I managed to get back from my side trip to Miami and into bed before Friday midnight, but the 3:15 AM alarm seemed more like 30 minutes of sleep instead of 3.5 hours. Thanks to the efforts of Todd Handy I had a ride with Matt Pack out to Delta to ride to the Huntsman with Jeff and Jason. It had rained off and on all night and we passed through a couple of showers on the way, the roads were wet almost the entire way to Delta and the temperature was in the mid to high 40’s. Twenty two riders put on their cold weather riding gear made sure their rain gear was handy and left the Delta Chevrolet dealership at about 7:30 AM. This day was made extra special because of the support from the Huntsman Cancer Center. They had arranged for support cars from Nate Wade Subaru, had marked the ride with signs and had feed zones set up for us along the way. How nice it was!!

A double pace line quickly set up and we headed off into a strong head wind toward Eureka with the majority of the work being done by the guys breaking the wind on the front. The group split into several smaller groups on the lead up and climb to Eureka. It was about 2/3 of the way up the climb that I decided to “hammer” for a ways and jumped out of the saddle and pulled hard on my handle bars and felt this sickening crunch. I had pulled hard enough to cause the carbon fiber bar on the right side to delaminate at the first bend. It didn’t break off, just became flexible at the bend. I could still use the break lever but getting down in the drops or pulling hard was out of the question. I limped along until lunch break when Brady, the owner of the Bountiful Bicycle Shop switched bits and pieces from my bike to a spare bike Jason had brought along. It worked but the bike was a bit big and there was some problems with the chain jumping between gears. I suffered with the slippage for about 15 miles until I had a flat on the rear. We just did a wheel change from my bike and that fixed most of the chain jumping problem as well.

Now back to the feed zone at the bottom of the hill on the East side of Eureka. We again formed a double pace line and headed off for the lunch break at Sarasota. It was not long before the boding clouds in the distance began to unload their bounty on us. We stopped and put on the best rain gear we had, but everyone still got plenty wet. It had stopped raining by the time we got to the lunch stop, and that was very, very nice. Both the fact that it was not raining but especially the lunch and hospitality we were shown. It also gave us a chance to visit and chat with those who had joined in for the ride that were not part of the bike club. Some really terrific guys and ladies had chosen to take the day and ride for the Huntsman with us.

After lunch it was into the wind again and we set up the double pace line most of the way to Lehi until we got on roads with room only for single file. The group stayed together until just out of Draper when on a small climb I decided I wanted to push myself to my limits for a ways. With good handle bars and riding on a tire that was not half flat, I attached the hill and passed everyone catching Roger Arndell near the top. He joined in with me and off we went. Soon Jason had joined as well. We had watched over Jeff for several days and that task had been handed off to others. Now we could just take off and put it all on the line. The three of us set up a rotating pace line and were speeding along often at 25+ MPH (I peaked out at 42 MPH once with lots of spikes above 28 MPH.) Our pace car even had trouble keeping up with us at times as at stop lights we could move to the front while he had to take his place in line. We road all out from Draper to a block from the Huntsman, over 20 miles, where we waited for the rest of the group to catch up.

It was a very emotional moment as the group reconnected and put Jeff at the head with Jason and I behind and turned the corned and saw the glass wedge of the Huntsman piercing the sky and a group of cheering people at the base as we arrived.

A special thanks goes out to all who supported us, especially Jason’s dad Sam and Jeff’s dad Jim. Also to those who donated to the Huntsman and those at home who supported us through prayers and patience.

In a way I feel I have not yet completed the ride. The segment from Ely to Delta remains undone. It’s beginning to nag at me more and more by the hour. It will have to wait for a couple of weeks because next week I’m off to Idaho to do a similar ride. This time about 400 miles in 4 days from Rexburg to the Huntsman. You can follow our progress on that ride at www.maderide.com.

The official stats for the day:
Distance: 130.99 miles
Time: 6:57
Average Speed: 18.6 MPH
Assent: 4875 feet