"They came to the Delectable mountains." John Bunyon Vernal, Utah to Grand Junction, Colorado. 146 miles. 5650 feet climbing. Finally, a warm morning. I can eat breakfast without shivering. We ride out of dinosaur country into a stiff headwind. The countryside is still rock and sagebrush. Paceline riding against wind can be butt numbing, so this morning I've started wearing two pair of cycling shorts. It's helped me in previous PAC tours and I'll try it again. We struggle against the wind to the Colorado border, where the wind has knocked the huge border sign down. The day's climbing starts out gently from the second sag. Then we run into three miles of road construction and dirt road. Fortunately our group has impeccable timing. We arrive at the flagman with impeccable timing, just as he's letting a long line of cars through in our direction. The faster riders have been waiting at the head of the line some 20 minutes. So we scoot on by and arrive at lunch first, but it doesn't seem to matter because by the time we're finished lunch and ready to continue, most of those who arrived at the sag with us have already left. I don't think they chew. Of the forty riders, it seems like few form consistent or enduring riding groups. Riders ride either singly, or in small groups the contents of which change through the day, and from day to day. There also doesn't seem to be much organized paceline riding. Our group of four (sometimes five) is the exception in both cases. We've ridden together the whole way so far, and use a paceline most of the time. The disadvantage of this is that we have come to be known as "Big Dick and the love train". Dick's an ex-basketball player, rather tall, but he's still not sure he likes the moniker. The two ladies don't seem to be too concerned about our obvious loss of individual identities. Whenever we get into a sag someone usually starts making like Barry White and singing "Love Train". Then there's a final 1500 foot climb in 5 miles to Douglas Pass. Unfortunately, although we're up at 8200 feet, we only briefly have pine and aspen, then quickly on the descent we're back to sagebrush. The descent drops to 5000 feet elevation in 33 miles into the usual headwind. The countryside is ugly, until we get to the valley where we have views of some "delectable" mountains, the Colorado National Monument. They look like Moab and I have a sudden desire for a mountain bike. But there's more important things to think about; we have to push to get in by 5:30 for Dick's massage. After 8 days of doing a lot of wheel-sucking I finally feel like I'm pulling at least my share, and the hammer into Grand Junction is fun and fast. Like I said before, the first eight days of PAC Tour are for training for the last eight days. Don Friedlander ------ To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED], (613) 230-1064 Web/mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb/Newsletter ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.a2i8p1 Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
