Week 1: Saturday, August 4, 2007: From the Road, Las Vegas to Kingman

The four of us, Christy, Shah, Ali and Kristian are together again. We start the day with the best of intentions to leave Brandi's place at 6:00am. It is 9:30 by the time Kristian is driven to the point where we were last riding. Shah, Christy and Ali go to a Whole Foods grocery store where they can pick up food for the team. While at the grocery store, Ali gets a call from Kristian who has a flat tire, forgot his pump, and is waiting by the side of the road for assistance. By the time the flat is figured out, Kristian is back on the road, and the rest of the gang return back to the house, it is after 12pm. How we manage to pile everything inside the car would make any Tetris expert proud.

On the road at 2:30pm. By this time, Kristian has been cycling in the desert 115 degree sun for 5 hours. Ali, Shah and Christy decide to pass right by Hoover Dam without stopping. We figure Kristian's health is more important. They finally catch up to him at 3:45pm cycling under 6 miles/hour, dehydrated and looking quite pale. Gatorade and water bring him back to life pretty quickly.


Shah takes over the cycling while Ali prepares himself to be a part of the remaining 60 miles of riding. After 20 minutes, Ali receives a phone call from Shah. He is done for the day. Six miles in this heat is enough.

Ali starts off where Shah left off. He rides slower, drinks a ton, and makes his way to the switch point 15 miles down the road. Kristian and Ali relay for the rest of the day. At every switch, Christy and Shah are awesome. It is the best possible support to have when cycling. Water always ready, powerbars in hand, they give Ali and Kristian as much food and liquids as they can take.

Finally, at 9:00pm we arrive in Kingman. Christy's Aeroplan miles pay for the Best Western we enjoy. We are all really proud having come so far on our first full day together.