Sunday, August 3, 2008

day 42: the smackdown has been brought.

I don't know how many flats I've had this trip, but ice had enough to annoy me. Today, right as I broke away from my riding buddies while they stopped to eat lunch, I got a flat. I had to sit on thr side of the road for half an hour before anyone from my group went by. Unfortunately I decided to ride light today and didn't bring any tube or pump. Big mistake.

One our rest stops was at a cemetery today. One of the locals didn't seem to find this appropriate. After she laid the verbal smackdown of the century on us, she left saying, "if you're not gone when I get back I'm calling the police!" I'm not sure what happened in the end because I left right after that, but as far as I know no one from the group got arrested.

Just for those of you who haven't been to Pennsylvania before, let me give you an idea of the terrain...AGHH! This fucking sucks!! It was virtually impossible to get into a rythm on todays ride. We were either doing a massive climb or going up hills that were steep and long. Probably close to 75 percent of todays ride was climbing. It was a ride awakening after the past 2 weeks of flats. But get, good thing I'm in shape after riding 40 days. Withing the first 20 miles, I was informed that we had already done 2000 feet of climbing.

Hopefully todays ride will put me in the right frame of mind for the upcoming ride into getttsburg. It has already been referred to as the "final test" of the big ride.

Talk to you all soon.

Until then,
-ride hard

2 comments:

Cathy said...

Hi honey,
This is my last entry until I see you on the 11th. Tanya and I are going on our trip in the morning. We can still talk on the phone(remember I will be 2 hours earlier). Don't forget how very proud I am of you. Only 5 days left and you will have accomplished an incredible feat. Hope the last days aren't too grueling, although you are so strong now, you can do it. I love you and can't wait to see your fine face and strong body.
Love, mom(hi from Tanya)

Cathy said...

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that now every time I see a biker in spandex on the rode I wave and do a thumbs up(I see your image) but I get the strangest looks back. I'm sure they think I'm weird or something. I see them in a new light now.
Take a lot of pictures this week-more of you please.
Love you