Day 1 - preloaded tracks disappeared from my gps. Rode roughly 170 miles with 8000 ft of cumulative vertical climbing. Only ate about 2500 calories. Your body just is in shock over what you are doing to it.
Day 2 - no tracks on the gps made navigating very difficult. Luckily I had que sheets with turn by turn all the way across the US. I had to always cross check my que with ride with gps maps on my phone. Rode about 150 miles climbing constantly. Going over Mackenzie pass is where tendons started having trouble. Most of the time it was steeper than 15%. I was going to camp in deep deep woods because I knew I wouldn't make it to the top before dark. This old timer talked me into going up and over. He left me in the dust. I reached the summit around 9;15 in pitch dark and near or below freezing. I was struggling with no reception and could not tell which way to go. I knew if I camped on the summit I would be in big trouble and was contemplating pushing SOS on the tracker. Just then I saw three headlights coming up behind me and headed downhill. On the way down I was number 2 and we were doing 30 mph and my headlight went out. I could not stop for fear of the two behind me slamming into me. So I looked at his taillight and could see the dashed line on the rode from the red reflection. I managed to slip on my helmet light turned it on and could see a bit better. When end we got to the bottom I have never been so cold in my life I cranked the heat up to 90 in the hotel and warmed up by morning. Still not eating very much Day 3 - very cold start but warms up quickly. Rode about 90 miles most of it was the 50 mile hill that is where my tendon was really not happy with me. Unbeknownst to me I was 1 mile from the summit and in very low spirits with the pain and heat ( and talking to Scout my bike ) a pickup pulled alongside and said I was almost to the top with a big downhill then a short 3 mile climb to a good meal and a bunk bed. That could not have come at a better time. A lot of riders were scratching at this hostel we were at. Had a great meal and a good rest to start the next day Day 4 - started at 4:00 am climbing. Rode around 90 miles just always climbing. Flat at best. But always pedaling rolled through Prairie city and kept going I was 3 miles into a terrible climb when my tendon got so bad I had to start walking. Realizing I won't make the next city 40 miles away or so I started back down the hill stopped at this covered wagon lookout to camp and realized I did not have enough provisions for the next day. So I reluctantly rode all the way back down the hill and got a hotel so I could ice up Day 5 - sent some things back to STL. I got some food and met Brad and his daughter Alexis. We decided to ride together for the day. I was in pretty bad shape by now and was using my left leg for power the right was pretty much just clipped in and rotating ( this was in the first 10 minutes of the day ). I dreaded going back up the hill but we were able to suffer together ( Alexis had been having Achilles trouble ). About 40 miles in I noticed swelling and I had to release the buckles on my right shoe to keep going. We made it to Baker City but by now I could not put any weight on my right leg at all. My foot was like a floppy dead fish attached to my leg. ( didn't smell as bad as a dead fish though ). I knew I was in big trouble to continue and started to figure out next towns and what was ahead. It gets more and more desolate from here and your options if a problem arises is to turn around and go back to baker city. With the the availability of Greyhound to get home. I decided to call it and make it home get on some crutches and ice and good prescription meds and avoid further damage. All in all, what an amazing experience. You really learn some things about yourself in those kinds on situations. I love the challenge of figuring your way around messed up GPS and other health issues that cause great discomfort and pushing yourself to a crazy level. Scout ran so well it was unbelievable. I believe I could have finished with no mechanical or tire issues at all, unbelievable. It it is always good to learn from an experience and I already have things figured out for next time!!!!! I want to thank everyone who watched me and had interest in the whole event sounds like it was fun to watch play out. Finally and mostly thank you for those who donated to the JCS Heroes they were certainly an inspiration to me through some extremely trying circumstances. Thanks, Don
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Don Forth
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