Well, I’ve been meaning to write a summary post for Sea to
Sea, but I just never really got around to it.
I find often people will ask about “what was your favourite day?” or “what
was your worse day?” and it’s amazing how quickly I can come up with an
answer. I guess my main summary of the
tour is was that it was an incredible experience that I miss every day! I definitely will be thinking of my fellow
Sea-to-Sea-ers as I head out for my ride this afternoon!
Favourite day: Poncha
Springs, CO to Canon City, CO
A gorgeous, mostly downhill day through a beautiful canyon
along the Arkansas river that culminated in white water rafting through the
Royal Gorge – can’t top it!!  |
| Pausing in Salida before heading on to Canon City on my favourite day |
Fastest Day: Colby,
KS to Norton, KS, aka Prairie Dog State Park day
Riding with my dad in a slight downhill and a tailwind meant
we were cruising at an average speed of 30km/h!
It was great! Only downside – to get
to our accommodation, we had to turn into a pretty stiff headwind. Fortunately, my mom came along in the SAG
vehicle at that moment for us to draft into camp.
 |
| Drafting the SAG on the fastest day |
Most Miserable day: Fulton, IL to Shabbona, IL
I think it’s pretty good that
this was the most miserable day, because we still had fun. It was in the middle of 2.5 weeks where it
rained almost every other day, and I was getting a bit sick of the cold and the
wet shoes . It was also in the middle of
a few longish days in a row.
Fortunately, Adam kept us entertained by making us guess the cause of
strange scenarios (a kind of 20 questions) – kept the miles clicking off!
 |
| A miserable day biking in the rain on our way to Shabbona |
Most memorable day: Diagonal,
IA to Chariton, IA
Blue Rodeo Day aka. Hit by a car day. The first day riding with team Blue Rodeo (we
got lost, but at least we were lost together).
We had a great day riding and a great time being on our own (it was an
adventure!). Then, I got pushed off the road
by a travel trailer (slightly less than ideal).
Then, we spent some time exploring Chariton, IA. Then, there was ice cream cake. Then, we hung out with a few drinks, a pie,
and some great friends. Amazing!
 |
| Lost but smiling on the most memorable day of the tour |
Hottest Day: Desert
Center, AZ to Quartzite, AZ
The last desert riding day before the tour was
suspended. The air temperature was
around 120 F (49C), but peoples’ temperature readings on their bike computers
were around 125-130F (52-54C) because of the heat reflected off the road
surface. After a stop at Mcdonald’s for
ice cream and air conditioning, it felt like the whoosh of hot air when you
open your oven to get back on the road.
Unbelievable!
 |
| The sun started out beautiful, but quickly became unbearable outside of Desert Center |
Coldest Day: Colorado
Springs, Co to Limon, CO
A good day, one of the first I spent riding with Kaitlyn
(one of the girls I ended up riding with a lot), but a big climb in the rain
out of Colorado Springs was not a super fun start. I had luckily grabbed a light jacket when
leaving camp as someone said it *might* rain.
Then, it got cold and foggy, and we were VERY underdressed! A SAGged rider lent me her leg warmers and
toque, which, along with frequent hot chocolate stops, made the day bearable.
 |
| Rain and fog meant we were a teeny bit chilly outside of Colorado Springs |
Favourite climbing
day: Ausable Chasm, NY to Whitehall, NY
My biggest climbing day of the tour was in the Adirondacks,
and the amazing scenery, the fact that I knew I could do the climbing (what the
heck, I had already been riding 8 weeks, what could be so back about a few more
hills), and great company (Malori, an excellent riding companion!) meant that
the day was top notch! Even though there
were some big climbs (15%!!!), we had a great day!
Runner up: Peyson, AZ to Huber, AZ – after 4 days off from
the tour being suspended due to heat, it was great to get back on our
bikes. I definitely felt a sense of
accomplishment making it up an 8km, 6% grade climb!
 |
| Conquerors of the hills after climbing about 6000 ft! |
Worst showers:
Fairbury, NE.
One of the other cyclists described them to me as the “concentration
camp” showers, a description I thought was extreme until I got there. Concrete walls and a trickle of freezing
water in the open air meant that they were the dirtiest/coldest/most unpleasant
place to get clean we had encountered.
Runner up: The horse barn in Poncho Springs, CO. Good water pressure and warm water made up
for the fact that these showers were IN a horse barn. Not sure they were entirely meant for human
use….
Worst road: Redlands,
CA to Coachella, CA
As part of our directions for the day, we had to climb
through a section of clipped fence onto a “road” parallel to the interstate. This turned out to be less of a road and more
of a patchwork quilt of pavement separated by huge cracks and littered with
shredded tires , broken glass, and other manner of flat-tire-inducing
shrapnel. Zach’s Angel’s (+ George
Vanderkuur) were fortunate enough to make it through flat tire free, but many
other groups were not so lucky.
Runner up: I-10. We rode
a section of interstate in Arizona with large seams/bumps for about 15km. It was incredibly frustrating/hard on the
arms to make our way down this bumpy road.
Best rest stop: Donut
shop in Beatrice, NE
Beatrice, NE (pronounced be-A-trice) had a donut shop that
was damaged in a fire. Their grand
re-opening was the day we rode through and between 50-75 of us stopped to
partake of their incredible donuts.
Like, seriously, the best Boston cream donut of my life – heavenly!
 |
| Donuts in Beatrice |
Runner up: Pierre Anne Creperie, New Buffalo, MI. We stopped.
We ate crepes. We were
satisfied. AMAZINGNESS
 |
| Crepes in New Buffalo |
Second runner up: Breakfast in Schuylerville, NY: My last full day of the tour. Mostly an enjoyable stop because of the
excellent company (Jess, Malori, Katie, Kaitlyn), and the extremely good
chocolate milk.
 | |
| Breakfast in Schuylerville |
Third runner up: Croissants in Quebec. Chocolate croissant and a breakfast crossant = une Ava tres contente!!
 |
| Croissants in Quebec |
Closest call: Zuni,
NM to Rehoboth, NM
There were a few close calls on this day, but the worst one
was when I hit a huge patch of thick gravel at about 50km/h going downhill. My back tire skidded out, then fishtailed,
and I prepared myself to hit the pavement.
Somehow (I’m going to go with divine providence), I managed to remain
upright and not leave any bits of skin on the highway.
 |
| Before the gravel between Zuni and Rehoboth |
Most accomplished
day: Coralville, IA to Fulton, IA
There were lots of reasons I felt good about this day. It was probably the day on the tour that I
felt I rode the strongest. I started out
with just Kaitlyn and we kept a moderate
pace to the first SAG, then we hooked on with a fast pace line (Shannon, Kyle,
Jason) and I was able to hold on at an average of about 30km/h for about 75km
before I dropped off the back (that wasn’t downhill or with a tailwind
even!). Then Kaitlyn and I finished the
day up in good time. I was still feeling
good, so I rode an extra 6 km to complete my second sub-six hour century (an
alliterative accomplishment!).
 |
| A fast pace line on a beautiful day! |
So, I guess to sum it up.
Amazing experience. Great riding
buddies. Everyone should do it! :) Can’t wait to get back on the ol’ Brooks
saddle and take the Jamis for a spin!
