CTR: A journey of subtle and not so subtle mistakes

Day 2:

The first rider passes me at 6am which gets me going.(he had apparently gotten up at 2am!). I am pleasantly surprised to find that Goldhill is closed for tree removal.  I know just where the detour is thanks to some preriding (okay that counts as one thing right!) so now the day consists mostly of conquering of the 10-mile range.  A bit of rain and that fact that the mountain blocks the view to the west makes this a bit intimidating but the skies clear as we ascend.  Serious hike-a-bike and still having trouble eating means this takes a long time. The string of guys behind me not moving any faster provides a little encouragement. The descent is fun, with a couple pitches too steep for me to ride. We (Forest and I) roll into Copper, hit the highway to Quiznos and find dinner.  Chicken noodle soup is the first food to sit well in two days and I follow it with a sandwich.  Andy joins us and we all let our food settle for a while and watch the sky darken in the West. It looks suspicious but the gas station attendant shows us the Doppler weather which shows clear skies to the west.  I love this portion of the trail ascending out of Copper towards Searle Pass.  The rain starts and I find Scott hunkered down in a dry campsite deciding what to do.  7:30pm is earlier than we want to stop, but the sky continues to look ominous and the rain gets harder.  So we camp. My tarp survives it's first rain, probably because Scott offers me the most sheltered spot.