Day 12

Today we are fully in PacTour mode.  That is to say, we are no longer tourists, we have a destination and today that destination was

with today's particular destination being Mt. Shasta

Beside noting the entrance to CA the first pic makes it clear that we were riding on I-5.  This was our second interstate foray and these, I confess, give me the heebee jeebies.  But, as freeway riding goes this was reasonably good; the shoulder was wide and free of debris.  So, OK. 

The other way this is becoming a PacTour experience is how I'm feeling.  Every morning these days I awaken with the feeling of having been pummeled in the night by an enthusiastic sadist.  After dressing, struggling to eat, then getting on the bike on the way out of town I begin to feel better.  After an hour or two I feel really good and really strong and fast.  By the end of the day, however, I'm exhausted and collapse into bed ready to be worked over by that sadist yet again.  That's the way we roll on these events.  Not for everybody.

The day began with what is rapidly becoming our opening the day on a big climb, in this case 19 miles out of the Ashland valley.  That aside, it was shaping up to be a pretty good day.  The roads were clear and relatively fast and the two fastest riders got themselves off course for a fairly substantial time, which everyone else figured wouldn't hurt them (which it didn't).  At about mile 50 I was riding with a pretty good group of four across a very substantial Shasta valley floor when the wind blew up.  It grew harder and harder almost immediately and also almost immediately I began to tail off the back.  I rode the next 9 miles into a ferocious headwind by myself.  I am, naturally, at this point, eager to employ the always comical and nearly always disingenuous dropped guy's mantra, 'I could have stayed with them but I CHOSE not to (a phrase that no one EVER believes) but I won't.  Finally, I managed to get out of it but certainly not easily.  Shortly after doing so, we made it to Shasta City where we are spending this night.  It is an interesting little town in which as substantial number of the businesses seem to be devoted to selling medical marijuana or some form of spiritual healing.  We are just looking to rest because tomorrow is going to be a big day, 135 miles to Susanville.  Ugh!

A word about riders and bikes:  there some extraordinary riders on this trip.  There are two RAAM finishers, numerous Ironman riders, a variety of long time race team members, and one of the woman was winner of the Hawaii Ironman, which is an extraordinary accomplishment.  The rest of us flotsam and jetsam are skilled as well.  Impressive really.  There is an interesting and slightly surprising assortment of bikes: 2 Treks, 2 Specialized, 2 Cervelo, 2 Pinerello, 2 Davidson, and 1 Dean.  The most numerous is the 6 Ti Seven bikes (very expensive, high end Ti frames - nice) but no Cannondale, surprising.  Overall, it is a strong, convivial group.  My roommate is a year younger than me and is a very good rider.  Even more, he is an astonishing outdoorsman.  He is a certified ski race instructor in Vail for four months a year, has kayaked the Mississippi River, has driven dog sleds, and every year does a solo backcountry canoe trip for a week.  His is a very impressive outdoor resume.  Taken overall it is a very good group and I'm pleased to be able to keep up.  Tomorrow may be a different story.

So now to bed.