Tour Divide Day 18.
Total time: 12 hours.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up.
Am I still here?
Ugh.
This trip feels like it is taking forever. Did you know that there are people who are already done? Yeah, they finished yesterday. Wow. That is so amazing. I wish that I had that strength, that determination. It blows my mind what they have achieved.
Sometimes I wish that I were a robot. Enough of this emotional crap. Enough of psyching myself up constantly. Just go, Tori. It is less than 1000 miles remaining. Get over it and just go. Everything will be fine once you are in the saddle again.
Maybe a song will help. How about some Whitesnake...
...Here I go again on my ooo-own...
...Dauw-nauw-nauw-nauw...
(I gather the strength to leave the hotel room)
...Going down the only road I've ever kn-ooow-n...
...Dauw-nauw-nauw-nauw...
(Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Cut the record.)
John from Helena and JohnnyP roll past on the road. Instant smile. My social experiment is on hold and we go for breakfast and errands. Luke and Dan join shortly after.
At breakfast, I discover that my food processor is on strike. Perhaps in protest to not getting paid last night. Hey, its not my fault that everything was closed. Depriving me of an appetite isn't going to help. I force feed myself some granola and I stuff a bun in my pocket for later.
Marshall Pass is my project for the morning and, unexpectedly, for the afternoon. It's a big one and a cooker, too. My progress up, and down, is slow. Despite my pleas for peace, my stomach continues it's protest, leaving me with little energy move along.
I catch up with the guys at Sargeants, a little gas station town at the bottom of the pass. I promise my food processor anything it wants if it will just make a demand. Ok, I promise it anything that I can find in a convenience store. No luck.
We have to load up on food as it will be a long haul to the next services and tonight we will be camping. Dan shows off his array of snacks and meals for the next 24 hours. It includes fig newtons, which causes a look of revulsion from Luke. 'I can't eat those things, my grandma told me that those little crunchy things inside are wasp eggs'.
Awesome. I'm going to use that one on my nephews!
Mother nature takes no mercy on us after Sargeants. Full on headwind. I get dropped immediately by the guys, but I just keep moving.
On the bike. Off the bike. On the bike.
Anything to carry on progress. The gusts are so intense at times that pushing my bike feels like I'm wrestling a steer (or, at least what I imagine that would feel like). I imagine that I'm in a bad movie where the protagonist is shot but refuses to die and then keeps getting up and coming back, staggering on ahead, one foot in front of the other.
(Enter black Sabbath)
...Has she lost her mind?...
...Can she see or is she blind?...
...Can she walk at all,...
...Or if she moves will she fall?...
I keep riding for some time after sunset and eventually catch my three amigos at a reservoir. Luke and Dan are camped under the 'warmth' of an outhouse shelter, which brings the first smile to my face that I've had in hours.
Long day. Smashed, again.
Thank you, everyone, for your continued support.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
posted by tori at
3:06 PM
12 Comments:
Thank you, Tori. It WAS like that, but I had heard it mostly in snippets. There are some still higher points coming on, and we are all pulling for you.
Thinking of you all the way, Tori--wish I could do more. But then, this is all about YOU. Or is it? If it helps, remember the Ancestors--
And you will contiue to have our support. Thank you for keeping us involved in this journey.
When you started writing about the protagonist who refuses to die, I thought of the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "It's just a flesh wound...Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!"
Iron Man works too.
-Cathy
Amazing blog. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure.
Tori,
Thank you for sharing your adventure with all of us. You are truly an inspiration to all of us who have never physically & mentally pushed ourselves like you have. Makes me think that there is so much more many of us could accomplish than we think we are capable of. We will all be celebrating with you when you cross that finish line!
Angie (JP's wife's friend)
What Angie said! Just checking your location...you've got a big climb in the morning! JP said that stretch was slow going, but he was doing it in the afternoon so you should have a better start. I will be thinking good thoughts!
-Cathy
And on the 20th Day there is and was the Highest Mountain. Wonder of Wonders. What a beautiful place to be found!
Hi Tori,
Very nice to follow you on this big adventure. I am so impressed!
Keep going girl!
Laurence
(Tom's friend)
Hi ya Tori! You're doing fantastic!!! I only wish that we would have been allowed to have like met you in Fairplay, Salida or somewhere in Colorado and at least have given you a thumbs up and a hug. I talked with Scott about it but he had said that the rules didn't allow that. So shit!
Anyway, been following you all the way and so glad you're doing such a great job! Hang in there! You're almost into New Mexico now!!
Len DeMoss
I love all the music references! I have songs running through my head all day too.
Do you know Unwritten? That one seems to apply.
Thanks for sharing your story, you continue to amaze and inspire.
Your blue bouncy bubble thing has way more line North of it than South of it! I know you still have a ways but on my computer screen its only about 1"! 1 inch Tori! You are doing awesome!
Steve.
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