Day Twenty-Four – Oacoma to Mitchell

One of the things I’ve had to remind people of when they ask me about this ride is that it’s a ride – not a race. I’m far from the strongest rider on the ride. But I’m also not the weakest rider. There are days when I feel I can ride a little harder and push a little more, but then I ask ‘why’? I am enjoying my little riding group tremendously not only because of the people – but because I wake up every day knowing that I have ridden the day before to do my best to ensure that I’ll be riding a decent ride that morning. We crossed the halfway mark today, but I am happy to report that I have felt the same way on every ride – good, capable, stronger every day, and able to get through the day. I had a few rough days early on, but those were less about the ride the day before and more about dialing in my four elements – rest, pacing, fuel and hydration. In those cases, I believe it was more about the fuel and hydration. I may have pushed a little hard earlier in the day on those rides, but I believe it was mostly the fueling. This isn’t to suggest that anyone who is pushing the pace is doing it ‘wrong’. Not by any stretch. Everyone here is riding their own ride. My goal from day one has been to ride every pedal stroke of the country from coast to coast, and if riding a little easier every day helps to ensure that I am able to do and in a way that is comfortable and enjoyable, I’m all in.

Today’s 76-mile ride felt blissfully short compared to the last two days. We now have official start times, and our group – being the slowest – starts out first. The groups are staggered by roughly 15 minutes. We don’t mind because we are all anxious to leave in the morning and avoid the heat. We were treated to a spectacular sunrise and views as we crossed the river as a result of leaving earlier than everyone else.

We encountered a few climbs early in the ride, but the day was an overall loss of elevation – always a good thing because it means you’ll have a number of descents and downhills. The first half of the day was smaller rolling hills with longer flats in between. We passed between beautiful walls of corn and sunflowers which were a welcome sight from the past two days of rolling hills of yellow grass. The change in scenery was welcome.

We moved in and out of our rest stops quickly in order to continue to make progress on the day, and our overall pace was increasing as the day went on and we rode across the longer and longer stretches of flat.

The highlight of the day was the milestone of crossing the 1/2-way mark at mile 38. This wasn’t just the 1/2 way on the day, but on the entire trip. As we rode the 5 miles leading up to the rest stop before what was to be the 1/2-way mark, I questioned in my mind whether it was the legitimate 1/2-way mark on the trip, or symbolic. The fact that the 1/2-way mark would be EXACTLY the 1/2-way mark on the 1/2-way day seemed questionable to me. I was dubious about the idea that we would ride exactly 1/2 the miles on one side of the 24th day and 1/2 the miles on the other side. As we rolled into the stop, I asked one of the guides and was assured by the guides and a few of my fellow riders that one of our more data driven riders had done the math, and it was – in fact – going to the 1/2-way mark.

Amazed and astounded, I got back on my bike and rode the next three miles to what was to be the spot where we would be further from Portland, Oregon than we were from Portland, Maine. Our group stopped and took a photo and a short video celebrating the moment. We made it a quick moment, because we were keen to keep riding.

We finished out the day feeling relaxed and strong with the shorter ride and the easier conditions. In spite of being South Dakota, the wind had been favorable coming in at a low speed from the south.

We arrived at the hotel between 1 and 1:30 pm. Unfortunately, not all rooms were ready, and some had to hang out in the lobby while waiting. I offered space in my room to shower or rest for anyone. No takers – people were hopeful they would be minutes away from a ready room.

During the afternoon, I managed to squeeze in a soak in the pool and hot tub, as well as some laundry. Sleep has been challenging, so I have felt a cumulative effect of being tired. I took advantage of a ‘mini rest day’ and had a nap. Sleeping on my side has been difficult because there are days when my arms hurt from riding. I have found a way to prop up pillows and sleep on my back. I put my pillows into position and laid down in the bed. I fell into a deep deep sleep. So deep that I woke myself up with my own snoring. It was a good and necessary hour-long nap before dinner.

We made our way across the parking lot to Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised with how good the food was, but then we are also all somewhat skeptical because we are usually ravenous by the end of the day and anything tastes good – even a foot long Subway sandwich.

I managed to get to sleep just after nine last night to get my body ready for the next few days. We ride 76 miles again on day 25 but will need to take it easy because we follow up our 76-mile day with 126 miles out of Sioux Falls the following day. The four elements – rest, pacing, hydration and fueling will all be key between now and then to ensure we have our bodies ready for one of our longest rides.