I had planned on leaving a lot earlier but that never happened and in the end I woke just in time for breakfast so worked out well! All my gear was really soaked somI hadmhadmtomwash and dry it - it wasn't quite dry when I got up so I just hung out for a while to give it a little more time! As I headed out my bike really began to sound bad - gears 1 through 8 were grinding. Feels like on a spin bike in the gym - that sort of resistance. I also notice that my chain is really slack - not sure why but it needs adjusting. The worse thing today is that I just didn't seem to have any energy - maybe because I didn't eat last night - although I had a good breakfast and have plenty of snacks with me. In fact I have been eating them like crazy all day and yet still don't seem to have any energy. Tried to ride a little more cautiously than energy - maybe I was a bit too quick? But just can't seem to get going.
Then I reached Pass 1 with a great hike through the snow with more falling. There was then a good descent to another long winding road and then another challenging pass where I had to push the bike up through the snow, hike across the top and then down. I knew it was a 100 mile day and I kind of thought at was the end of it - assumed there would now be a gravel road all the way to the border and although I was a little slower than planned I was pleased with my progress. Couldn't have been more wrong! the trail went further and further down and then suddenly there was a sharp right hand turn onto nothing more than an animal trail it seems. I can see one set of tyre tracks so I continue - end up wading across two rivers and thinking to myself this just can't be right. Getting worried. The weather all day has been miserable and I am soaked to the skin and I am now wading through more water. So I turn around and go back. And end up on a dirt track that seems to parallel where I want to go- turns right when I want to - just seems to be about half a mile off - I assume I must have dean my line wrong in my GPS. Then it turns completely the wrong way and starts heading in the opposite direction to where I want to be and now I am getting really really worried - why would the be two trails so close? And then this one dead ends!! I nearly burst into tears at this point - I was having the worst day ever anyway and now I had gone the wrong way!! So I turned round and rode as quickly as possible to try to get back to the right path before it got dark. I now see another set of tyre marks so am happy this is the right path. I decide now would be a good time to have something to eat and just as I stop I get a flat - my back tyre just exploded!
Could this day get any worse? My bike sounds awful ........... Anyway I fix the tyre, have some food and head off again. It's a hike - across the rivers, then up through the woods - impossible to ride - its a hike - and then it goes straight uphill! It would have been a difficult hike with poles and walking boots - just imagine it with a laden bike! Anyway I eventually ended up on a road which was great. Of course all this time in the woods I am scared of bears so I have been ringing my bell, blowing my whistle and singing to myself - just making as much noise as possible. Good to be on the road again!
The road begins to get steeper and steeper and I realise its another up and over! Up and up until I am in the snow again - this time the worst of the lot! Trekking through a foot of snow, in the dark as the snow continues to fall - still ringing my bell! I passed some people camping at the side of the trail - but I am determined to make it through - I do NOT want to camp - everything I own is soaked through. I did open my bag earlier to pull out my down jacket and thats when I realised that everything - sleeping bag - everything - is absolutely soaked - there is no way I can camp - I would freeze to death! So I keep pushing, hiking for hours through the snow - and finally get out the other side to the downhill. My gloves were soaked so I took them off - but my fingers were so cold they feel like they are going to fall off. I go as fast as I can for a mile or so and then stop to try to warm my fingers in my pockets - and repeat the process. I finally make it to the border and cross at 2am. The security officer asks what I am doing at this hour - "Same as all the other riders" I answer!!He tells me the bar closes at 2am so I quickly run across and luckily just in time - a very kind lady let me buy some crisps and a can of pop or soda or whatever its called here in the US!!! Too tired to know! So then I set off to complete another 15 miles to Eureka hoping to find somewhere to dry out! My bike is now sounding really bad but I arrive safely - however I couldn't find the promised 24 hour garage to buy some food and the hotel was closed. However I then find another hotel/casino with an open door and inside I find a couple of riders in a corner in their sleeping bags and the cleaning lady said I was welcome to also sleep there on the floor but we would have to move at 5am when the manager arrived! It was 3.30am! She then offered to get me a pizza - brilliant I thought. However I ended up having to wait half an hour for this pizza - and I was SO tired - but eventually lay down for an hour!!
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