< Day three: Top of the World Camp to Gulkana Airport
Day four – 77.5 miles
Day four started fast. The first outpost came quickly, and since it was on a downhill we skipped it entirely. Tandems take their downhills very seriously and we weren’t about to throw away all that momentum. Plus I’d stashed away a few of those peanut butter and jelly snacks already.
After a while I noticed that my hands and elbows were hurting. I reasoned that it was from the cumulative mileage and consecutive days, but as the day wore on, I needed more breaks, even between outposts. My hands were hurting badly, and even after shaking them out and resting them for a while it took only a minute or two for the pain to return.
At one of the outposts after lunch, I broke down and went for some drugs at the med tent. The staff was incredible, the EMT I spoke with knew what I needed before I asked. I wanted some Ibuprofen, but he made sure I hadn’t had too many already before dispensing. After talking with Ami about the pain in my hands and thinking about it off the bike, we had a revelation. The road surface for the whole day had been different than the other days, but not enough to notice from a handling standpoint. The asphalt was rougher, not from construction or potholes, but the surface itself was simply courser. Although I had been told that road vibration caused hand pain, I didn’t believe it, I thought hand position was much more important. Now I believe it.
Day four was tough for other reasons also. There were some killer climbs, and Ami and I were both starting to feel it in the legs. Ami’s pain was in her right knee and mine was in my left Achilles tendon. On one of the last climbs before camp we probably wouldn’t have made it except for the super heroes. We’d heard about these people. These were riders who would complete a very difficult climb and then ride down and do it again, just to help other riders through. When I heard that people did this, I wondered if they were showing off. They weren’t. They were like angels. They cheered us on, making us believe we could to it and pushed us up part of the grade when we were about to give in. Thanks guys!
Back in camp our friends had put our tent up for us, and Ami and I hobbled off to the showers for some relief. When I got to the shower truck, there was a shower stall empty by the door, so I took it. I figured out that it was empty because the wind gusts by the door would blow right around the shower curtain. That really got my attention! The shower that night wasn’t therapeutic, but I got clean.
Day five: Sheep Mountain Gravel Pit to Palmer Fairgrounds >