11 March 2014
Alpine to Boulevard, California
37 miles (Total Miles = 79)

We need to introduce you to Candy:

It’s highly possible that we will be able to blog the entire rest of our trip simply using quotes from Candy. I would characterize her as the spark that lights up the Fourth of July. She is spunky, strong, entertaining, and just the person we need to keep us lively and fun on this 2 month long trip.

Here’s just a sampling of Quotable Candy thus far:

“I’ll be drowning then” in response to another rider’s request that if we see him on the side of the road suffering from heat exhaustion, to please throw some cold water on him.

“Oh God, like glue I hope you’re stuck” in response to directions given at a map meeting when Leader Paul said he’d be sticking with her on the ride.

“You girls are not made of good stock” which was further explained by her observation that Gina was complaining that it was cold in the morning and I was complaining that it was cold in the evening and “it’s 90 degrees outside.”

Candy claims she’s slow but she pretty much kicked our butts for most of the day. These would be butts glued to saddles as we climbed another few thousand feet. The good news – not so hot as yesterday. The bad news – not so calm as yesterday either. Our nice cooling breeze became a fairly dreadful headwind that when combined with the climbing, made for a relatively tough day. Gina thought it was easier than the day before but I think by “easier” she meant “prettier”.