Stage 6

I'm finally done. 123.96 miles in 6:40:49 for an average speed of 18.56 mph. I am just finishing at 1:40 PM since I had a bit of mechanical trouble which made things rather interesting and included my first ride on a UPS truck. Started at 5:10. 65 degrees at the start and 80 at the finish. Average heart rate 123. Drank 2 gallons and lost 4.5 lbs, thus I need to drink a bit more. Ate 2700 calories.

I felt really strong at the start and did the first 35 miles at 18.5 mph. Bill joined me and said he was tired and would not be going too fast. But he took off and led through the head wind section. At the end of the 20 miles with Bill the average was up to 18.8 mph. Thank you Bill. I pushed hard for the next two laps and still had an average of 18.8 mph when I finished the headwind section of the second time around since riding with Bill. At that point my rear derailer cable broke. With no cable holding it in position it popped to the highest gear in the back. I could still switch chain rings in the front, but 53-11 is only good for very strong tailwinds or big downhills. Thus I rode the next 6 miles in my 39-11. Even with the tailwind this was too high of a gear to push since my cadence was only about 70-75 rather than my more normal 95 rpms. Once I turned north back into the headwind I stopped since I could not push that gear. A UPS truck came by and offered me a ride as far as he was going. I was about 7 miles from home and he took me 2 miles. But then he gave me the idea of tying the cable to the bike frame to hold it in a lower gear. He kindly helped me do this and then I could ride in either 39-21 or 53-21. This got me home, but I lost a lot of speed with the average dropping to 18.5 mph. I still had 32 miles to go.

I took the bike to the bike shop (Bike and Hike) where Jim was very helpful. He got a new cable installed and adjusted the gears and I was ready to go. Thank you Jim and tell your manager Keith Cox to give you a raise. I had lost almost 2 hours, but was back on the road. I managed to push hard enough to hold onto the 18.5 mph average speed, but it was a bit of an effort. In retrospect, I was too dehydrated which probably made the last bit harder than it should have been.

Wildlife: 5 rabbits and 3 deer. One deer had a small rack and stood in a clearing about 100 meters away watching me pass by.

Stage 7 tomorrow is 122.72 miles. Right now I feel worn out so I may have to take it slower tomorrow. Andrew and Bill will be with the team which is always fun.