The rides on day 4 and 5 were going to be the hardest ones. Both routes cover big distances with lots of elevation gain. On top of that the heat wave was going to be at its maximum with day temperatures reaching 110 degrees.
The race organizers decided to offer an option for all riders to reduce the exposure to the heat. Instead of a planned start at 7:30am they allowed people to chose an early start at 6am. Also they allowed to switch from Pioneers’ route (94 miles, >9,000 feet) to Settlers’ route (84 miles, 7,000 feet). As I was starting feeling the fatigue I decided to switch to an early start and a shorter route. That meant that my total timing for the race will not be tracked anymore, but the timings for the individual stages will be still tracked. That was OK with me as at this point I just wanted to survive and complete all 5 days.
Even the shorter route was pretty hard. First there was a long climb to cross the mountain pass and enter the eastern side of the Cascade Mountain Range. Then the later sections of the route were going through the dry and exposed areas during the day time heat.
The early start definitely helped and I got to the next camp around 2pm. The camp was in a local park in the town of La Pine, OR.
Overall I felt OK during the ride and was able to complete 84 miles with 7,000 feet of elevation in less than 8 hours with an average speed of 11.7 mph.