Yesterday was a rest day, and rest days are magical. You spend a week piling stress onto your legs like a toddler stacking blocks, and then—if you’re lucky—you get 24 hours where your body quietly cleans up the mess, files everything into the correct folders, and says, “Okay, fine, I’ll make you stronger… but stop doing this to me.”

During our usual rest-day meeting, where we preview the next week’s routes and pretend we’re all much more organized than we actually are, Dennis unveiled a new tradition: a stuffed dinosaur named Eddie, in honor of cycling legend Eddie Merckx.

Eddie is awarded each day to someone who does something extraordinary—either extraordinarily good or extraordinarily… not.

To my surprise (and mild horror), I was chosen as the inaugural rider of Eddie for being helpful, patient, and instructive. I don’t love the spotlight, but I do love that those qualities are what people are noticing. So thank you for the honor of carrying Eddie for the day. Now I get the joy—and responsibility—of choosing tomorrow’s extraordinary human. I have a few ideas brewing.

From the moment we clipped in this morning, the rest-day recharge was obvious. Our legs had a little extra sparkle, and John is officially, undeniably back from his illness. Stronger, even. And yes… we were once again shouting into the desert, “We’re riding our bikes across the country!” The cactus population remains unimpressed, but we remain committed.

The scenery shifted again today—this ride is like flipping through a national parks calendar at 15 mph—and with a friendly tailwind, the 56 miles felt almost suspiciously pleasant.

But the day wasn’t without its bumps. At the first water stop, we learned that Norman had taken a spill on some gravel and was being treated for scrapes and bruises. Enough to require urgent care, which meant the support van was suddenly out of commission. Dennis let everyone know we’d be self-supporting for the day and should stop in Alpine for whatever we needed. Not ideal, but emergencies don’t schedule themselves.

John and I grabbed snacks and Gatorade in Alpine, then carried on toward Marathon with good spirits and good legs. Later we got the best news of the day: Norman is okay and planning to ride tomorrow.

Today was full of simple joys—fresh legs, a friendly tailwind, John back in full form, and the sheer delight of shouting into the desert that we’re riding our bikes across the country. Even Eddie seemed to enjoy the ride, which is impressive for a stuffed dinosaur.