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And they’re off!

Day1sept5

Distance Ridden 53 miles

Max elevation Marshall Pass 10,850’


The weather was a wildcard today. It’s 6:18pm   We are all in our tents hiding from a cold northerly storm.   Dinner was a speed serving of chicken mole burritos. And I mean speed. As soon as there was any warmth in that tortilla, it got a slap of chicken, cheese and tomato and shoved into someone’s hands. We barely got all our gear secured when the rain started. 

But that is the end of the day so I guess I had better tell you about the start. 

Day 1 is always awkward. Trying to get everything situated. Looking out from our rental house, the sky was already dark.  We did get an earlier start than expected. The riding was going to be interesting. A steady grade up for the first twelve miles to reach Marshall’s Pass and then mostly downhill  It was off and on showers on the way up. Thankfully the climbing kept us warmer. 

we saw a male moose and a female way off in a pasture.

We put on as much as we could for the downhill ride. We even put vinyl gloves from my first aid kit. The road was muddy and our tires flung mud in our faces and up our backs

The sun finally came out just as we joined highway 50. So we stripped off layers. At a gas station, we got a mechanic to lend us a pressure washer to knock the mud off. 

Around 3:30 PM we reached our camp and the weather was downright spectacular. We are on a rolling hill 8200’ elevation. Not a tree around. Just pasture land. 

Everyone was gassed out from the day’s ride and figuring out what gear would be best for the night. 

I saw the dark clouds to the north. Ron said normally clouds don’t move north to south. This one did. It was “all hands on deck” to get ready for the storm and get dinner in the stomachs. 

Well…. In the amount of time it took me to write this story, we were pelted , then it stopped and now it’s starting again but blue skies may join us but not today. 


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