Pactour Day 25 "Hammertime"

Kinda ominous start to the day, wouldn't you say???

Noticeable in there absence are Turk, Jim and Will.  JW dropped'em all today, with the help of Marc Leuckx our fast Belgian.  Notice also how hot they look.  115+ heat index today.   Sorry Cat's not in the picture since she was the other 50% of the escapade.

Turk got treated tonight with a bottle of her favorite wine - Pinot Grigio.  Must be the good stuff since it is right next to the Bluberry Color Boone's Farm.

Buster hard at work in the 110 degree heat installing the fork Matt at B-H sent him.  The only smart one of us - the only one working in the shade.  Buster will be back on the road tomorrow for the ride to Williamsburg.

The Hook proudly demonstrating his laundry.  Always something to do at Pac Tour.  Hooker wears more clothes off the bike than on it.

When it is this hot you gotta get in the pool.  Here's the Turk and our friends Rob and Steve the Ozzies.

Today was JW's chance to hit it hard.  We left Harrisonburg for Ashland and 5 miles into the ride had our last sustained climb (4 miles around 7%) of PacTour.  Cat and Marc came by us at the foot of the climb (they always start last and pass everybody.)   Jim and JW had discussed riding with Cat and Marc (Will still has heavy legs from his 45 miles single speed 15t cog ride 2 days. ago.)  With Mother's permission Jim and JW jumped on the Cat and Marc train and off they went.

Fortunately Cat kept it moderate over the climb (Marc went off the front then relaxed at the top) so Jim could stay on.  After that it was screaming downhill for 5-6 miles then roller after roller on nice VA highways, including the BlueRidge "parkway?"  Gorgeous scenery but really really hot and humid.  Jim did his best on all the little climbs to stay on, then with 10 miles to go before lunch (around mile 75) JW and Marc got a little gap and Cat decided she had had enough of hammertime so off JW and Marc went.

Good thing, because by the time Jim and Cat got to lunch around 5 minutes behind JW and Marc Jim was toast.  JW was fine, eating his burrito.  Jim ate no food (except a little slice of cheescake) but drank 2 waterbottles of gatorade and 1/2 gallon of Coke.  Fortunately, Marc and Cat decided it was too hot to continue Hammertime for the last 45 miles so they kept the tempo.  The day was 125 miles with 6000 feet of climbing and JW averaged 18mph, not too bad for a kid who doesn't weigh enough to pump up his own tires.

The Turk and Will had a great ride at a lower tempo, and we all got in the pool together when they got in.  The only nice thing about us coming in in 2 groups is that the Will and JW put all the bags to the rooms so the Turk and Will simply had to wheel their bikes up to the AC and start to recover!!

Tomorrow is our "easy" day - 80 miles into Williamsburg with very little climbing.  We will all ride easy, and together, natch.  We have lunch near the Ocean, and dip our toes in before we go to our hotel.  

Awfully hard to think that we have ridden 95% of the way across the U.S. and we only have 1 of 26 days to go.  I think we'll see alot of emotion tomorrow and we also have a special dinner to look forward to.

Thanx for reading.

The Slausons