I think I'm going to start off my blog's by saying, see yesterday. For the weather at least. I'm getting sick of writing about how much rain and wind there is because it seems to be the same everyday and today is no exception.
The race started at 10am and we set off into a wet 38 mile road race. I learned yesterday that the town of Cordova is accessible by only boat or plane and in the actual town there are only 38 miles of road. Today, we rode those 38 miles. I started off and was feeling great, in fact, I felt great almost the whole race. There were some gradual climbs at the beginning that led into a long 15 plus mile flat stretch. I was ahead of Katz until the turn around which was close to mile 27. We worked together for the next 8 or so miles, drafting and giving each other a bit of a break. With 3 miles to go, I fell a bit behind and was working frantically to try and keep up with her. I never caught back up and finished about 20 seconds behind her. She did awesome. In fact, we both did. With an average of 14 mph for 38 miles in these rough conditions we are pretty proud of ourselves. I beat my time from two days ago by a good 30 minutes and the course was 2 miles longer. It was a good day. It was cold and wet at the finish so we hurried back for a shower and some lunch and we feel like a million bucks.. or maybe just a nap.
The town of Cordova is so small and much of the town came out to see the race which was awesome. All along the course we had people cheering for us. Near the end there were a group of guys with cowbells that rang them and ran alongside us for a few seconds. We felt like we were in the Tour de France, riding through the Alps. Only we were in wet and windy Alaska instead.
As the rain came down today I was thinking a lot of Jimi. He was looking down on me today and helped me finish strong. With all this rain I tried to keep thinking of his motto, it is what it is. As much as we may try and do rain dances all night, its not going to stop. I've decided that I don't so much mind the rain and being wet, it's more the cold, especially in the hands. ALl the wind and rain can make them go a bit numb. Nothing like riding and changing gears with hands you can't feel. It's lovely.
Now that we are all showered up, we are going to head into town for some shopping. We are staying at an old salmon cannery right on the water and sleeping in what used to be the quarters for the workers. it's pretty neat. Although better cell/ internet reception would help things a little...
Tomorrow is a busy day. We wake up, get on the ferry early and head to Valdez. At 1pm we start the longest day of riding, at 55 miles. But it's not just a flat 55 miles, as there is an extremely difficult pass we have to go up and over and there is actually a time limit in which we have to do it. When I came I had two goals, one not to come in last, and the other to finish every day on my own. So making the time cut off and not getting picked up by the slow rider van is a good goal.
For now, we get to relax. Until next time...
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