Wake up to a little rain and construction workers/truckers working away. Also woke up to a sore throat and a stuffy/congested nose/head. We can start to see mountains which is exciting but intimidating as all heck. The weather is suppose to be sunny but clouds are all around. It's either we "wait" out the rain or pack up and hope the blue skies come. We packed up and hoped it would become blue. We also started to get our first taste of the mosquitoes, the worst creatures on this earth.
A construction worker came over once we started to head to the road asking what we were doing and where we were going. "I always have to ask bikers their story when i see them" he said. We heard that through the construction you had to take the pilot car so we asked if we were good to go through. He paged someone and they said yes but Jimmy was slick about asking for a ride by throwing out "where's the pilot car to give us a ride?". The guy said that we could flag them down and then offered to give us a ride to the end of construction since he didn't have much going on. He was a surveyor and gave his guys enough work so he had some time to kill. I will not complain about a ride, especially through construction.
Once he dropped us off we were at the beginning of a paved section. Now their paved sections aren't as great as one would think (especially for cars/trucks). A bumpy road is a bumpy road no matter what on a bike. The nice construction guy saved us a good hour or so and about 3-4 miles, that made up for yesterday since we didn't meet our 50 miles!
We start biking and about 5 miles down the road we hit our first hill and the gravel road starts again. I instantly start crying, have no idea why. The hill intimated me for some reason. And now my nose won't stop running. Jimmy feels horrible but i can't explain why i am such an emotional wreck. Jimmy starts to think alternative options we can do but i know i just need to give it a chance. Ever since we landed Jimmy has been having anxiety about everything and now i am definitely not helping.
Jimmy's mom has a tradition each time Jimmy has gone on a trip. She gives me a cross and the only stipulation is that he has to bring it back to her... both still intacted! i thought maybe the cross would help me a little emotionally... according to my face i really need it!
I make it up the first hill! And the road again is like a small rollercoaster, just up and down and up and down. After each hill i stop at the top of the hill to catch my breath and blow my nose. I keep telling myself i can do this and i can't quit until i have one day without crying.... that might not be until Fairbanks. Every time we stop though we get attacked by mosquitoes so the stops aren't quick or enjoyable. We eventually get to go down a nice long hill, gravel makes it a little bit more intimidating to go fast. At the end of the hill we pull over to have lunch and talk life out. Now writing this day after it happened it seems so extreme but during it was pure hell.
Our goal was to make it to Happy Valley Campground (hoping valley means I'm not going up hills anymore). A couple miles to Happy Valley we see a storm coming in and try to beat it. A mile to Happy Valley it just pours/hails on us, not what we were hoping for.
We ride into Happy Valley only to find out that the doors are locked with a padlock. With it still raining we walk around to see if we can find anyone or a dry place to stay. After a loop around someone comes out to greet us and inform us that this is a private camp. BUT since it was raining and we were soaked i think he felt bad because he said we could put our tent up under a cover and if we didn't mind a dirty camper we could stay in there. We head to the camper which looks like it hasn't been used in awhile and hang up all our clothes to dry. We attempted to set up camp in side the camper but with a hole somewhere and mosquitoes constantly coming in we moved to our tent under a cover.
The really bad thing about the mosquitoes is when you have to use the restroom. While i would go Jimmy would have to stand behind me and fan all the mosquitoes away.... not an easy task. After going to the bathroom i had about 10 mosquito bites in places mosquitoes shouldn't be able to reach. Now if that is not true love, for better or for worse, then i don't know what is. The things one does in a marriage.
It's such a nice feeling having dry clothes on and being in a tent with a million mosquitoes buzzing around outside. Jimmy's mind is still racing and I'm still trying to tell myself that i can do this and it will get better. Ending our day with 28 miles (a little under our mileage goal) and soaking wet clothes. Maybe tomorrow is the day everything starts to fall into place.
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