Well, today was the first day back at work and they greeted me with champagne and cake at 9am! It's good to be back, but was hard to focus all day. So, to answer some of your questions.
How did you stay so clean? - my first jersey was not too porous and since it was all white, i could nuke it at the laundromats or in hotel rooms with super hot water. Plus, I wore a jacket over it a bit, which protected it. I also changed out to new clothes at Salida. It helped my morale a lot to be clean and hurt it a lot when I wasn't! So, whenever I could, i stopped at creeks to take the layers off my legs and face. The sunblock, hammer balm and insect repellant added up.
What did you miss the most? - Brendan, of course!
Where was your best meal? - Pie town, definitely. It wasn't just the food, it was the fact that I was sitting down to a meal at the beginning of the last map.
Were you ever afraid of your surroundings (other than the bear spray in one hand/bike in the other at Richmond Peak)? - Matthew warned us that there were some strange people out there and I had to old guys hit on me in NM. I got the bear spray ready and toughened up, but it was definitely scary.
What did you take that you didn't use? - leatherman, sewing kit, rain pants (used minimally, but could do without, I think)
What didn't you take that you would have loved to have? - arnica, ended up picking it up along the way - good for swelling.
Do you still love your bike? - definitely, Frieda worked harder than me most days and I'm torn thinking if I should just ride her or hang her on the wall.
What would you change? - I would pack lighter and ride longer days and stay on top of my nutrition better. The swelling along with all the weight I was carrying really slowed me down. I would just deal with a little less comfort and in the end get home sooner.
What was your best/worst day? - My best day was definitely pulling into the border. I'm glad we finished it with an all-nighter, it was beautiful. My worst day was when I'd convinced myself that I wasn't good enough for this and my body couldn't handle it and I had to drop because of swelling, I had to ride backwards 10 miles on the course to get to town - glad as hell I realized what was going on and got hydrated and carbed up.
Where was your best unexpected trail magic? When the rain would start heading my way i'd sing a little song about "rain, rain, go away" and it worked every time. I never got drenched, only some sprinkles here and there.
I like to think that most things were the same for me as they were for the guys, but there were some differences. Most of these were in my interactions with people on the trail. I was probably asked twice a day if I was racing this "all by myself". I was also asked if I was "along for the ride?" and was told how to care for my bike from shop guys (even though I had already adjusted and maintained it for 1,500 miles already.) On the positive side, I'm pretty sure that I was treated better on a few occasions than the guys and every woman I met trailside joined me in my pursuit vicariously. People were almost always nice to me and always amazed by me. This would prove to push me up the mountain time and time again.
getting settled in - a few answers to your questions
Well, today was the first day back at work and they greeted me with champagne and cake at 9am! It's good to be back, but was hard to focus all day. So, to answer some of your questions.
How did you stay so clean? - my first jersey was not too porous and since it was all white, i could nuke it at the laundromats or in hotel rooms with super hot water. Plus, I wore a jacket over it a bit, which protected it. I also changed out to new clothes at Salida. It helped my morale a lot to be clean and hurt it a lot when I wasn't! So, whenever I could, i stopped at creeks to take the layers off my legs and face. The sunblock, hammer balm and insect repellant added up.
What did you miss the most? - Brendan, of course!
Where was your best meal? - Pie town, definitely. It wasn't just the food, it was the fact that I was sitting down to a meal at the beginning of the last map.
Were you ever afraid of your surroundings (other than the bear spray in one hand/bike in the other at Richmond Peak)? - Matthew warned us that there were some strange people out there and I had to old guys hit on me in NM. I got the bear spray ready and toughened up, but it was definitely scary.
What did you take that you didn't use? - leatherman, sewing kit, rain pants (used minimally, but could do without, I think)
What didn't you take that you would have loved to have? - arnica, ended up picking it up along the way - good for swelling.
Do you still love your bike? - definitely, Frieda worked harder than me most days and I'm torn thinking if I should just ride her or hang her on the wall.
What would you change? - I would pack lighter and ride longer days and stay on top of my nutrition better. The swelling along with all the weight I was carrying really slowed me down. I would just deal with a little less comfort and in the end get home sooner.
What was your best/worst day? - My best day was definitely pulling into the border. I'm glad we finished it with an all-nighter, it was beautiful. My worst day was when I'd convinced myself that I wasn't good enough for this and my body couldn't handle it and I had to drop because of swelling, I had to ride backwards 10 miles on the course to get to town - glad as hell I realized what was going on and got hydrated and carbed up.
Where was your best unexpected trail magic? When the rain would start heading my way i'd sing a little song about "rain, rain, go away" and it worked every time. I never got drenched, only some sprinkles here and there.
I like to think that most things were the same for me as they were for the guys, but there were some differences. Most of these were in my interactions with people on the trail. I was probably asked twice a day if I was racing this "all by myself". I was also asked if I was "along for the ride?" and was told how to care for my bike from shop guys (even though I had already adjusted and maintained it for 1,500 miles already.) On the positive side, I'm pretty sure that I was treated better on a few occasions than the guys and every woman I met trailside joined me in my pursuit vicariously. People were almost always nice to me and always amazed by me. This would prove to push me up the mountain time and time again.
Mary