(written in Joplin, Missouri)
So I think I should mention that I feel like I’m exhausted 24/7. It’s crazy how on this trip, you can be having the worst time, so tired and feeling like you have to work for every pedal stroke, and the next minute you’re on top of the world. All it takes is a funny conversation, a glorious downhill, or the sheer stupidity of an exhausted rider. I wish I’d seen when Denis thought Icy Hot was meant to soothe and thus applied it to his chaffed butt. Apparently he danced around the parking lot trying to cope! The trip has been a twisted mess of ups and downs – a confluence of the most tiring and amazing things I could have ever thought of doing. I love it. Today was an amazing day. We just finished a build day in Springfield, MO after an awful 3-day stretch. We rode over 90 miles each day, and since I rode 111 the last day (we took a few unfortunate detours when someone thought the route should be different!), I ended up riding over 300 miles in 3 days. We were in bed by 11 and up by 5am, but that’s still only 6 hours of sleep! I’m not sure why those days were particularly hard for me, but I’m still not sure how I made it through! So today seemed very short, clocking in at only 81 miles through still-hilly Missouri (we crossed the Ozarks during those long days!) When I got on the bike this morning, I remembered why I love biking and this trip. My legs were still tired (I’m not sure that will ever go away!), but I felt pretty good. Sadie and Tatiana and I took off early from lunch and ended up getting into the host site really early. It was great to have time to shower first, clean my bike, hang around, and now upload pictures and write a bit. I’m so behind in my trip journal and have no idea when I’ll have the chance to catch up.
I was foolishly under the impression that I’d be sleeping a ton and have plenty of time this summer – oops, bad call. Oh well! We’ve got a 60-something mile day tomorrow, so I’m pretty excited about maybe getting some pictures online. We’re also playing assassins right now – every person drew another rider’s name: our “target.” To assassinate your target, all you have to do is touch them with a spoon, our plastic weapon of choice. However, if the person is holding their spoon-weapon, then they have immunity and can’t be killed. No assassinations during lights out or while we’re clipped into our bike pedals, but since we’re around each other ALL the time, I’m sure it will be an interesting battle royale. Well, I’m off to get some sleep – 11pm to 6am for the next few days, then once we hit the heat of the desert, we’ll be up real early to try and get most of our ride done before the worst heat of the day.
