Yermo to Ridgecrest & an un-build day

Today's ride was our last day in a stretch of 6. We knew it was going to be about 90 miles, but we didn't know that meant 97 miles which with 2 small detours quickly turned into over 100. I was apprehensive and my legs were angry from the start. I rode with Marcus and Tova. Around mile 21 we saw a road closed sign. We learned it was because a flood had wiped the bridge out. However, the only other entrance point to the toad we needed prohibited bicycles. So what did we do? We walked down to the river bed and then through it across the broken bridge. No big deal.

Luckily there was well placed civilization today so we were able to take breaks at gas stations in the shade and fill our packs with ice which was an awesome treat.

We knew as we got closer to the host there would be a big downhill followed by a big uphill. Well, no truer words have ever been spoken. I got up to almost 45 mph on the downhill and then struggled my way up 4ish miles of uphill. Once we crested the top we had awesome tail wind and the last miles were a breeze. The last 5 were especially awesome. I didn't pedal at all and cruised in the 30's the whole time. Definitely a much easier 100 miles than I expected when I saw the cue sheet in the am and heard we were fording a river before 830 am. But seriously, I felt like I was on Oregon Trail Bike&Build style.

After getting to the host and getting showered a group of us headed to Subway because we were too hungry to wait til dinner. It was delicious and really hit the spot. A dash of civilization was definitely something I needed.

Today we worked on the same house here as SUS '11. They had saved the rest of the demolition work a whole year so we could get a chance to do some demo, since they saw how much last years group enjoyed it. As did we. Sledgehammers and jackhammers helped us get the job done with a little bit of brute force as well. No pictures, because I left almost all of my stuff at the host by accident. A brief dip in the local pool followed the "build". We were all covered in concrete dust. But it was a blast. Who knew un-building could be so fun?!