Day 23 Duchesne to Dinosar 145.3km Uphill 3625ft Downhill 3290ft

I’m starting to get weary of these 5 a.m. mornings. I choked down my oatmeal this morning because all the guys had their helmets, vests and gloves on by 6:15 a.m. I’m wondering how I can get a hold of their alarms and set them back an hour without them knowing it.

Started out with arm warmers but discarded them within an hour. We are traveling on a very busy highway today. The police pulled over Cory and asked him to tell all the cyclists to stay single file and not to go over the white line. This is somewhat difficult with all the debris on the hwy. Oh and one mustn’t forget the rumble strips, so between the white line and the rumble strip you don’t have a lot of room to cycle.

The first 20 miles were downhill. Today we have the usual gang plus Dale M from GR. Three miles after we waved to Jake Kuipers at a gas station, he took a bad fall. He was on the hwy and his seat post broke so he hit the pavement. He landed on the road but thankfully no traffic was passing him at the time. A SAG picked him up and brought him to a bike store where they fixed up his bike and he was on his way again. (he only missed 20km of the ride). He does have some road rash on his chin but apparently his thigh and leg took the brunt of the fall. This is his second fall, they say ‘the third’s a charm’…maybe I’ll stay far behind him when he’s in our pace line.

The hwy is brutal on our tires. Debris from the trucker’s tires gets caught in our wheels and causes flats. Both Barb and Andy had flats today. Also the local traffic is not particularly happy to share the road with us. We’ve had a number of pick up trucks rev up and emit black smoke when they pass us. Really good for our lungs already taxed by the high altitude. The two major climbs today weren’t that bad, just long. After the first climb we hit a McDonalds (10:30) for coffee in the town of Vernal. At this point we are at the 95 km mark, only 50km to go! I will admit that I missed my home made pie, so tomorrow I will veto the McDonald and insist on the local Ma and Pa’s café. We had barely gotten on our bikes when someone spotted a bike shop. We had to make a quick stop to see if we need to purchase anything (don’t worry Ralph, no money exchanged hands!). Next stop the Pink Dinosaur. After all we are staying in Dinosaur tonight! This sculpture was outside of the bike shop....what not to do on a bike! Walter’s SAG was set up just before the second climb. He was treating everyone to Waltermelon (yes, I know its spelled wrong, I’m trying my hand at a pun). Our pace line broke up on the way up this last climb, Barb was behind John and then we had a space. Louie was behind me and when I told him to pass me, he generously slowed down and pulled me ½ way were we stopped at the lookout point. Pete Vannoord and I at the lookout point

The entire group stayed together for the rest of the climb. Andy got his flat 3 miles from our destination. John and Louie stayed back to help him and we continued on to the first ice-cream shop. $5.00 is highway robbery for a chocolate milk shake but the sugar and dairy product provided a great recovery drink. All in all it was a good day, long because of the heat (104F on my bike), but the altitude hasn’t bothered me yet and we all made it in without any major accidents. P.S. We crossed into the State of Colorado just after Andy got his flat. We are staying in the only park in Dinosaur. All the streets are named after various dinosaurs, ie. the street the park is on is called Stegosaurus, just off of Plateosaurus…you get the idea. The supper horn has sounded off, so time to eat. Tomorrow promises to be another long day in terms of km, but I don’t think we have any major climbs.

P.S. I just talked to Teresa. Since she was not allowed on her bike today she rode with Alida (our camp nurse) in her camper. Apparently they were traveling on the hwy in the 3rd lane when all of a sudden Alida lost all her power. They clipped off several transport trucks and ended up coming to a abrupt stop. The camper tipped to it’s side and the only thing that saved if from flipping was the sand hill that they were imbedded in. And Teresa thought that biking was the only thing that could cause her harm. I guess Gayle witnessed the entire event and ran up the hill faster than she usually bikes because she thought Alida had a heart attack. Alida is still not in camp. Apparently the reason she lost power was because she ran out of gas. At this point she needs to be towed out of the sand. It’s been a long day for Alida.

Till then, take care, Cynthia
Average speed of the day 24.7 Total km 149.3 Time on the bike 6:01:59

Day 22 Salt Lake City to Duchesne 144.5km Uphill 5,000 Downhill no elevaton info

Up ‘n at em by 5 a.m. The park has nicely left a truck at the top of the hill so we can throw our gear bags in here and walk down and then up to the gear truck. Barb is on sweep today, so she is not riding with us. The group started out with Gerry, Pete, Bert S, Andy, Louie, Jake, John, Carl and myself. We have no elevation chart today, either it was just too scary for us to look at or the story that Ed is sticking to is that when he drove thru this area last winter the road was closed so he could not GPS it. Either way, the cyclists are a tad worried this morning.

