It was a tough day because on of the riders in my pace line, Scott, was struggling. We had to push him through the day and slow down tremendously all while being as encouraging as we could. Having been in fast pace lines before, I have to say being there to support someone and putting your own abilities to the side is much more difficult than pushing yourself as fast as you can for a day. It means jeopardizing your ability to finish that day (because we have certain “rack points” we need to reach at an assigned time) and putting your own feelings aside.
As we reached the top of the last summit of the day, the sky darkened and gusts of wind and sand blew through the crew stop in which we were taking a break. In an attempt to outrun the sandstorm we jumped on our bikes in a hurry and pedaled as fast as possible down the hill. The wind blew at our backs and we achieved tremendous speeds. I reached 50 mph on that downhill and we were able to keep paces of 35 to 40mph even on flats! It was such a surreal feeling. The grass on the side of the road was flattened to the ground by the wind behind us but because of the speeds we were achieving, no wind was rushing past our ears. I was able to have a conversation with the cyclist behind me without raising my voice. We pushed through for 15 miles before the visibility became bad and the crew chief racked the team less than 25 miles from the end of the day.
We arrived in Delta, UT and had a sponsored milkshake (I had Oreo Mint for the first time, delicious) and dinner. We preformed Kids on the Block for the 3rd time and I played the role of Ellen Jane this time, a girl with Down syndrome. Overall, this was an incredible day. Scary, but truly awe-inspiring.
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