Two exciting things happened today - one of them decidedly good, the other significantly less so. The good things was that we - and I - crested our highest point for the trip, at Monarch Pass at 11,300 feet. I wish I had some cosmic commentary for you about it, but honestly it was largely a nonevent for me; yes, I got a bit more tired than usual, but as has been the case lately, my body was totally ready for it and everything went fine. Also, any comments I might have about that part were wiped out by the second less-good exciting thing, which was that one of our team members got hit by a motorcycle. Now, to give away the ending, he's totally fine and going to be fine. He's a total badass. He's actually one of our safest riders and one of the "old guys", so it was surprising that it was him. It wasn't really anyone's fault. The motorcyclists we're going a bit fast but not recklessly so. It happened right at the top of the pass when he (Sully) was trying to turn left. He looked and nobody was there but there was a hill and the motorcycles were too fast and they clipped him and spun his bike around, broke his front fork (!) and his front rim. He had some abrasions and a broken helmet but he walked away and is even going to ride tomorrow.
It's events like that which remind you how important it is to stay safe, but also how precious each day is. That guy was about 18 inches from a real disaster. Life is good.
