On the first day of Sea to Sea, we were told that "you could die in the desert. You could die in the desert". Although it has been a running joke of the trip, we are finding just how true it is. The past few days have been ridiculously hot. Over 120 degrees F, and at points reaching over 130. That is more than 50C for us Canadians. Biking in this heat is so tough not only because you get so thirsty, but the heat just drains your energy so quickly. Luckily for us, we have an amazing SAG team who worked tirelessly to ensure that we had a SAG stop (a rest stop with water, shade, etc) almost every ten miles. Without them, the water they provided, snacks, and electrolytes, we wouldn't have survived the last few days. They are truly the reason we are able to make it into camp each night.
Well, I told you all about day 3 already, so lets hear about day 4. It started off heading out from the overnight stop at 5:30am (up at 4am). We got to see a beautiful sunrise and bike in the cool of the morning before the heat became too extreme.
The day was to be spent on I-10, the interstate that would take us from California to Arizona. Although a beautiful day, things were a bit off. Maybe I was tired, but who knows. First off, I left a water bottle at the first SAG stop, which isn't a huge deal, except when you run out of water. Then, between SAG 1 and SAG 2, Laura and I were having a wonderful conversation about laundry detergent, and how many Tide pods we brought. It was during this time that our drafting became problematic. With Laura on my left, Zach and George in front, and Amanda, Sara and Kim in back, an issue occurred. An unanticipated slow ahead of me and my lack of quick response resulted in my front tire rubbing Zach's back tire. With Laura on my left and traffic to hers, I couldn't correct and move over, and hence had to go right, resulting in my falling.
Traveling at about 25km/h it was a hard one. My right side of my body took the brunt of the impact, and luckily my helmet saved my head, minus a small tender spot I have on my forehead. As I fell, the cyclists behind me had no room to move and so one ran over my ankles while another ran over my bike. Luckily no one else fell, but it was a bit of a painful experience. I got road rash on my leg, cut both ankles, cut my knee, scrapped my thigh, bruised a rib, and took some skin off the shoulder. My ankles are a bit swollen from having someone ride over them, but thankfully nothing was broken! With the help of my amazing riding group I was quickly cleaned up and ready to go again :)
After arriving at SAG 2 I got a lot of "WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OKAY?'s" and got cleaned up by the nurses. So many people were getting flat tires from all of the wires in the tire rubber along I-10, and so we checked them over to be certain. Some people found a few, but mine looked clean. After that delay of falling I wanted to get going so we could avoid the afternoon heat. However, going downhill I hit a bump and my tire made the awful "whissshhhh" sound of a flat. In the middle of the desert, over 110F heat, this was not ideal. BUT we still had a good time :) Can't be too upset. Flats are simply inevitable on trips like this. Besides, my riding group keeps things fun :)
Anyways, we made it up the hills, got to our last SAG, and eventually had a beautiful downhill descent to McDonalds, where we sat for 2 hours eating ice cream and cooling off from the heat of the day. It was SCORCHING outside, and by the time we made it to camp we were pleasantly surprised to find that the community centre was letting us sleep indoors. In the AC. SUCH A GODSEND! Storing our bikes outside, we had to deflate the tires. The heat adds up to 15 lbs of pressure and had been blowing people's tires the last few days. But, after my fall, my bike needed a bit of love. I had bent the de-railer when I fell, although I felt that I had sufficiently sacrificed my body, it wasn't doing so well. I wasnt' able to shift into my small ring because the back de-railer was hitting my spokes. hence, following my fall, I had to climb all of the hills in my big ring, which was tough but good. it forced me to go faster up the hills which I think saved me a lot of pain in the long run.
We found out that night that the tour was being suspended due to the unbearable heat. The next few days were supposed to be over 120 without the reflective road temperature, and we couldn't afford to risk having anyone bonk on the rides. That day, Day 4, over 15 people had to get SAG rides into camp.
So, from Quartzite Arizona we took a coach bus through Phoenix and into Payson, Arizona where we will be hanging out until Tuesday, when we can resume riding. To keep the bus ride entertaining, one of our riders, Karel, kept us entertained with some beat-boxing and Golum impressions.
To keep busy we spent time on Saturday helping out with Habitat for Humanity painting and cleaning the yard of a home. It was incredible heat, but at least we were still able to be useful where we were.
Since we didn't have access to showers where we were, the school donated some of theirs for us to use. Papa Kooy (Len) liked theirs so much that he made one for us to keep on tour.
It's a bummer that the trip has been suspended, and a few people were pretty upset. However, we still raised the money and are still biking the distance. The cause is still being promoted and our goals can be accomplished. This trip isn't just about riding across the country so we can say we did it, it's about raising money and awareness for poverty so we can help those in need. Besides... I'm pretty happy to take a few days off and let my wounds heal :)
Saturday night was filled with fun as the cyclists head down to a concert in Payson Valley. By the looks of things, the entire town was out for the evening. With all of their dogs. But for real. SO many dogs around here. The band, Junction 87, was a great time and many cyclists got up to join the locals in some Country Dancin'.
Sorry about the delays in blog posts. The unpredictability of the Wifi around here makes things difficult, but luckily there are McDonald's for us to invade every once in a while. I'll try to keep you all posted a little better, so stay tuned for the next update! And keep praying for the safety and healing of all the riders and volunteers as we continue on this trip :)
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