I got up around 4am and made something that sort of resembled coffee. Jeff had mentioned that he might take off sometime in the middle of the night, but in the morning he was still there. So we packed up our bikes and all headed out together, David, Jeff, Tim, and me. Jeff and I rode together off and on all day, and the four of us were only a mile or two apart at any given time.
We had toyed with just riding non-stop. One big push to the end, but hadn’t fully committed to the idea just yet. It was still 300 miles, and there was still a lot of elevation to clear before we got to Silver City.
The morning miles were nice and uneventful. The terrain and roads varied, but it was nice to be out in what looked like more desert, before the sun was at full blast. Before too long we came to a water cache, which was outside the Surprise Ranch. I didn’t need any water, but took a few cookies. It would have been a life saver if I had skipped Pie Town, or hit this section in the heat of the day.
Jeff and I kept riding together and chatted about bike stuff and whatever else came up. It was nice to ride with someone this late in the race, after I had tried so hard not to keep pace with anyone else. I don’t really remember much about the scenery from today, other than I was surprised that there was as much forest as there was this far into the “desert”.
We eventually made it to Beaverhead Ranger Station, which was currently staffed by Forest Service and fire fighters. Later in the day we would learn that there were some controlled burns, but it was fire season so it wasn’t surprising to see that many people there. I tried my luck with the infamous soda machine. It ate my money and didn’t give me any soda, but we had known it was broken before we got there. I was just putting money in it as part of the ritual. To try and get a soda like so many of those great racers that came before me.
We ate lunch on one of the picnic tables, and I refilled my water, though I didn’t ever get my soda. Then it was back on the route. This section contained a lot of rolling ups and downs through the forest. On paper the elevation gain wasn’t too bad, but the climbs just kept coming.
We kept riding into the dark, and my though of riding until the end without stopping gradually seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. I was tired, and my legs weren’t cooperating like I thought they should. There was still some more up and down, followed by a fairly steep descent before we were out of the Gila. Plus there was the highly technical Continental Divide Trail section after that. Which I was worried about on its own, but didn’t think I could even do it in the dark.
Eventually we rolled into a forest campground and decided to call it for the night. We would grab a few hours of sleep and then early in the morning keep pushing to the end. This was it, we would get to the finish tomorrow, no matter how long it would take.
