May 27 - 130km ride, rain, lost one

I'm Back! Today I rode with the group, covering 130km's from Jasper to Valemount and I felt amazingly good. Luckily my lungs were clearer than when I rode yesterday, otherwise I don't think I would have made it. The day started with a fun descent from the hostel, but unfortunately this descent cost us one athlete. Larisa Yurkiw had, what I heard, was a pretty scary crash that launched her into the woods. Luckily she came away with only a severe bruise on her thigh, although it is likely severe enough that she will not be riding anymore.

For the first 70km I rode in a group of 7, without knowledge of Larisa's crash, as we faced heavy rains with some wind. I ate more dirt today than I have through all my life. I felt lucky to be in a group that was working so well together, it made the ride go quickly. With 3 boys and 4 girls it was a nice mix. Although in the first 10km I had several rooky mistakes as I got into it; dropped water bottle in the rain, chain fell off the cassette, and nearly taking out Emily as I tried to get food from my back pouch. Luckily, I got into the rhythm from there though.

Mostly today, I was just happy to be out on my bike, I was mostly smiles...even with the rain:) At 64km mark everyone took a short break, changed clothing, refilled water bottles, ate, washed off as much mud as possible, then we hit the road again. Some of the athletes didn't change clothing and wanted to get going quickly. Those, including myself, who did change clothing weren't finished fast enough to continue the ride with them. So, when we were ready to hit the road again it was a group of 4. The other girls hadn't reached the rest point yet.

So, the rest of the ride consisted of a group of 4. I was amazed at how much more work it was, especially when the head winds picked up for the last 30km. Still, we worked well together and we had some fun on the big descents and worked hard on the ascents.

My body appears to have survived the first day fairly well. My right knee is quite sore from overuse, but with icing and physio I hope it won't become cumulatively worse.

Till next time!

K