Paddle, paddle, paddle your bike

Greetings from Lake Moab. I am warm and content here, rocking gently in our rental RV Ark. Thought the muck, mess, and soiled bike gear is piling up like Katrina refuse. As the team sous chef and general support wench I have spent a wet day running between said craft and the start line with warm food, drinks and snacks; as well as waiting in the mile long bike washing line which started in the upper expo area and ended in lower lake moab. This trip has been by far my most extreme cooking experience ever. It all started with cooking breakfast at 75 on I15. Pancakes and bacon and coffee form Dave's sweet new french press:

My only request was a call out for left hand turns, so as to be prepared to catch the pots and pans sliding off the propane stove, and to brace myself.

The pre-race dinner was pasta with spicy tomato sauce and sausage, which disappeared before the entire team could get back. Every cooks dream - to have hungry masses to feed and for it all to gratefully disappear.

Disaster struck in the morning when I set about washing all the dishes piled in the sink. The leak was discovered by Birdsong when he ventured to the back and stepped in a mud puddle in the bathroom. Up until now the mess had only consisted of desert dirt, and a lot of it. But now there was water too, turning everything to mud, and possibly coming from a questionable source. We tracked the source down to the crappy kitchenette sink. Which explains why the bathroom door doesn't shut anymore as the cheep fiberboard wall has warped. The greater ramifications being that all dishes must be now washed either in the bathroom sink or by carrying water from there in a largish tupperware.
It's been interesting to say the least.

Breakfast consisted of hash browns, which took forever to cook, but as most of the group were scurrying around setting up the little Google earth tent, no one seemed to notice. Though when the taters were finally golden brown there were hungry riders who licked their plates clean, making the wash up not too messy.

Tonight's dinner was a little spread out as team members were coming and going at staggered intervals. So as team members staggered in drenched, muddy and cold they were greeted by the childhood favorite: Mac n' Cheese.
Now, as the race is on hold, we are hanging out here in the filth that has engulfed this poor piece of American craftsmanship.

Thought you'd enjoy a glimpse of the mess and mayhem that is...



















We'll show you the progress we make once task force Google earth descends with their scrub brushes and aprons on the drive home. Till then may the cleaning fairies and speed demons be with us.