Home For Now

Finished the ride on Sunday, 7-20-08. I got to Elsberry, MO on Route 79. Just after Elsberry the road had been resurfaced, and rumble strips added. There is not a shoulder. None. The speed limit is 60 mph so everyone was doing 65+.

It was 100 degrees out. I started up a hill. I was tired and shifted into first gear. Now first gear, like most things, has its good and bad aspects. You can ride up almost any (paved) hill in the world, but you're going to do it really slow. And when you ride that slow, the natural tendency is to wobble back and forth a bit. And I was wobbling more than a bit! I was just too hot and tired to control it. I'd hit the rumble strip, veer into the middle of the rode, hit the rumble strip...Wobbling on a highway when cars are passing you at over 60 mph is not a good thing.

At a gardening center/nursery, I pulled over and thought about it. If things kept going as they were now, I had a good chance of being hit. And I had another 30 miles to go. I asked my body: What did it think? Could it give me just another 30 miles?

My body thought about it, and then in a loud voice said: "Screw you! I've had enough!"

So I called my friend Gary: "Come pick me up."

I think it was the right decision; I'd ridden 917 miles and those last 30 weren't going to do anything for me.

There's one final experience I'd like to share. The previous morning I was riding through Paris, MO. It's a small town; maybe 400 people. I was in the middle of the lane, when a car behind me angrily blew its horn. There wasn't any oncoming traffic, so I held my ground. They blew their horn again; I stood fast. As the car swung around to pass me, a passenger opened up their door, trying to hit me.

I was a little perturbed. I let them know by showing a certain symbol, sometimes called "The Bird."

The car hit its brakes and stopped, the doors swung open again. They started getting out of the car.

I wasn't very happy, and stood up on my pedals, charging them. I don't think that's quite what they expected, because the doors slammed shut and they drove off calling me a five letter word.

It was another adventure.

Now I'm off to Boston, probably leaving on 7-27 or 7-28-08.

Also, please note there are new pictures posted below.