I went through multiple forms of death starting with the heat and then upset stomach, followed by exhaustion induced delirium. ☠️ We got started much later than planned. Irene had some bike troubles to sort out. The crew from SF: Emily, Lukas, Ali, and Anthony (Ali had the room to take four people while I only had room for two and we both only had room for three bikes.) left about 30 minutes before us but missed the turn to go on 80 and ended up an hour behind us (before making the detour to Sierraville for the permit. Irene and I had lunch in Truckee while we waited for them and even in the shade it was already too hot. I had considered bailing last week because I don’t do well in this kind of heat and in that moment I was really regretting not bailing. To be fair, I was considering right up in the day before. The start was close by and everyone seemed to have an issue with their bike (except Emily) as they were setting them up. Ali’s was the most serious as she had a puncture in her front wheel that didn’t want to seal. Eventually we got it sorted. Lukas’ new tire deflated on the way up and when he reinflated it, it was rubbing the top of the fork. It was just a case of too much air. Irene’s wasn’t an issue, she just had to add sealant. I don’t know what happened with Anthony’s bike as I was dealing with my valve core unscrewing when I tried to add air. Anthony asked me, “Why are you letting the air out of your tire?” When I explained what was happening, Emily got a good laugh about the fact that she was the only one without issues. In the middle of all this, Irene, Anthony, and Emily were trying to learn a Tik Tok dance. Each time we stopped, they practiced some more. Because we started so late, we decided to do a faster, more direct route than planned. Less singletrack and more doubletrack and road. From the start was some gorgeous and fun singletrack. I’m looking forward to doing more of that on the way back. It was so hot, I was lagging pretty badly and unable to go any faster for the first third of the ride. I also went through more water than anticipated. I think I finished my first bottle around mile 5. We had to backtrack to the Emigrant campground as our planned water stop no longer had a water fountain. Lukas had a headache so we stopped for a while to let the Advil kick in. I finished two bottles while we waited. When we got going again, around 6p, it felt much cooler and I was feeling much better. My heart rate was 30bpm lower than earlier in the heat while also going faster. Instead being off the back, I was riding at the front. The trail leading to the climb up to Sardine Peak is rocky, perfect on my Epic EVO but not as much fun on a gravel bike. At one point Emily was riding beside me and it looked like she hit a rock and came to an immediate stop. Ali nearly ran into the back of her. It turns out the skewer on her front tire had loosened and was completely disconnected on one side. She was so lucky the wheel hadn’t come off. Because of how I was feeling from the heat, I didn’t eat anything on the ride and paid for it on the climb. I feel like I went slower and wasn’t pushing as hard as last time. Surprisingly, the climb didn’t feel worse carrying all the weight. I don’t know why this climb feels so terrible. Irene ended up walking up half of it and we both got to the top after sunset. At the top I was exhausted. I was so lightheaded and out of it that I felt kind of numb. For dinner I brought some Backpacker's Pantry meals and forgot that they're controversial for making one of the worst flavors, Green Curry. I think because we had talked so much about them, in my head I remembered them as popular. In the middle of the conversation about it, Emily whispers, "Mountain House", her favorite brand. It was so weird they way she reverently spoke the name in hushed tones that it was hilarious! After dinner we realized that water was an issue. We were hopeful there would be water at the tower, and there is, but it wasn’t accessible to us. We had a long discussion about what to do and they all involved carrying a lot of water back up the climb. The plan was to go in the morning and return before it got hot, assuming there was water available. If not it would mean going further to the Emigrant campground or into Sierraville. I didn’t feel up to climbing it again nor did I ever want to do this climb again. Emily and Lukas volunteered to get the water (and eventually everyone but me went). At one point we hatched a plan for me to go back to Truckee so I could rent an ATV and haul the water back up that way. 😂