Let the race begin!

On our way to the starting line I was driving and was almost to Tucson to drop off some mats for Old Pueblo Gymnastics and Pick up a bivy from Randy Sooter when I realized I forgot one of the three most important things for a race… MY HELMET!!!! Luckily my awesome mom saved the day and brought the helmet to me! Now we were really off and headed toward the starting line! We did not arrive at camp until about 12:30am but still got a pretty good night’s rest sleeping  in the car (or as good as you can get hahaha)  just before waking up at 6am to start the race!

Day 1 of the ride! Everyone met up at the post and we were off! The first day was very hard as I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I was riding I looked down at my watch to see what time it was and I noticed I had lost my watch!  I had just put a new wrist band on it for the race. I rode back a couple miles to look for it and asked the riders as they were passing me, if they had seen it. No one had! BUT just before I turned around to continue riding a hiker had found a watch and was looking for the owner!!! I was so relieved!!! I rode 7.3 more miles after that and slept at Kentucky camp that night.

Day two of the ride! Started about 6am and rode to Tucson to have an amazing Macaroni and cheese meal! MmmmmMmmmmm GOOD!!!  I ended this long day of riding around 11pm that night. I love sleeping outside under the stars!!!!

Day Three of the ride! I Started about 6:30am.  After realizing that my GPS sometime during the night, deleted all my maps for this trip, I had to find somewhere to re-download those files. Fortunately I was able to download my GPS fairly quickly which I was very happy about!!!  Now it was time for some quick food and then a day to push on for 100mi!!

Day Four of the ride! The first 300 miles were tough with lots of hike a bike but I made it to Picket Post! Hooray!!!!  I started around 6am that morning and made it to Picket Post around 3 that afternoon. I stopped just outside of Superior at a little restaurant called Los Hermanos. This was a nice rest with some amazing food as I visited with Eijai, one of the riders I met. Nothing like stopping for good food and good friends! Just before starting off I stopped by the gas station to stock up on energy drinks and protein bars!!!  $20 later I am back on the road and headed for Roosevelt Lake for my next check in!!!

Stay tuned for the next 450 miles!!!!