TransRockies Day 5 - No More Gears

93kms today. I started out feeling a little worn, but strengthened through the day. Cindy and I dialed it down a bit and had a lot more fun as a result. We decided that it should be a recovery ride, after going hard yesterday and in anticipation of a deadly day tomorrow.

The route today was right up my alley - a lot of double track, gravel roads and moderate grade vertical. The second ascent had some more serious hills that had us in the granny gear playing karaoke to some ozzy songs. My theme song for the day was 'no more gears'.

We proudly rode up, down, and across a lot of stuff that others were not prepared to. I can definitely feel my technical skills improving. Cindy is teaching me a lot.

Just over half of the miles were on gravel roads that were very dusty from all of the bike traffic. The dust feels caustic in my eyes and lungs. Leading up to the finish line, my bike was sounding like it had been to Burningman.

We are now in Elkford for the night. Bbq is on. Beatles are on the speakers. Lawn chair. Mountains all around. Paradise.