The easy day and massage yesterday paid off. I felt pretty good leaving Rangely. I was the first one out, but I got passed on the road. I eventually traded pulls with Brian again. Fred Matheny came blowing by us with a line of riders behind him. Brian jumped on the back. I followed. I didn't want to take a pull, but Brian worked his way up and killed it on the front. Soon after, we were at the first rest stop. I got out of the rest stop as quick as I could and drafted Rebecca and Chris for awhile, but got dropped. Fred and hsi group came flying by again and I jumped on the back. I got dropped before the massive climb. Then I got passed on the climb by a bunch of riders, but there was a spectacular view from the top. The rest stop was right at the top, but I didn't stay long. The descent was wicked fast and had lots of twisties. I got about halfway down the steep stuff when I caught up to a blue pick up truck. The guy had one hand on the wheel and the other on a cigarette and he was riding the brakes like an old lady, which meant I had to ride the brakes like an old lady. We had a long way to go to lunch, but it was mostly downhill. With a few miles to go, Thomas caught up to me and asked me if I was feeling ok. Then he asked if I wanted some water. I had a nearly full bottle at that point. When I got to lunch, he said I looked like crap and he just wanted to make sure I was ok. There was an optional ride after lunch up to Colorado National Monument. I got to the turn off and thought I was really hot and there was no support on the alternate route, so I went straight for the hotel. We had a slight tailwind and I was cruising along, but I started to get the feeling that I was overheating. That feeling persisted all the way to the hotel. I had plenty of sports drink, but it was getting warm and eventually it was really hot. The temps were supposed to hit 96, but it felt hotter out there.
"Rangely To Grand Junction, CO"
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