Racing(!) in Boulder, WY

Mary called earlier but couldn’t get to a reliable phone for the Tour Divide call-in or her own Gabcast. She asked me to post this update.

Today, Mary rode 100+ miles, picking up her shock seal kit in Pinedale & settling in at a campground near Boulder, where she’ll perform surgery on her damaged shock. (The seals in her damper were damaged when a threaded sleeve came loose & exposed the internals to the outside world. This was a result of friction between her seat bag & the shock.)

She’s had a good couple of days. Yesterday she stayed at a Trail Angel’s house before Union Pass, where she stayed with a couple GDMBR tourists & enjoyed good company. Yesterday was a slow day spent settling back into the groove with her “new” legs.

Today, Mary said she she hit a low point when the lead group of GDR racers- who started a week after her- caught her on the trail today. She managed to block the negative thoughts and instead turned it into motivation to ride faster. Mary said it was a reminder that she was indeed “racing” and promptly shifted from her granny gear into her middle ring on a climb. She said she hammered for a long while today and that “it felt good to go fast for a change.”

Marys legs are reportedly doing well. She said they actually felt pretty good today & she’s looking forward to another good day tomorrow.

Other fun facts:
-Today Mary crossed the Continental Divide for the 8th time, at Union Pass, 9,210ft.
-Mary enjoyed a delicious Ice Cream cone in Pinedale today.
-While enjoying the aforementioned Ice Cream, she had her photo taken by the local paper- that should make for a good shot! 😉

-Brendan