The climb started 10km into the ride, and we continued up for around 15km. The last 7 km where at a 8% grade. The group that we left with this morning quickly split up. John and Carl where way ahead of us and the rest of us just took the hill at whatever we were comfortable with. I was in my granny gear for the entire hike up. Pete and Jake would pass me everyone once in a while and then I’d pass them. It was a slow climb. At times I was only going 6km especially when I was climbing the 8% grade. A number of cyclists are experiencing difficulty with the high altitude and cannot breathe. Teresa is one of these cyclists. She has strict orders from both the nurses here in camp not to ride for the remainder of the week, or she may end up in the hospital. This is a hard pill for Teresa to swallow because she so badly wants to bike it all (as do we all). Remember her in your prayers as she faces this difficulty.

Everyone had their photo taken the summit; Wolf Creek Pass. 9,485 ft AWESOME!!!!

The ride down was 20km long. I was in the highest gear and when I couldn’t peddle any more I got down into a crouch position and coasted. Top speed 68.7km. We coasted right into a small village called Hannah and ordered coffee with pie. Mmm good. I understand that they were run off their feet later in the day. One of our cyclists even stood in as a waitress; poured coffee, served pie, and cleared off the tables. I imagine they did a pretty good business today. Rita and Bill Wybenga

We are now ½ done our ride for the day. We went thru one more climb and again the group was separated. John was riding with Bert when they heard a loud BANG! Bert had blown out his tire. They managed to fix it with a rubber patch but it only lasted 3 more km. Thankfully someone biked by that had a spare tube on them and they could repair it properly. Most of us met up again at Cory’s SAG…UT-40. Cory was handing out cookies. One way to win the most popular SAG driver!

When we left Cory’s we had approx 30km to go. I left with Andy and Dave Geerlings (he just started today). Shortly into this portion of the ride I took the lead only to get a gust of head wind, so I called for a ‘mule’ and Dave just happened to be right behind me. He took the lead and we sailed at around 44km for most of the way in. It was very, very sweet.

Tonight we are staying at the Park/Fairgrounds. Today it was cloudy for most of the day and the sun was at it’s strongest at around 5:30pm. We have another long day tomorrow, so I’d best get off to my tent and organize my stuff for tomorrow.

P.S. Louie saw a moose today, I only saw a deer. He wins, his animal was bigger!

Later, Cynthia
Average speed today 22.6km Total km biked 146.5 Actual time on the bike 6:28:06

Sunday, July 20th

How pleasant it is to wake up in a bed. I slept well and feel very refreshed. We’ve decided to attend the Lutheran Church that both Tom & Rita attend. The service starts at 9:30 so everyone piled in the car (it’s a compact car and Barb sat in the truck…it’s true, we have photos!). The things we do to conserve fuel.

How wonderful to worship this morning. We were greeting warmly, had communion and at the end of the service the 4 of us (Barb Melema, Louie Bosma, John Vandersteen and yours truly) were asked to come to the front of the church. Rita introduced her brother, John and we each told why we signed up and we also mentioned what the purpose of the tour is. At the end of this the minister asked if we would gather in a circle and the congregation would lay their hands on us and pray for us. This was so meaningful, we truly feel blessed to have worshipped here this morning.

Next was lunch, and then we met Rita’s daughter Dot and her husband Carl and their two young sons. Rita has been extremely busy making salads for the supper tonight at the campground. Dot & Carl are also bringing up their camper so that they can transport some of the food. Carl will stay overnight because he will be cycling with us to the summit tomorrow morning.

We arrived at the campground around 3pm. This allowed us time to set up our tents, put laundry away, prepare water bottles and clothing for tomorrows ride. Supper was at 5:30pm and what a spread they have put out for us. We even got to view a rainbow during the supper hour…just a reminder that yes, God is good. The evening service was held at the picnic pavilion. We had quite a few guests from the community churches. Singing praise to Our Maker with a rainbow in the sky and mountains towering over us was incredible. The guest speaker did a fantastic job. I wish I could remember his name. He encouraged us, shared his testimony and then went on to explain how the organization that he is affiliated with helps ‘at risk teens’. By the time the service was ended, small groups were held and then it was after 9pm. I hiked up the hill and settled down for the evening. P.S. Note to self…..never again drink 2 water bottles full of ice tea before bed….first off it makes for a rather uncomfortable evening when the way to the washroom is dark and who knows what lurks in the bushes and secondly, ice tea contains caffeine….so much for my sleep!

