Overton NV

This 96 mile ride might as well have just been a century because it was so exhausting and such a long day! The whole beginning of the ride was all riding straight uphill and I was not having it! This was the ride day that Colleen always talks about when I got the most grumpy and bossy while riding. I was yelling at Greg for catching up to me on the hills and yelling at Colleen for going too fast! It was pretty funny…after the fact. I remember having an especially hard time with being in the back on this day. We ended up with sweep because about 10 miles into the ride, Elle was having a hard time and thought she was going to pass out so we stopped with her for about an hour, making sure that she was okay and trying to help prevent her from passing out. Eventually, the van finally got to us and we were able to get back on the road but by that time, we were at the back of the group and were mentally over it. It wasn’t after long that we realized we are definitely getting into the desert. The gas stations were becoming more and more scarce and the vast openness was becoming more and more apparent. I remember it got soooo hot on this ride and Greg and I were starting to become really effected by it. We made it to the second water drop, under a bridge for the highway we were about to get on. I was highly debating whether or not I should just van and save myself the trouble. Greg surrendered to the heat and made a smart decision to get in the van but I wanted to keep going so badly. Eventually, Micah and Jamie caught up to us and Colleen and I took Jamie’s place as sweep, making our way through the rest of the ride. At second lunch, we had to be shuttled for part of the ride because of construction on the highway that was dangerous to bike through. The rest of the way into the host, Micah played the this or that game with me the entire way, trying to distract me from the desert and how miserable we all were. Making it into the host was amazing! Everyone was standing outside of the church yelling “SWEEEEEPPP” and clapping for us! That was one of my favorite things ever because I realized how appreciated my efforts were. Greg had bought us sodas, Molly took my bike and put it away for me, Dan had gotten the mail and my packages were waiting for me and everyone on the team set aside special plates for us so that they made sure we had enough food to eat for dinner. It really was one of my favorite things on this trip! It made my heart smile.