Friday, June 18, 2010

DAY 4: 97 miles

After the fun that was Day 3 I had to really check myself on the morning of Day 4. Following several self affirmations and deep breaths I was ready to have a good day. And I did! Like Day 3, Day 4 started with a big hill (0r two). Unlike Day 3, The Evil Twins did not make me want to chuck my bike off a cliff. Hooray!
The Evil Twins are a set of hills that are a lot less steep than Quadbuster, but a lot longer in milage. At the top of the second hill is the half way to LA mark and much celebration. I was worried after my experience the day before that I had lost my hill climbing talents. My experience on The Evil Twins relieved my fears though. I rode up those hills with my new friends (!) Karl and Frank and we sailed up with no problem. It was much easier than I thought it was going to be. When we got to the top, I was thinking "was that it??"
I am not sure why The Evil Twins required a name but the huge mountain on Day 1 didn't, but whatever.
Once we all reached the top of the second hill we got in line for the HALF WAY TO LA picture. The line took forever. Seriously. I think we waited for an hour and a half. But we had to get the picture, right? I think it was worth it, even though it took so long we almost had to be swept home because rest stops were starting to close, which made me SUPER nervous. I HATE being late.
There was also a nice long descent. About time.
The unfortunate part about Day 4 was my shoulder really started to hurt. If you have been keeping up on the blog (which you obviously have) you know that I have had shoulder/neck issues for some time now. I have been working on it with a PT, Dr. and Acupuncturist, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it would start to bother me. By rest stop 4 on Day 4, I was done. Thankfully my friend Marni was there when I decided to take the bus home with 15 miles to go. She assured me that it's OK to take the bus when in pain. The ride is about challenging yourself, not killing yourself. You don't want to jeopardize the whole rest of the ride because you wouldn't take care of yourself one day. This is a hard thing for my type A personality to accept. But I took her advise and got on the bus. And when I got back I went to the Chiro/Sports Med tent and based on what came later, thank goodness I did.
All in all Day 4 was a pretty good day. The weather was nice, the ride was nice, and I learned about recognizing my own limits. Just a normal day in the neighborhood.
Crays make it half way

Line for the picture. Longest line of the whole trip.

Really?

When LA tries to go camping.
-Caitlin

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