Till Monday, Cynthia

Day 20 Willard to Salt Lake City 153km (actually 161.6km) Uphuill 5723ft Downhill 3201ft

It’s 9:30 Saturday evening as I start to work on this entry. John Vandersteen has invited us to join him at his sister’s place; Tom and Rita Cunningham. Now my parents would find this interesting. As we were playing the ‘dutch bingo’ game Rita found out that my maiden name was Dykxhoorn. When I mentioned that my parents were Tony & Corrie, Rita exclaimed that she knew them. Rita had spent 2 summers at my parent’s house when she was 16 & 17. She was doing field work to earn money so that she could finish her high school education. My parents were newlyweds at the time, and she remembers how sick my Mom was because she was expecting at the time. What a small world. Tom Cunningham, John Vandersteen and his sister, Rita Cunningham

Tom and Rita have generously opened their home to us. We’ve had wonderful showers (I’m even wearing one of Rita’s nighties because my pj’s are in the laundry) and they treated us to a ‘all you can eat buffet’ at a local restaurant. Boy, did we eat! Tomorrow we will attend their church in the morning and then head back to the park later in the afternoon so that we can set up our tents and attend the evening celebration service.

Now onto the day…

At peloton last evening it was announced that breakfast would be served from 6-7 a.m. so that everyone could get an early start to what promised to be a very long day. We have two climbs…the first one at mile 60 is just over 2000ft and the second one (which started as soon as we had the descent from the first climb) was around 1500 ft. The grades for these climbs ranged from 3-6%. Some cyclists have opted to only cycle to the church where Claire and Hildred provided a light lunch for us before we start the climb. This will give them a 100km day.

John and I were on sweep and that means we are to be the last ones out of the camp. If the climb was not done by 7pm, SAG was going to pick us up, so John was itching to go. I found him on his bike, helmet fastened, safety vest on circling the parking lot at 7 a.m. So I asked him what he was doing. John replied that our Sweep team leader had given him permission to leave early as long as he took a slow rider with him. So I joined him. Let’s not define the word ‘slow’ too much…does slow refer to bike speed or mental ability?!?. In my defense I will say that John and I unloaded the gear truck with some other cyclists on Friday afternoon and set up a lot of stuff before our actual sweep team came in and we also helped till late in the evening, when some others had retired for the night. We also reported for duty at 15 minutes earlier this morning then necessary. I’m still feeling a tad guilty but what’s done is done.

Today the map is rather challenging and John has promised that he won’t leave me. So off we went. Initially we had Dirk V, Pete W and Roger on our line. We set the pace easy (around 23km) in order to save our legs for the climb. After a McDonalds stop (to use the facilities) we left a few cyclists behind that had ordered coffee and continued on with Dirk. The 100km to the church seemed to fly by. We made it to the church within 4 hour and only had to turn around once because of a wrong turn. Pete, Louie, Barb and Gerry were still at the church when we arrived. They made a few more wrong turns then we did. We chatted with fellow cyclists and after a good ½ hour rest we headed out to tackle THE CLIMBS.

My goodness, as soon as we were out of the parking lot we had a short, very steep climb. Andy told me that at the top of this short and very, very difficult hill there was a sign pointing the direction to the airport. He contemplated throwing his bike in the ditch and buying a ticket home, but then remembered he didn’t have his passport on him, so he continued onward. Now remember John’s promise not to leave me….well, I lost him within 5 minutes of leaving the church! To his credit he was waiting for me at the top of the first climb and then he stuck with me for the reminder of the day.

I’m struggling to give you a description as to how hard today was and the only thing I can compare it to is childbirth. The pain starts off slowly but manageable (similarly to the first 100km of the day). Then the intense pain starts and it is relentless. Well that’s what the climbs were like. The climbs were doable but it was just such a long climb. The first one was around 12 miles or so. I just kept peddling, didn’t stop, just kept going and going till I reached the summit. Mountain Springs Community church had a booth up at the summit and were handing out gadorade and power bars. What a treat, I even scored a dark chocolate power bar. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loooooooove dark chocolate!

