After yesterday's climbs and my rotated femur causing hella bad knee pain, one of my co-leaders traded van days with me so I could ice/rest my knee before tomorrow's equally hard and climby day. Surprisingly, the van is just as exhausting as riding some days. There were highlights to the day. We passed our first state line today, so I picked up some sparkling cider and party hats and planted them at the state line sign with some party chalking after I dropped the trailer at our lunch stop. Surprisingly, I still beat the riders back to lunch, so no one knew that there was a party up ahead. After lunch, I got to see some of the riders as they passed the state line and see them enjoying the little bit of fun that I had set up. For a day that I had to van myself, this was ideal fun-time with the team. 
After the lunch and the state line, weather got rough, the final hill got rougher, and I kept repeating that opening line to myself "there are no bad days, only some days are harder." After missing the church by 8 miles, finding riders at the top of a mountain they didn't have to climb and telling them to turn around, and frantically unpacking the trailer in the van, I went to sweep up the final riders who I was told were bonking at the bottom of the mountain with only 30 minutes until our host presentation. Luckily, by the time I got to the bottom of the hill, I saw them back on their bikes and waving me forward. Not wanting to take the satisfaction of that fin mile away, I followed them up the hill and rested easy celebrating the completion of a seemingly dangerous, scary, and hard day.
Tonight we stayed in the middle of nowhere so this probably won't get posted until later. No cell service or wi-fi, so one of my stellar co-leaders is sitting with us while they remake tomorrow's cue sheet from scratch using a topographical map. Old school.
Tomorrow - summersville.
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