Abeline, TX

7.14.2010

Today was another one of those impossible rack points. We had 2 friendship visits today, and we had to get ourselves 75 miles in about 4 hours. We started out the day at about 6:30AM, as soon as the sun was up. We wanted to get ourselves as far as we could in the time we were given, so I set my ipod to techno only and we started cruising.

We were doing pretty well, averaging 19 miles per hour with small uphills and downhills. At one point I looked down at the clock, and realized that if we kept the same pace, we would be able to make the rack point. Right around mile 65, however, we ran into a serious headwind, and we were struggling to keep the pace at 16 miles per hour. It was a real slap in the face now that we had gotten our hopes up, and everyone was exhausted. When 10:30 AM rolled around we could make out the shape of a crew van ahead. We pushed a little harder and pulled into the rack point at 10:42 AM, only 3 minutes late. We had made it.


After that struggle the push to the end of the day seemed like nothing, even though the headwind persisted. The friendship visit was amazing. We started off at a meet and greet where they served brisket, beans, potato salad, and fruit and stuck around to visit with the program’s participants for a while. The barbeque sauce, chili, and gravy were all made by the clients of the community center. They even handed some of the guys home-made mint soap on the way out.

Half the team left this visit early, hopped on their bikes and faced a headwind for another 6 miles to get to the second friendship visit. The ride was worth it though, because we were greeted with a country style dance. There I met one of the participants, a girl named Whitney, who let me keep a drawing that she had made for the Journey of Hope cyclists. Before we left she hit me up for my phone number, and said she would text me after I had finished my trip. Guess I’ve still got it!

I was exhausted from today’s ride, but I still had time to team up with Ryan Dodge to take down Mike Hang and Brian Swingler in an epic foosball battle.