The ride down from the first climb was fast and all to short. We began to climb almost immediately. The second climb was a tad shorter (8 miles) but again it seemed to never end. Temperature on my bike read just over 100F. Our final destination is Jordanelle State Park. all
We stopped at Walter’s SAG and were told that we had approx 10km to go…wrong, it was more like 10 miles! You can also imagine my cry of dismay when we turned onto Hwy 40 only to see another hill. I thought to myself, ‘you’ve got to be kidding’. I just didn’t think I had enough fuel in the legs to do it, but that good ‘ld stubborn streak of mine kicked in and I made it into camp shortly after 4 pm. Once I stopped peddling my body rebelled a tad. I realized that I had been drinking enough water but I hadn’t really eaten anything substantial since breakfast so the world was turning. I quickly sat down with my head between my knees, ate some cookies for instant sugar, had several pieces of watermelon and John refilled my water bottle with cranberry juice. Felt better within 5 minutes.

I’m so grateful that I didn’t have to set up my tent last evening. We will go back to the park on Sunday afternoon to do this job. We were all exhausted, glad to be in and very glad to be billeted (okay, ‘hosted’ for you Americans). The state park that we are staying at is rather spread out. It is a hike to the tents, a 10 minute hike to the showers and the gear truck and kitchen trucks are down a trail. So nothing is in close proximately except for our tents!

It was great to do our laundry, wonderful to converse and laugh with both Tom and Rita and John, Barb, and Louie this weekend.
P.S. Just a funny aside….apparently on Friday evening there was a mouse scurrying under Bob & his daughter Lisa Brouwer’s tent, then it went under Louie’s tent. He could feel it under his floor mat and was afraid it would chew thru his tent. I told him it was a free massage. Thank goodness the mouse didn’t make his way to mine, the whole camp would have heard me screaming.

And that’s a wrap. Till next time, Cynthia
P.S. Total bike time 7:15 Average speed 22km

Day 19 Snowville to Willard 104km (actually 108.7) Uphill 1940 ft Downhill 2205 ft

Again everyone is up again bright and early. Last evening we were camped in very close quarters. It was such a long day and no one wanted to carry their gear too far so we were almost on top of one another. I didn’t even need to set my alarm because I could hear all the alarms of my neighbours! We were out of the camp by 6:40 a.m. Today Pete is not biking with us because he is on sweep.

Today’s ride was nice and short. I fear the heat is getting to me when I think a 108km day is short! We merged onto I-84 (Interstate Hwy). It is being repaved and we were very fortunate to be riding on a newly paved lane and wide shoulder. With that said, I should also point out the problem of biking on a Hwy that is under construction. The Hwy crew sets out great big orange barrels to keep the traffic away from the workers but when a large truck or two comes close to these or hits them…they tend to fly. One flew up in the air in front of John, missed both John and Barb but Jake Kuipers was not so lucky. One barrel hit his front wheel, he was able to hold on tight and didn’t go down. Aside from this it was a one of the smoothest roads we have traveled on so far. When we exited the Interstate, there was Walter’s SAG. Across the road from the SAG we noticed several deer and a fawn frolicking thru the long grass. We watched them for around 15 minutes before carrying on.

We are surrounded by mountains on both sides. It’s an incredible feeling. I thought I would feel claustrophobic instead it feels like God is wrapping His arms around me. I feel safe and secure.

From I-84 we traveled onto UT-83 South. We biked for miles around the ATK Rocket Test Facility. At one point we stopped to take a photo and wondered how many cameras were pointed at us. Several security cars have passed us...have we set off the orange alert?

Right after the Test Facility we were into the North End of the Great Salt Flats. At one point it smelled like rotten egg (hydrogen sulfide…this information is being provided by Gerry Kobes. He is sitting across from me and he has decided that I my blog should be filled with some intellectual facts). Julie SAG was situated in the small village of Corrine. We said ‘Hi’, filled up our water bottles and then headed to the Golden Spike Café across the street. It was 10 a.m….coffee time. The interior of the café was interesting. The women’s restroom blew me away. One room, two toilets...I’ve heard about sharing a shower, but never a bathroom! We cleaned the café out of their carrot cake and upside down pineapple cake. One of the privileges of being the first group in these villages is that you usually get your choice of baked goods (although this back fired yesterday with the cinnamon buns). Coffee was great. Now we only have 22 km before we hit Willard.
On the way to Willard we passed thru the city of Brigham. John and Louie insisted on having their photo taken in the middle of a 4 lane hwy right under the city sign. Later on when we were talking to some of the locals they said that every year approx. 3 people die in this intersection. Ignorance is bliss.

