An Epic Day

Today's ride turned into quite an adventure! It started early, at 8 a.m. We decided to check out the time trial course that will be Friday's race of the Central Valley Classic. The plan was to ride early and beat the forecasted rain storms. Our Colavita team joined up with the Lipton girls and Felicia Gomez from Webcor for a 50 mile loop that would include the 6.6 mile uphill time trial. This climb turned out to be a tough one, and all the racers will all be working hard on Friday up that road.
Today I flatted about 1 km from the top of the hill. My teammate Sarah stopped to help me with my flat. As we waited for Chris Komar to drive down and rescue us, it really began to rain and hail. I was freezing! By the time Chris came, the group had already begun the descent to try to escape the weather. My flat turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Sarah and me, because we got to drive down in the warmth of the car. When we caught up to poor Laura VanGilder who was descending on her bike, she was shivering like crazy. Poor thing!
By the bottom of the hill, the sky was clearing and it was warming up. I decided to add an extra hour onto the ride. The girls who had ridden down were too cold to come with me, so I ventured out alone. Our host family's son Jonathon gave me directions so I would end up at our host house in an hour. It seemed straightforward...
Somehow an hour and a half later in the pouring rain, I ended up in a little town called Prather in the mountains. I guess I went in the complete wrong direction and ended up far from Fresno. I was shivering and did not know what to do since I did not have any cell service during the ride.
I pulled in to a gas station phoneless, moneyless, and foodless, not to mention soaking wet. Luckily this really nice guy at the gas station let me use his phone to call for a ride. Then he let me hug a space heater while I waited for Chris Komar to rescue me for a second time today. And let me drink coffee and hot chocolate for free!
And the Hostess Bakery delivery man was so cool...he was stocking shelves at the gas station while I was waiting. I was salivating as I watched him pile cupcakes and twinkies on the shelves since I was so hungry and cold. So I asked him if he had any squished cupcakes that he would give away for free since I had no money. He took pity on me and gave me an almond bear claw. It tasted so good at that point!
When Chris and my host dad Nick finally arrived (it was a LONG drive from the host house!) I was so happy! They had to tease me a bit, but they did admit roads are a bit confusing in this area. So here goes a big thanks to Chris and Nick for saving me today. I would probably still be out there if it was not for them!