MS 150 - Part 3 - Day 2

Sleeping on a squeaky bed is not fun. Sleeping on a squeaky bed when your body really needs to sleep is even less enjoyable. That is how I spent the night after the first 60 mile ride. I got up a little later than I wanted to but I got up nonetheless. Actually my body did not complain too much (especially after taking a couple of Aleve), which was better than what was going through my brain. I got all dressed in the Vandal garb again and Steve and Deb wore their Puerto Rico Jerseys. We rode over to the starting point and had a nice little breakfast there. The temperature this morning felt warmer then the day before. Just right for a 50 mile ride on a Sunday morning.

At the start line they made announcements about what was to come. There was however no announcements about deer or squirrels on this part of the ride so I felt a little more safe.

They had two different groups go this time: the fast group and the slow group. We started out in the slow group so that we could have a nice relaxing time. This route was going to take us on tour south of McCall on Farm-to-Market Road towards Donnelly and then on to Tamarack Resort. We stayed together as we passed by the McCall Cemetery to wave at my parents and Philip. Once we got pass them and turned to go by the airport Steve decided to head on out ahead of us. I, at this point was used to this and it did not bother me. So being the true brother that I am I left my sister to fend for herself and started out past others in front of me. The McCall Police stood at the intersection of the Highway and the road that we were on so that we could go across without having to stop at the light. The ride was pretty nice from here until I made it to the first hill of the day. It was at this point that I asked myself why I had not just slept in. However it was too late for that as we jockeyed for position to climb the hill. Slower bikers gumming up the operation, while experienced bikers tried to run them over. Good thing the top of the hill came up so that we could get going at a faster pace. I tucked down the backside to get some distance ahead of the slower people. After going around several corners I came to another hill. This one was steeper then the first hill but shorter. I made it up this with no problem and I was keeping up with some of the road bikers that I had met up with. As we moved toward the first rest area at parking lot for Jug Mountain the day was looking really nice. So far there was no sign of wildlife and I felt safe with that thought. The rest stop at Jug Mountain was a little over half a mile from the road so we had to turn off the road to get there.

I looked around for Steve at the Jug Mountain stop but did not see him at all. I figured that he had already come and gone before me (actually he skipped this rest stop and all but the turnaround rest stop). I grabbed a couple of Payday bars and some more water here and then headed on out. I saw my sister as I was heading out the access road to get back to the Farm-to-Market Road. We exchanged pleasantries and I continued on my way. This part of the ride was actually boring due to the fact that it was mostly flat and I could just go as fast as I wanted (as fast as my pedaling was allowing).

About 3 miles north of Roseberry (a little place just east of Donnelly) I joined up with a road biker and we rode together all the way to the next rest stop in Donnelly. As we peddled along we saw a case of water on the ground and a sign that was for the 25 mile group to turn around at. Good thing they gave them water however there were no snacks to be found.
I re-filled my water bottle and got some Gatorade at the Donnelly rest stop and headed on out to the turnaround at Tamarack Resort. A group of us got together to make this trek. However I ended up going out ahead after several people got confused at a bridge along the way. This bridge was not a very friendly one in that it had grating for its surface. I had no problem with it due to the big tires but the road bikers had some issue with it. I caught up with another person and I followed him on out to the turnaround. Along the way I saw Steve coming back towards the way we came (come to find out that he and the group he was with went past the turnaround since they had not set it up until after that group had gone by). At the turnaround I got some more water and some more food for the trip back.

To be continued…