Monday saw our longest day of the trip with nearly 150 miles of cycling from 27 miles W of Winnemucca to Elko, NV. To cover this in 8 hours, we needed to average a whopping 18.6 mph including any stops. Stopping is something that we work hard to avoid on this ride as it can make a challenging schedule even more difficult. When we need bottles or food, we drop out of the paceline to the support van and get refreshed on the fly. If someone has a flat, we leave them behind. The van will help them repair the tire and shuttle them back up to the paceline. This is a critical aspect of the Go The Distance Ride and one that we train for in the months leading up to the event.
Today, the majority of the ride was spent on I-80. Lots of scenic desert landscape, loud trucks and (thankfully) a light to moderate tail wind for most of the day. The team performed brilliantly finishing the route 45 minutes early at an average pace of 20.4 mph. The early crew (Flight A - 4AM start) had Amy, Mauricio, Tony and Tom riding with Larry and Julie driving. The second group (Flight B) consisting of Rob, Rickie and myself with Lisa driving joined around 6:30. I’m proud to say the reinforcements rode exactly 100 miles at an average pace of 22.0 mph. Great day to be on the bike.
Once the early crew had ridden their 80-100 miles, they jumped back in the van and hightailed it to Salt Lake City for a visit at a children’s hospital to visit with kids battling cancer. These visits are the cornerstone of the GTD rides since the children and their families are what this is all about. By all accounts, this was a great trip, lifting the spirits of both the kids and the TW crew. Well done all!!
Day 2 Summary
Route – 27 miles W of Winnemucca, NV to Elko, NV
Miles – 148.8
Vertical – 5056’
Average Pace – 20.4 mph
Events - children's hospital, Salt Lake City, UT, 4PM
Weather (Winnemucca) – Sunny, low 48F, high 87F, wind WSW 15-25 mph
On a side note, we just crossed $107,000 in donations. We are inching closer to our goal of $125,000 by the end of the ride. Check our progress here: http://www.crowdrise.com/gtd2012/fundraiser/teamwillcharity
Thanks for reading,
John
