Day 1
Distance: 85 mi
Vertical Feet: 8200
Total riding time: 5:07:00

At the start and throughout the ride Mike Cockrell, who was providing sag for the team, reminded us to enjoy the view and smell the roses as Mariposa/Raymond area is stunningly beautiful. The ride started off mellow and very scenic. The team stayed together for the first half. After a short break we proceeded up Grub Gulch. As Ron Meskis predicted, anything with the word Gulch is going to be tough and painful. It was was becoming more difficult to focus on the scenery. The second half of the ride was tough and Mike Cockrell continued to remind us about the scenery. As the ride went on and much suffering was being experienced by all, Mike Cockrell stressed even more diligently to enjoy the view and provided insight at regroups as to what beauty we were going to encounter on each road. At this point beauty was the last thing on our minds. Towards the end as we rode into the sunset Mikes words rang true and we thank him for all of his help and his reminders; Enjoy the ride.