BRRRR!!!!

Holey mazoley. It is COLD here. We started riding this morning before the sun was up over the Davis mountains. The thermometer read 36, I think. COLD! Here's what I wore:

Feet:
Heavy wool socks
bike shoes
Neoprene overbooties.

Legs:
Bike shorts
full length tights

Top:
Bra
Warm undershirt
long sleeved wool shirt
extra thick jersey long sleeved bike jersey
down jacket
windbreaker

Head:
fleece balaclava
helmet
glasses

and
bike gloves and fleece overgloves

And I was just about right.
Okay, once we got off the mountain I shed the down jacket but kept all the other things on almost the whole day. We stopped for hot chocolate and I took off the balaclava and the gloves and the booties, but I was so cold when we started back up that I had to stop the SAG (Support And Gear) vehicle and get all those things and put them back on.

The road surface was pretty good. Not too much chip seal (this, for you who wondered, is a VERY rough surface of chunks of asphalt and a tiny bit of something to hold it all together. It's like riding on a washboard.) And the wind, at the start, was not much of a consideration. We breezed along. The wind picked up but came from the north west. We were headed southeast so that was okay. But then we turned a bit to the north and that wind about blasted us off the road and into the fields. Huge gusts pummeled us, made us swerve, lean into the wind, hoping to remain upright. Fortunately, it only lasted for about 5 miles and we knew we could ride that much.

We're staying at a fancy place here, the Gage Hotel. Ooh baby. Swank. They have thick robes in our rooms and old saddles and lots of faded leather and stuffed things that people shot once upon a time. It's quite a place. And it is especially inviting because outside the wind is still whipping along. I'm happy to be here. Happy to be on this ride. Happy, yes, to be alive on this glorious day in this gloriously different part of the world.

Oh - I almost forgot. I got a flat tire today. This is now just about a non-issue. The only notable thing about it is that we had just stopped at a Radio Shack for me to buy a mini Leatherman (a cute, blue multi tool thingamabob.) Connie has one and it comes in handy when pulling out thorns from flat tires. Well, I bought one. I got a flat. I used my mini Leatherman. That'll teach me.