Tour Divide: Day 14
Ride time: 4:50 a.m.-8:20 p.m. (15.5 hours)
Miles ridden: 134 on-course + 2 off-course = 136
Total on-course miles covered: 1394
MTBCast Call-in
Felix Wong Calls in from Rawlins
Submitted by sherry on June 26, 2008 – 11:42 p.m.
Racer update about: Felix WongHi, this is Felix Wong calling at 9:38 p.m. on Thursday, June 26th from Rawlins, the armpit of WY. Yesterday, was a good (?) day. Even though I started late at 8:15 a.m., I was moving quickly and did not stop very much. I ended up riding about riding 126 miles down to Atlantic City. I had a nice (?) day.
Encountered two motorcyclists who were doing the Great Divide Trail north. They even encountered by Matthew Lee. ____ [can’t hear next 2 sentences] Small world out there.
I ended up staying at a place owned by a Bob and Barbara. Bob woke up at 4am to cook for me which was really nice of him.
Today, on the other hand has been a difficult day for me. I started at 4:50 a.m. just to make it to Rawlins before dark. Not being a morning person that strategy kind of backfired [since I had to take a 20 minute nap at 7:00 a.m.] as I was falling asleep on the bicycle.
My legs just were not there at all today. I was extremely tired. I was absolutely positive that I was suffering from hyponatremia. A lot of the food I had had no salt whatsoever except for one can of spaghetti and meatballs. I was saving that in case I did not get to Rawlins tonight and I would have some food for tomorrow but I was desperate for some salt. A can of Chef Boyardee apparently has 1900 mil of sodium and after eating that… I didn’t had to use a spoon so I had to use a 16 millimeter cone wrench—(message cuts off) (recorder time:2008-06-26 22:42:45 EST)
This is Felix Wong and this is continuation of my last message. I was talking about how I was eating Chef Boyardee out of the can with a 16 mil wrench.
After eating that about two hours later my legs were back and thankfully I also had something of a tailwind. The roads on the way to Rawlins before the pavement were pretty bad. They were very washboarded and ___ in places. Not too enjoyable to ride on.
Once I got to pavement things were a lot better. ___ as well. My legs were back after about 10 hours of complete misery. I did get to Rawlins before dark.
It is my birthday. Thanks to everyone who has left a message with a happy birthday. I really appreciate that. It is also my friend Carlos from Pittsburg, PA’s birthday. So I wanted to wish Carlos a happy birthday It is also Greg Lemond’s Birthday. So happy birthday Mr. Lemond. My wonderful friend Tori’s birthday is tomorrow, June 27th, so I wanted to wish her a happy birthday.
I’m actually making a birthday cake out of a Hostess Twinkie and the candle will be a Twizzler licorice stick. Hope everyone out there is doing well and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.
(recorder time: 2008-06-26 22:45:40 EST)
From the Notebook
- Bob (from the Miner’s Delight Inn) made oatmeal for me at 4:15 a.m. We talked and he had done the Bataan Death March before!
- Left at 4:50 a.m. Legs had nothing in them.
- Was falling asleep on the bike so took a 20-minute nap at 7:00 a.m.
- Scalp was really itching from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
- Was definitely suffering from hyponatremia until the afternoon, probably due to hydrating so much the night before (since I knew there would be no water in the Great Divide Basin) and not consuming any salt. Urine was clear all day. Finally ate my last can of Chef Boyardee (with a 16mm cone wrench) and felt ok two hours later.
- Dirt roads: very washboarded, sandy.
- Easterly wind
- Downhill; pavement for last 30 (?) miles!
- Climb to Continental Divide crossing was ok.
- Rawlins: “armpit” with expensive motels. Arrived at dusk. But happy to get there on my birthday.
