Give up on giving up.

The day started in the dark, pretty much. This was a big day, and a lot of the good to pretty good riders didn't want to make a mistake by riding with the faster group and running out of steam. I opted to go early and slower.

Tara tells us that we are going to be in for a hell of a day

 I felt pretty sluggish out of the blocks. Again we had the stunning coastline views but seen through the lens of not a small amount of gut-wrenching effort as the coastline dips and undulates. Then we turned left, up into the mountains. This was not a trivial climb by any standards.  I rode with Chris Page, a veteran of the Alps rides and quite an amazing climber. I quickly quaffed the 100 mg of Caffeine gel Dan had kindly given me earlier in the day and set off. It was probably the most brutal climb I'd encountered. It kicked up and the steepness just sucked all the energy from your legs. And then it carried on, twisting and turning, heading into the tree line. Always looking like it was about to end as it dipped down but then pushed up again. Six miles of pain. Not helped by me wearing full winter gear to fend of the chilly morning that had now morphed into a scorching California afternoon. Chris was a real champion, and when I started to flag he hung back and told me we were going to finish it together. On the way up I thought of my dear friends and what they are going through with their battle with cancer. Maybe it was the heat, or the effort but when we got the top I felt the tears come to my eyes and a lightness in my chest.

Hats off to you Chris.

The gang arrived soon after. Dave recorded an amazing time, beaten only by Polo, the invincible south American rider who's pulse sits around 30 beats per minute and one other.  Charlie had blown up as, through a series of errors, believed the climb to be about 30% shorter than it really was.

Grey looks good on you

 The afternoon did not let up however. We descended in beautiful dappled light, into California Meadows. And then the rolling hills were just so tough. The phrase 'rolling' had lulled us into a false sense of security. After the huge climb we'd all done these felt like the Bear in the 'Revenant'. Just when you thought it had done gouging you it came back for more. At a certain point, the thought of giving up became old. I gave up on that too, and let the pain in my knee and the sunshine go through me. Stop resisting. The road doesn't end here, stop expecting it to. And joy seeped into the pedals and somehow made it work. 

Riding with Rani and Robin

Again Chris rode with me and - well- we smashed dem hills. Kicked them back into shape. Rolled in the hotel with our heads held high. And live to ride another day. We ate pizza in Paso Robles and then stopped into MacDonalds for a Cheeseburger. It was deserved.