Day 5 – Thank you Sean!!!

Miles completed: 72.8

Cumulative miles: 240.7

Miles to St Augustine: 2,849

Today’s ride was a tale of three sections. First, we rode about 20 miles through agricultural lands in the Imperial valley. At the end of that section, there is a large canal that comes from the Colorado River. The Imperial valley is the largest user of Colorado river water. They grow a tremendous amount of vegetables.

Then almost immediately after the canal, there is about 10 miles of sandy area and large sand dunes that were gorgeous.

The final 40 miles was through natural desert and had one long climb but not too steep, and we had a tailwind most of the day!

My ride started slow. Pat had a flat and Brent and I stayed with him while he fixed it, but it didn’t hold and he had to call for the van to get a new tire. Then about 20 miles into the ride Brent had a flat that took very long to fix. By the time we got going again, one of the tour leaders, Tammy, was there so I rode ahead to make up time since we still had 50 miles to go. I rode solo for those 50 miles and really increased my pace. At the end of the day, my riding app showed I was moving for 5 hours and stopped for 3 hours. I don’t want to do that again, but I also know I’m going to need help and support from others in the future.

I carry a lot of water with me. I have a backpack with a water bladder that holds 2.5 liters and I also have 2 water bottles. About 12 miles to go, I finished my water bladder and I got uncomfortable with my water supply but I knew I could make it if nothing went wrong. At a similar time I noticed a car drive me at a slower speed than the rest of the traffic. About a mile up the road, that car had pulled over, and a man was standing outside and offering me a cold bottle of ice tea. I gladly took it and it was cold and delicious. We only talked a few minutes, but I learned his name was Sean and he had done some bicycle riding/racing in the past. I thanked him profusely and I’m sorry I didn’t take his picture, because he was my guardian angel today. Thank you Sean!