Goodness, how possibly to describe this day?! A couple extra sweet things happened this morning along the way. Also my greatest challenges. Last night I woke up to a deluge of rain that surprised us all. I raced out to get the rest of my electronics that were plugged in, but my phone battery charger never did work today, and ran out of battery about 7 miles before destination. That’s why the inaccurate straight line at the end, from lost signal to destination once charged. I rode in the rain which was fine because I trained in it, but discovered that my rain jacket is not waterproof, surprise surprise! I found that soaked skin under a rain coat + exertion = a sauna😁. (Later it equals freezing.) At one point, my bike stopped moving between levels of assist, then just quit. I remember thinking, “My batteries weren’t close to running out!” I looked and still had 47% remaining. I swapped out my spare battery anyway and it bumped me to 76%, but no power! I checked my distance to Camp and had 25 miles remaining. I was grateful my dad often encouraged me to train without battery, but didn’t think there was any way I could make it in these hills. Reception was almost nonexistent again today, I wasn’t able to get texts or calls to my group, but gratefully was able to make one call home and a friend got on it for me persistently. 5 miles down the road in the town of Bee 🐝, I stopped at an automotive shop, really sweet crew but said they knew nothing of electrical, and no bike shops anywhere around. They also advised me to hurry because we had a tornado warning for the next five hours. Hurry… that was funny! I was able to ride the downhill, flat, and slightly inclined areas, the rest of the way I pushed 85 pounds of bike + gear. Those hills were SO steep, so long, in heavy rain, winds, incredible thunder, and lightning. It was actually pretty exciting. I just wish my GPS could’ve recorded the total elevation gain and miles. My team finally got the message (actually drove right past me at one point), and came to pick me up. By then I was only 5 miles out. Dee said it was all uphill from there, but I was too close to quit. I can’t even imagine how sore I might be tomorrow. The sweet news was that much of our gear was still soaked and we would have been setting up in more rain, so they decided to stay in the park lodge. A real bed tonight! I feel so good about not losing those miles. And very grateful to have been able to push through. I know where my help and strength come from, but also proud of myself. Victories💕! Tomorrow Dave & I head for a bike shop 56 miles north that works with Bosch equipment. Hopefully it’s a repair not a part that needs to be ordered. They don’t open until 11, but if all goes well, Dave will bring me back here to start my ride. Sending my love & thanks for your partnership along the way, Terri!