Day 3 - I survived the ride to San Simeon!

What a beautiful and a very long and hard ride from Carmel to San Simeon, but, I made it! :-)  Approximately the last 10 miles of the ride was in the rain.

I woke up about 2:15 this morning and I'm hoping to go back to sleep.  I had to take my second All Day Strong Aleve.  My muscles hurt!  Talk about some awesome hills and descents.  Of course, I'm not a fast descender and there were a lot of winding descents.  

I just pulled my odometer off my bike:
Miles for the Carmel to San Simeon ride: 95.37; Average speed 11.6; Max speed:  30.3; Time on the bike for the ride:  8 hours and 11 minutes. 

Two of my friends from Alameda are participating in the R2R, one is riding and the other volunteered to drive their vehicle and be a part of the SAG Team.  I told Anthony I ended up riding in the rain and that people asked me if I wanted a ride the rest of the way and he said something like, there was no way anyone was going to pry Debi off that bike this close to the end.  I told him they'd have to send John Wordin to get me off. ;-)  I'd probably fight him tooth and nail.  I want so bad to finish every day's ride.

The person who stayed with me from the time he road up on me was Jason.  Often times stronger riders will give you a push on the back to help increase your momentum. Jason is an officer in the Signal Corps and stationed at Fort Knox, KY.  Once he came on me he pretty much stayed with me.  He often stopped to check on riders and then he'd catch up with me again.  He knew how much I wanted to finish this ride.  What a motivator.  What a leader and what a great guy.   I will never forget this young man.

I met some other strong riders who helped relieve Jason.  I met David, a veteran and San Jose firefighter, another David, Gary and Stephen, an R2R mechanic.  They helped me, too.  Jason, both Davids, Gary and Stephen were instrumental in helping me get up the hills.  I am very grateful for their support.

My primary motivation to finish this entire ride is knowing I'm riding for the men and women who are serving today and many who have sustained life changing injuries.  This has been quite a challenge for those who have never been on a bike, but it is a great component of their rehabilitation and many of them are looking forward to the next ride. 

I'm also riding for those who paid the ultimate price.  There were a lot of  times ascending the hills I would ask God to help me complete this ride because I really need to complete this ride for our military who can't.

The song, The Climb by Miley Cyrus ran through my head over and over, too.  

                              . . . Ain't about how fast I get there,

                              Ain't about what's waiting on the other side 

                             It's the climb . . .

I'm tired from all that TREKkin' so I need to try to get some more sleep.  I'll get about 30 minutes of sleep before my alarm goes off and then we'll be headed to Pismo.

God bless America and God bless our military and their families.

Until next time.

Always,

Debi

AKA Deborah Palmer