice pace and had pretty much passed all the riders. We were almost to the top when we came upon a section of road that was missing. The rocks were pretty large and not easy to ride through but I was super cool and rode it. Well a few feet later my rear tire went flat. Not cool. I fixed it quickly while people kept passing me. My mini pump was able to put about 50 psi into the tire and carried on the next 2 miles to try catch my little brother who passed me. I almost got him but not quite. When I got to the rest stop I put 100 psi into my tire and we started the descent to interstate. Right before I was going to get onto the interstate my tire blew out again. I checked the tire but I couldn't find any issues so I put in another tube and inflated it to 50 psi again. A helpful rider stopped that had a better pump. As he was pumping up the tire to 100 psi I noticed that it was about to blow out the side. I had cut the sidewall on the first flat but didn't notice it. I had to leave the tire at 50 psi and continue onto the interstate. Luckily one of the PAC Tour rigs stopped and I was able to get a new tire. That tire only last me 24 hours. Usually cyclists pay $50 for good tires but luckily I have connections. We rode as a nice group to the second rest stop which included 7 miles on Intestate 5. I go to the stop and jumped the curb to show how cool I am. Well after eating about a pound of Pringles and cookies I went to get back on the bike and noticed I had a flat. I am an idiot. So once again I had managed to go from first to DFL. With 20 miles to go to lunch a huge headwind came up. It was very difficult and we tried to stick together in a pace line to move the day along. We were able to help a few friends but there were several people that really suffered today. We are now sitting in beautiful Mt Shasta, California. We had amazing views of mount Shasta all day. Time for a shower and dinner...
|
