February 2, 2006
The Peloton in the Mist
Down by our hotel the morning weather is weather, cool, a little damp, nothing special. As we climb up to the top of dam, however, we become enveloped in a thick mist. Riding through the nothing there are absolutely no sounds. Any sounds there might be, even sounds of our own bikes are absorbed by the mist. Now I know why we came up here the night before. If we hadn't we wouldn't have had the chance to see the lake at all let alone the spectacular drop offs, the water gates, or the mountains in the distance.
It's a long long long ride across the top of the dam. This thing is huge. It must be more than a kilometer from one end to another. Maybe even two or three kilometers once the earthworks are taken into consideration. Somewhen during our ride the sun starts to shine in earnest as a diffuse ball of light surrounded by squintillions of little almost rainbows. Every hair on my arms is starkly outlined with water droplets and I want to point out to the others that they should look when I suddenly realize I'm the only person with enough body hair for this to be happening to. Besides which, this wasn't a morning for talking. Talking would have spoiled the calm.
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Since I'm exceptionally well rested compared to the strong riders (and since I have no idea of the severity of the climb we are about to face) I stay fairly close to the head of the pack. It's not that hard to do. Faster than I'd go if I were riding alone in this but not really fast. Comfortable.
By the time we get to our first easy climbs I'm slowing down more than I'd like but I'm still going strong. I'd like to say that it's only because I need more gears to deal with the climbing but most of my mountain bike riding friends are still fairly high in the middle chainring. They are just stronger climbers than I am. Then, the road abruptly narrows from two lanes of blacktop with shoulders to one lane of concrete. Everyone starts shifting down, and the real climb begins.
Today's ride: 12 km (7 miles)
Total: 320 km (199 miles)
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