Day 5 - Crash and burn. Tough day. Looking forward to Day 6.

A group stretching in the morning before their ride.

Day 5. Things can change on a dime. Four days in. Rides of 85, 107, 66 and 97 miles. Today was the shortest ride day - 40 miles from Santa Maria to Lompoc. Day 5 is "Red Dress Day" on the ride. All riders are encouraged to ride in our AIDS awareness red best, whatever that means to you. There was a lot of primping and posing, smiles, laughter and general good-natured compliments everywhere, toward everyone. To see a single line of red-dressed cyclists as far as you can see was quite a sight.

 

There was going to be a few climbs at mile 18 and mile 24, but how bad could it be and in total 40 miles. I think I backed off my focus just a little. Didn't drink enough, didn't eat enough. We barely were on our way and at mile 4 a rider right in front of me and another rider (Stuart from Glasgow, Scotland), caught the side edge of his front tire on the side of a raised part of the road on the shoulder, tried redirecting the bike, but lost control of it and spilled hard. I called the emergency services number written on the wristband we wore the whole week, while Stuart tried attending to him. Help came almost immediately and we had to trudge on. I just remember his number was 5759. I hoped we was going to be ok. Stuart and I stopped for coffee to clear our heads, before digging back into the day. No matter where you were or how you were feeling, everyone was encouraging, helping, praising, complimenting and thanking their fellow riders (and roadies) for their efforts, however small or large. If you rode by someone on the side of the road, you'd make sure they were ok before continuing on. People helping people all the time, all day long. The amount of support on the road (and in camp) was second to none.
Lots of weather changes and a couple tough climbs picked at me all day. We all have great days and less than great days. Today was a less than great day for me, but one thing is for sure out here is that you have to have short term memory loss. You work toward the next rest stop, the next break and eventually the ride for the day is over. Tomorrow is an 80+ miler that should be a beautiful day from Lompoc to Ventura through Santa Barbara. Tomorrow I will wake w/ the task at hand, planning to enjoy every pedal of every mile of every moment I'm riding and enjoy the rest stops I'm breaking in. I'm planning on it being that easy. I hope it is.