We began our climb up to Powder River Pass at mile 30. We reached the summit at mile 56 after 25 miles of grinding up the mountain. Along the way we rode through 6 miles of new road surfacing with loose gravel, dodging cars and gravel sweepers. Eight miles from the top we had lunch as indicated by the White Board which was a nice break to fortify ourselves for the final push. The White Board was also out at each lunch with daily information and tidbits. Did you get the trivia question correct? It's Walmart. Once over the top there was a nice 10 mile downhill before we hit many more 1-2 mile ups and downs with sufficient grade to be tiring. It seemed like every time my legs recovered on a down there would be another up to drain what little energy was left. Eventually I reached the 7% 5 mile final downhill into Buffalo. I had survived 9666' of elevation, 5000' of vertical climb and over 11 hours on the bike. As I came down that last descent by myself, I had a big smile on my face and a few tears of accomplishment knowing that I had made it through the toughest day.
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