The day started with a dilemma: either a long treck uphill on a paved road or a slightly shorter one on a single (a bike path that's about a foot wide, designed for a single rider at a time.) The single won out, just because I figured it'd be an experience, and it was a killer. Uphill and rocks combined are never pleasant, and adding in the desert heat didn't help. The rest of the morning, until lunchtime, was a fairly steady uphill trek. I find myself riding alone much of the time, because while I've been training steadily enough not to embarrass myself, I'm by no means one of these hardcore hotshots who lead the pack, stop for nothing, and get bored when the road flattens out. I'm sort of dead center, often with nobody in sight ahead or behind. If you've ever seen Breaking Bad, filmed in New Mexico with hundred of miles of nothing, you get the idea. The trails are well marked, so it's just a question of pumping away. The last two hours were a more reasonable flat ride, thank goodness. We were greeted at the Mitzpeh Ramon crater lookout with cold beers, which was wonderful.
Tonight we were hosted by an officers training army base, and ALYN introduced us to the 10 kids with varying levels of disability, who will be riding with us (regular bikes, tandems and hand pedaled) on the final day. They have been training for months, paired up with other riders on the trip who have given their time to help encourage these kids and get them into shape. When the kids got up on the stage there were many non-dry eyes in the house.
Anyway, tomorrow night we camp out In sleeping bags somewhere... No electricity or reception, so I will post again the next night.
So, so, so tired. Going to sleep at 9.30 again, to try to recuperate :-)
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