Goal for the day--finish what I started

It didn't start off well...last night we experienced 30 mph winds all night and our tent struggled to stay upright. By 1am we opted to take off the rain fly before it took flight. That meant we were exposed to the outside including the 2 parking lot lights and the roar of the wind. By 2:00 we finally fell asleep with the help of our iPods blocking the noise. But wake up time was 5am!

We knew today was going to be our longest ride of 76 miles and we were facing temps of over 100 degrees and 40 mph south winds--so an early start was important. The first 55 miles to the lovely town of Marquette was great. We had a crazy crosswind that was made easier by drafting. At times we were leaning just to keep from being blown over. The SAG stops were great with one selling homemade cobbler.

We "fueled" up again with a delicious pulled pork lunch then got back on the road for the last 22 miles that included 11 miles into that 40+mph wind. This is where teamwork was the most important. We were riding in a drafting line of at least 5 people (but we picked up others on the way). We would trade up leaders every mile and could only manage maybe 8 mph (usually we ride at least 15-20)!! That last section took 2 hours and really tested our wills. We finally arrived in McPherson 7 hours after our early morning start --completely exhausted. I was so overcome with emotion and exhaustion that all I could do was sob uncontrollably. It was the strangest feeling--but made me understand how Olympic athletes feel when they give it their all and succeed. We succeeded! It was the most difficult physical thing I have done and I never want to do again!!

We are now cooling off in McPherson High School--pondering whether we want to drag our bedding tonight and sleep on the gym floor with 200 other people. It is air conditioned. We will see if the winds die down tonight. Tomorrow we head to Cottonwood Falls...