DISTANCE TRAVELED: 45.08 Miles
AVERAGE SPEED: 12.81 MPH

          To my surprise, I woke up at 6:45 with everyone else. We all went to the local restaurant for breakfast where I had 4 pieces of bacon, two huge blueberry pancakes, hash browns, and orange juice. I finished it all with no problem and went back to pack up. Mike was the first one out and I left about an hour later. Soon, I caught up to a few people and was making great time on the hard-packed road. As I continued on, I began to see car tracks in the road and soon, mud was gathering on my tires. Mud was thrown up into my face and then I went through a deep patch of mud that completely coated my tires. Mud began to wedge itself into my brakes and coated my front derailleur. (Picture135) As I came around the corner with mud flying everywhere, I saw Ron sitting on the side of the road. I stopped to say hi when he told me that he had called 911! Soon told me that Search and Rescue was coming to pick us up because of the mud! A few minutes later, John, the S&R, was there with Stu already in the truck. Ron and I climbed in and threw our bikes in the back. (Picture136) A mile down the road we picked up Scott and then continued into Hartsel where we had began the day! We washed the clay off the frames of our bikes and out of the moving parts. Then we went back to the café for a Reuben hamburger for lunch. At 2:00, we left to ride 25 miles to the Johnson Village KOA. (Picture137) After climbing to the top of a small pass, the rest of the road was downhill. Although heavily traveled, the speeds were fast and offered great views of the large mountains in front of us as we cruised down a small canyon. I continued riding and by 4:00 reached the KOA. I set up my tent and then took my first shower since Kremling! Slowly people came into camp, so we sat around until 7:30 when we made a fire and got ready for the pizza delivery at 8:00. After eating a few huge slices, I climbed into my tent and went to sleep at 9:15.