The sun is hot so we decided to carry on to the Willard Bay State Park. We missed the road but got turned around in the correct direction shortly. We are staying in a group camping area; Pelican Beach. Thank goodness for the picnic shelter. I have my tent parked facing the lake (waterfront property), right beside the washroom. Life is good. The Wasatch Mountains are across the road. This is a 160 mile mountain range that starts at the Utah/Idaho border. Sometimes they are called the Eastern Boundary of the Great Basin or The Western Edge of the Greater Rocky Mountains. The mountains looms 9,700ft, just waiting for us to cross it. (Again credit goes to Gerry for providing this insightful tidbit of information).

I start sweep tonight, so that means setting up and serving dinner. We lucked out and our using the picnic shelter so we don’t have to set up tables or the dining tents. Tomorrow will be a long day on sweep. We will be the last to leave camp (probably around 8:45 a.m. or later). The climbs are at the end of our 150km day. Paul, Teresa and I and the others on my sweep team will be tackling the climbs in the heat of the day, probably around 4 p.m. or later. Pray for perseverance and strength to make it. Till tomorrow, Cynthia P.S. This was the view out of my tent just before I called it day.
P.S.S. Temp on my bike hit 99F Average speed of the day 26.1km Bike time 4:09:22

Day 18 Burley to Snowville 138.1 km Uphill 3272 ft Downhill 2933 ft

Yes, 5 a.m. and I’m awake. How wonderful not to rush in the morning. We were on our bikes ready to roll by 6:30 a.m. The morning started off cool but the day promises to be a hot and long.

Yesterday Julie was there when we needed her and today Cory, the driver of our porta potty on wheels witnessed ‘the accident’ at km 15. We were all in a pace line clicking along at a good speed when all of a sudden Andy’s front tire hit my back tire. Thankfully, I didn’t go down but such was not the fate for Andy or Gerry K. Andy hit the pavement and Gerry who was behind him ran over Andy’s back rim and went for the ditch. Andy sustained some road rash on his right leg, Gerry looks fine. And the all important question, how is Andy’s bike? His computer cracked off so he will need to repair that once we are in a bigger city, but other than that everything is working well. Andy was able to bike the reminder of the day and really aside from a nasty looking knee, he looks as good as ever. After the first climb we tackled the highest climb of the day. Thank goodness for a granny gear. We had a short break ½ way up the climb and then once we hit the top we sailed down for the next 4 km. I didn’t even hit my brakes. Top speed of just under 70km. Besty, the day nurse was in her SAG vehicle at the bottom of the hill. We refilled our water bottles and continued on.

We pulled into a small town called Malta. If only we were 20 minutes later. They had just finished making homemade cinnamon buns but still had to pop them in the oven. Lucky for the riders after us. Coffee was only .50 and it hit the spot.

We had a miscommunication with our pace line when we left Malta. Barb, Gerry and I left ahead of the other guys because Julie was just 1km up the road and we needed to top up our water bottles. We stopped and then watched as John, Pete, Andy and Louie sailed by the SAG. That left Gerry and Barb to pull. Because of my slight frame no one benefits from me being at the front of the pace line…..not enough ‘drag’ off of me. I usually end up # 3 or 4 in a pace line. It was a slow ride up the final climb of the day (20 miles uphill). Walter’s SAG was at the top of the hill. How nice to sit in a chair (as opposed to the skinny, hard saddle I’m on for most of the day). Photo op…..we are entering Utah. Some cyclists are thinking of stopping in the town of Bountiful. I don’t think Mormons and spandex mix so I’ll just continue with the planned route.It was suppose to be a sweet 20 miles down to end the day. Instead we battled a head wind for the entire way down. It was tough. The wind kept switching. Both Gerry and Barb took turns with the lead and I just kept peddling. At the 80 mile marker we had to climb uphill to the small town of Snowville. Snowville has two diners, a Flying J, a variety store, and a campground. We are staying at the park. No showers and one washroom for the guys, one for the girls. Could be a long line tomorrow morning! They’ve set up a large blue tarp with a water hose and this is where you can ‘shower’. Girls first, then the guys. No warm water, only cold. I’ve decided to pay the $8.50 for a shower at the Flying J. Best $8.50 I’ve ever spent.

