Kirkwood

The day people talk about when associating with North Route is Kirkwood. Fourth day of cycling, and by far the hardest day of the trip. Going to bed I had started to mentally prepare myself for what I had ahead of me, 95 miles and 12,000 feet of incline. We woke up at 5:30 and went to Mel & Faye’s Diner for breakfast, which was absolutely fantastic. The owner of the Diner, Bart Gilman, has been sponsoring JOH North since the beginning, which is always nice to see. After breakfast the mood got kind of serious, trying to prepare for what was about to come.

I was assigned sweeps for the beginning of the ride with David Iles, who goes to Iowa. Sweeps means you have to stay at the back of the group and make sure everyone stays on track and keeps a decent pace. I felt fine when we left but as soon as we hit an incline I started having trouble. I realized the sickness that I thought had gone away was still there, so I decided it was probably best that I sat out today to get healthy. As frustrating as it was to not ride with my team, it was probably for the best.

So instead of cycling, I rode in van 3 with Jesus, who is a student at the University of Nevada, and Kyle Rutledge, and employee of Push America. We had a good time hanging out and taking in the scenery while waiting for the cyclist to arrive. We were at one spot for over 4 hours, and lucky enough it was the most beautiful spot of the day. 

Although I did not ride, I was so proud to see the majority of my team finish their ride today. On the crew side of things today I made sure to keep everyone motivated, which a lot of guys seemed to lack. Some of my teammates ended up being on the bike for up to 12 hours which is absolutely insane.

Our day ended with a dinner at Sierra Pizza, and then back to lodging where everyone will enjoy a great night of sleep after such a demanding day. Tomorrow we have the day off in Lake Tahoe, so I plan on getting some laundry done and relaxing. And from what I’ve heard, we are going paddle boarding on Lake Tahoe, which should be a blast.