kellita the señorita the ibby dibby dow: Happy Endings

Not the kind of happy ending you're thinking of, sicko. But the best kind, the kind of long day on the bike that couldn't have a better ending if you planned it.

Today started with me overpacking my Camelbak with cold-weather gear in fear that it would be freezing at the top. I climbed slowly but surely with Sarah and Abby. The scenery was beyond amazing, as was the weather, and as usual, I found it pretty tough to capture on camera. I prepared for the worst climb, and found it easier than I thought. I'm happy about that. We took over the overlook, and then took off for our second "climb" of the day of Rainy Pass. Easy Peasy. You literally go downhill for a few miles, then climb for one mile. It's simple comparatively.

I struggled a bit between the second pass at lunch. I believe I killed a total of 17 flies in this time period. They were everywhere, and I was losing my patience. I was killing them left and right, and actually taunting them out loud. They landed, I attacked. Climbing can make you lose your mind. We had about 15 miles downhill to lunch, and my chest was acting as a car windshield. Bugs were slamming into me at alarming speeds, which caused me to freak out a little bit. There's nothing like reaching into your cleavage at 30mph to retrieve flapping bugs.

Needless to say, by lunch, and shortly after, I was over riding my bike for the day. I had a 20 minute period where I seriously considered throwing Nina over the side of the mountain and vanning it. Thanks to Kira for putting up with me for those moments of weakness. After Lake Diablo I ended up riding with Denis and AK, and they saved me for the day. The afternoon turned into one of the best rides I've had all summer. The weather was perfect, just the right amount of sunshine and shade, breezes, berry picking, 2 ice cream stops, tunnels, etc. We got into camp a bit late at 6:30, took our $1/4-minute showers, and got to cooking dinner. Tent crew spent our last night together, and tomorrow is our last longer ride day and last full day in the U.S. Canada we're coming!