We’ve just come back from the peloton meeting. Several things happened today:
1) Three cyclists on the sweep team, Brad G, Theo and Nick E came into the town of Malta and seen the Pizza challenge. If you can eat a 15 inch pizza and a large coke within an hour it’s free. They went for it. It was a long hour. Two completed the challenge, the third had to pay. So if you’re ever in the town of Malta, look for their photos on the wall of fame.
2) Arnie Issette from Michigan tore his Achilles today and after a consultation with a doctor he will have to quit the tour and return home. He may have to have surgery. How disappointing for Arnie. We all feel badly for him.
3) Driving into Snowville the Pantry trailer became loose, and some groceries fell out. No serious damage…the people of Snowville probably think we have a strange way of donating food to the community.
4) And finally, poor Cory. He also experienced problems today. On his way to his second SAG of the day the porta potty let loose from the truck. It ended up in the middle of the road, upright. Len R witnessed the whole affair and then to his surprise as the porta potty was cruising down the hwy he witnessed, John, Johnny and Mark drafting behind the run away porta potty. (not very safe, but very fast.)

Now, it’s past my bedtime and I still have to go online and post.

Average speed 24.1km Total km 140 Bike time 5:47

Till tomorrow, Cynthia

Day 17 Gooding to Burley 141 km Uphill 2984 FT Downhill 2378 ft

I woke up with a start at 5:30 a.m. The camp is alive, everyone is thinking about the 130km day and if we want to see Shoshone Falls it will add 10 more kms. Anyways, so much for my good intentions of an early morning start. It’s an awful feeling when you’re behind the 8 ball. You rush, rush, rush, gobble down breakfast, brush those pearly whites, pack a lunch, hurry and spray the legs and arms with sunscreen, grab the helmet, sunglasses, put on the bike shoes, grab the bike and finally BREATHE. It’s 6:30 a.m. and we’re on the road.

It was a bit nippy once we got away from the school, I’m glad I have my arm warmers. At 17km we had a quick stop at Cory’s spott-a-pot. Then just 2 km down the road, Barb had a flat. How providential that Julie (one of our wonderful SAG drivers) would pick that exact moment to drive past us. We flagged her down for another tube, borrowed the bike pump and were quickly on our way.

We’ve been invited to view Ted Miller’s dairy farm. It is on our route and I was interested in seeing this huge operation since I grew up on a dairy farm in Southern Ontario. Upon arriving we were treated to cold chocolate milk (great recovery drink). His son-in-law, Glen and grandson gave us a tour of the operation. They milk 1700 cows (only Holsteins…black and white cows). The cows are milked three times daily. The milking parlor is circular and milks up to 50 cows at a time. It takes 10 mintues to run the cows thru the parlor. It was difficult taking a photo of the parlor, so I went with a photo of the cows instead. I did take note of the manure pits, but didn’t notice any of that ‘fresh’ country air.

Next stop….Snake Canyon. We climbed over some rocks to get a better view. Wow, now that’s a sheer drop down. I feel so insignificant amongst such grandeur. A few photos later and we were on our way again.

The town of Twin Falls provided us with another view of Snake Canyon. From here we headed to the Twin Falls RCA church for a wonderful lunch (it’s only 10 a.m. but anytime is good for food). Subs, chips, choc, strawberry or white milk, watermelon and to top it off, ice cream bars. What a treat. The church provided with us with detailed maps how to get to Shoshone Falls, it’s a bit of a detour but we’ve heard it will be well worth it. A big thank you to all those involved in providing us with this wonderful stop. Shoshone Falls, now that was a sweet ride down, going back up was another story….granny gear the entire way. The locals compare this site to our Niagara Falls.

Barb started out ahead of us to take the climb up the Falls and then set out on her own for the remainder of the day. We waited at the top of the hill for Louie (once a preacher, always a preacher). From here we settled down to complete the final 70 km. The temperature is climbing (high 90’s) and I just want to get into camp. We arrived in camp at around 2:15. Total time on the bike 5:20 Average speed 26km

After a quick break we unload the gear truck. Just when we had all the bags out the sprinkler system went off. Now we’ve got this down pat….some people stand on the sprinkler heads (carefully) and the others move away the bags. Thank goodness the janitor was near by and he reset the system so that it shouldn’t happen again. I must admit that the spray off the sprinklers was rather refreshing. I quickly set up my tent, attempted to take a shower…..no water pressure in the girls showers so we take over one of the guys locker rooms, although this leaves us with only one toilet and two urinals…that should be interesting.

I found a cool, quiet spot on the upper level of the gym. Barb and I settled down to type up our blogs. After an hour or so, it’s time to wrap it up and call it a day. Supper will be serving in less than ½ an hour.

Till tomorrow, Cynthia