I did not have to get up early on this second day of the ride. I slept attached to Bill’s Camelbak on the floor of the living room. Not a very comfortable position to sleep in. Deb and Steve had dog problems during the night. Lucy decided that sleeping was not required. Bill said that he had a very good sleep. The beer and massage must have really helped.
Bill’s dad made up a bunch of sourdough pancakes the night before which Deb, Steve and Bill ate. Nothing like wonderful sourdough pancakes to get a person going in the morning.
Water bottles were filled. Air was checked on tires. The bike that Bill has is pretty cool. Deb and Steve came out dressed in their Vandal gear. To my horror Bill came out with a jersey that made me kind of throw up in my mouth. He explained to me that his cousin Summer had been wondering why he never wore anything with blue and orange. He said that if she came up with $200 in pledges for MS he would wear a BSU jersey. So she ended up getting the $200 and Bill had to wear a jersey on the second day.
Before I continue with the tale of the second day, Bill wants to share a little something he wrote with the help of Victoria.
Orange and blue I wore
Pledges from Summer condemn
My silver and gold
The wonderful thing is that the only clothing on Bill that was not Vandal was the jersey. Bill even had his Vandal bike for this day of the ride. Once Bill put on his Camelbak I was able to overshadow the bronco on his chest. This was going to be an interesting ride.
Deb and Steve went ahead to the starting area in search of some coffee, while Bill waited for Amy and Todd (a couple who live in Moscow that came down to do the ride) to drop their kids off. Victoria and Rachel were going to hang out with them while everyone was out riding. After getting the kids all settled in, Amy and Bill rode over while Todd drove over. The air was a little cooler but the sun was out and ready to warm everything up.
I couldn’t help thinking back to the start from yesterday and hope that all the right turns would be taken today. Steve and Deb were waiting with coffee in hand. Pam arrived to take a picture of all of us and wish us a safe ride. The time was getting close to get on the bikes and ride. Deb, Steve and Bill moved to the starting area and then they were off. Everything went perfectly. No wrong turns and no bikes dropped in the middle of the road.
Steve and Bill headed out with Deb following behind. I could tell that it was going to be a faster ride then yesterday. We went by the airport for the third time this weekend. This time after crossing the highway we ended up turning right to go to Elo Road and onto Farm-to-Market Road. The first challenge was coming up called Bethel Hill. Bill actually stood up and peddled past a few of the bikers. He said that most times he would get stuck behind somebody as people passed him. Down the other side we went. Tucked down and watching the road.
We came to another climb and Bill didn’t stand up on this one he just sat back and peddled up it at a pretty good clip. After the climb it was pretty flat to get to the first rest stop where Steve was waiting for us. Steve and Bill rode together for a while after the rest stop then Steve started gaining ground. Bill kept a pretty good pace. He wasn’t going so fast that I could not see what we were going by. This is a pretty area to ride a bike.
We finally got to Roseberry and turned right to head towards Donnelly. There were two bikers riding in the middle of the road and Bill hollered out "To Your Left" and one of them said that he had scared them. Good thing it was him and not somebody in a car because that would have been even scarier.
Finally we reach Donnelly and the second rest stop. Steve is waiting and they get some snacks for the ride out to the turn around. I was hung on Bill’s handle bar at this point so that he could use the port-a-potty. When he was finished we got back on the bike and headed out towards Tamarack Resort. This time Steve and Bill rode together. They made pretty good time especially when Steve was in front setting the pace. Bill followed pretty closely and was almost swallowed up by some of the manhole covers that are littered along the roadway. Steve would point them out and Bill would miss them just in the nick of time. They arrived at the turnaround rest stop and rested for a little while.
To be continued ...
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