Day 10: Grand Canyon Rest Day Recap

We have biked 725 miles over the past 9 days with much of the time spent in the 100+ degree deserts of California and Arizona. While it has been hot, we have not encountered any strong headwinds nor any rain. Almost all of our riding has been on the narrow shoulders of highways with traffic ranging from light to moderate. For the most part drivers, particularly truck drivers, have been been courteous. and we have tried to return this courtesy by riding single file, stopping at all stop signs and red lights, etc. So far out of the 30 riders there has been only one significant incident - a touching of wheels in a pace line causing a fall which cracked the rider's helmet and gave her a mild concussion. We do have two surgeons and a neurologist in the group, so medical expertise is close at hand. Also several lawyers and a Catholic priest - so we have all bases covered.
The group of 30 riders has divided into a number of sub-groups based on a variety of factors - skill and conditioning; preference for solo or pace line riding; couples riding together; frequent stops for photos; coffee shop affectionado's; etc. As mentioned in earlier blogs, I have been riding with a "core" group of 4 others. Bruce is a Catholic priest from Kentucky who is in his mid-50's and rode over 11,000 miles in 2011 and will equal that this year. Larry and Kelly from Houston are very experienced riders and are doing this trip for the 3rd time. Larry is in his mid-50's and owns a sheet metal fabrication business which has done substantial work for the GE Oil and Gas business. Kelly is the youngster in the group - she is a strong and consistent rider. Rob is an investment banker from Australia in his early 60's. He is still very involved in his business activities, but has clearly found the time to stay in top-notch physical condition - he is always pushing the pace. The 5 of us are doing the complete trip to Charleston (13 of the 30 are stopping in Taos) so I expect that we will be riding together the entire distance.
Our group of 5 is usually joined by several other riders over the course of each day often resulting in a pace line of up to 10 riders. I think 5 to 7 works the best and anything over 10 is too many. As the lead rider rotates to the back of the line there is a period of time when we are two abreast - the longer the line the longer the time that we are exposed to the increased risk of two abreast riding.
Now for my medical report. (Unless something major happens I will only subject you to my aches and pains report on rest days.) Overall I am very pleased with my conditioning and riding strength. I have experienced only moderate fatigue at the end of each day while keeping a pace which has our group among one of the first few to arrive at each day's destination. My only significant chronic ache is in my right gluteous maximus muscle (a fancy term for my "butt"). I attribute this problem to my dislike for stretching exercises - I know the exercises to do - I just don't like to do them. Over the coming days I am going to focus on stretching, icing, and massaging to see if I can get this problem "behind" me.
Tomorrow we start on the second leg of our journey ending up in Taos NM for our next rest day on the 30th. The scenery should be fabulous. There will be lots of climbing as we go through the Rockies and weather conditions are likely to be quite varied - cold, wind, and rain (hopefully no snow or sleet). The segment ends on the 29th with an "epic" 142 mile ride with over 8000 feet of climbing as we go over the continental divide from Pagosa Springs CO to Taos NM. I'm trying to stay in the moment - but the thought of this ride keeps lurking in the back of my mind.
Steve