8 straight riding days...

Let me start off by saying that we are amazing. Even super cycling fanatics don't generally ride 8 days in a row, 675 miles, with no time for recovery. But, we did it. With very few incidents, lots of flat tires, and very little riding in the van. And lots of good stories.

25Jun - Bartlesville to Ponca City, OK - 73 miles
Horrible winds. Angela crashed and I couldn't get around, resulting in a controlled crash in which luckily only my hand was hurt. (and not badly, I will never ever ride without cycling gloves) Angela was a trooper; she got stitches in her elbow and had to drive the van a couple days extra, but she's been riding strong ever since. The group I was riding with (which included Sweep) found heaven 2 miles out in the form of root beer floats, french fries, chili dogs, shakes, etc. Nice hosts with delicious lasagna dinner.

26Jun - Ponca City to Cherokee, OK - 81 miles
More ridiculous wind. Kind of a miserable ride. Though all the girls did take some sweet pictures on top of hay bales. Ben treated us to the most delicious limeade ever at lunch. Found heaven at mile 60-something in the form of a really refreshing well drilled for "weary travelers." Amazing.

27Jun - Cherokee to Coldwater, KS - 90 miles
Sweep Day with Ben! Amazing tailwind (for a change!!) for the first 50 miles. We caught up with Hannah, Dennis, Emily and Lance in time to take pictures with the Kansas state sign. We had a "coast off" into lunch. (no pedaling, I didn't win. Lance used his rain jacket as a sail to let the tailwind push him). The rest of the day had pretty awful crosswinds, but Ben pulled me up a couple hills, and we again were rewarded near the end with ice cream, limeade, chips, etc. Jumped into Lake Coldwater and camped out. Woke up in the middle of the night when the wind decided to turn out rain fly into a sail and our tent nearly collapsed. Travis and Pat saved the day by removing the fly. Luckily no rain.

28Jun - Coldwater to Dodge City, KS - 83 miles
Tailwind for a bit, then an insane headwind, crosswind, I don't even know. I think we all agreed that Oklahoma and Kansas suck. Or at least, the wind does. Suz, Dave and I rode together and we made it in to the host site semi-early. Dinner crew came through with flying colors.. fajitas, spaghetti, etc.

29Jun - Dodge City to Garden City, KS - 54 miles
Awful wind again.. blah.. Suz, Dave and I played the licence plate/alphabet/"I went to the store" game several times while averaging 12mph, maybe less. We had a delicious meal provided and the guy from the local bike shop came to fix all our bikes. It was awesome!! He flipped my stem around which has done wonders for my arms/back/neck/etc. Who on earth put the thing on in the racing position?? Also had an incredible talent show.

30Jun - Garden City to Lamar, CO - 101 miles
Um, I don't quite remember this day. It was probably long, and there were probably a lot more versions of the alphabet game played with Dave and Suz. Rode with sweep again. Had a duet of "Yankee Bayonet" with Dan Thomas. I had been trying to teach Suz the lyrics all day but it's hard without the music. Oh yeah! Also tried desperately to find a Kansas lapel pin but they apparently don't sell them, even in the "Travel Info and Gift Shop" where they had collectible spoons, keychains, magnets, etc. Oh well. Took awesome pics of the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign too!

1Jul - Lamar to Rocky Ford, CO - 67 miles
Suz and I volunteered to be sweep and it was a really fun day. We became the 'Sweep Dream Team' with Dave, Lance and Dennis (sometimes Devon, but we were usually too slow for her). I stumped them with a bunch of riddles, which they eventually figured out. And we took super long breaks at Dairy Queen (Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzards! Yesss!) We also stopped in Hasty, Colorado where we chatted with the owners of Valley Grocery and told them one of our riddles. We promised to send a postcard from CO Springs with the answer. CommUNITY Presbyterian Church provided us with an awesome potluck.

So our 8th riding day deserves it's own entry, which I will hopefully write tomorrow on our Day Off. Others are waiting for the computer so that's all for now!