Two outta three ain't bad

Six o'clock at the church is the tradition. And once again, that was the plan for today. But, today, like has happened once before in the past, the entrance to the church parking lot was blocked off. So, instead of parking at that church, I had to go to one of the other dozen churches at the Houghton/Old Spanish Trail intersection. I had expected Dan and Chris to arrive on their bikes, so I would just get on mine and ride around the corner to the meet location. However, no more than two minutes after I pulled up, Dan pulled up in his car and parked next to me. Previous experience told us that THIS church was our alternate meet location if the other was unavailable. So, together we both mounted our trusty aluminum and/or carbon steeds (i.e. bikes) and rounded the corner to find Baker their waiting.

The plan for today was the same as one we've done many times before... OST out to CC and back. But this time, to mix it up a bit, I suggested we alternate leaders and see if we could push the pace.

We were doing just that and making good time as we dove down the hill to Jeremy Wash. I am no cycling expert and don't know all the specifics of drafting, but I must have been drafting Baker, because as he was working hard in front, I kept having to break a bit, so as not to overtake him.

We went down through the wash and rounded the corner to head a little more south-east toward the market and Colossal Cave. Just as we were approaching the Rincon Market, Baker yelled that he was going to pull over and needed to stop. Apparently, on his recent trip to Mexico, he stepped on a stingray. And although he had 'boiled' some water and soaked his foot in it (don't ask me... something he read on the Internet) and it hadn't bothered him when he played basketball, apparently, it was killing him to ride. The pedal cleat was pressing directly on the sore point on the sole of his foot and he decided he wasn't going to be able to continue. He sent Dan and I on as he decided he would turn back.

Dan and I started again and I continued to press that pace as best I could. We made it to CC in one-hour and two minutes by my Garmin, but Dan's cyclocomputer had our time as fifty-nine minutes, as it did not include the 3-minutes we stopped and talked with Chris. So, once again, two out of three of us made the ride out to CC in under an hour. Excellent!

The pause at CC this time was extremely short. Right around 5-minutes in fact. Much more downhill on the return ride. And as usual, a much faster time. Another great ride. We completed the entire trip in 1 hour and 53 minutes. Average speed 14.5 mph. Average Heart Rate 120 bpm.