June 25, 2017 – Parker, AZ to Wickenburg, AZ – 110 miles
For our first full century ride, two of my teammates and I were designated to be the sweeps for the day. This means that we would be the last pace line in the pack and that our day would be full of a slow and steady riding ensuring that no pace lines fall to far behind.
The morning weather was cool, the sunrise along the red hills of Arizona was amazing and something very worth while to pause and take in. Although the day looked hard and long, we kept a positive attitude and decided to enjoy each moment as it came and went. By mile fifty we had left behind the comfort of the morning ride and started into the most challenging time of the day.
My pace line had adopted another cyclist that had been doing his best to push his fellow riders but eventually got separated from his pace line after lunch. This gave our line a whole new surge of energy and by mile seventy or so we were yelling all sorts of crazy motivating things to just pass the time and make it fun. After lunch at mile eighty, we had over three hours left in the day. This was full of keeping our heads up and just getting through the remaining miles without going too crazy. The rest of the day was uneventful until we rode up on a pace line of two riders and had to help them replace two flat tires to finish out the last few miles of the day.
From five thirty in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon we finally finished our first monumental and challenging one hundred and ten mile century ride.
At dinner, sponsored by the Wickenburg Elks, the team had a special opportunity to sing the Rose to one of the lodge’s members. There, they fed us a delicious meal of lasagna and ensured that we would be well fueled for our ride tomorrow.
Today was rewarding as we were able to get 100 miles in for the first time as a team and getting to enjoy some great company in Wickenburg.
Brandon Deputy
Theta Iota (Washington State University)
Riding with, Fernando and Skylar. Adopted biker – Chad