can you say "headwind?"

What a great day - 88.58 miles (my longest ride ever) through the beautiful farm countryside of PA! The trees were beautiful, the people were friendly, and the stench was, er, persistent. Make no mistake, this is agriculture country, and I was treated to the delight of fresh manure for probably six hours straight. The only other downside may have been the headwind - there was a lot of it, and that didn't make this very difficult ride any easier. I treated myself to a massage (we're pretty pampered, I have to admit) and that loosened a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders from holding up my gigantic noggin. "It's like an orange on a toothpick!"


I had a great little conversation with a small group of Amish children, as I rode alongside for a bit. They were all on their simple single-speed bicycles as well, toting boxes or coolers on the luggage racks, and I was amazed and intrigued once again by their hardworking and faith-filled culture. A boy, perhaps 12, asked "what's your hurry?" as I pulled away and I explained that I had a long way to go yet. I would have enjoyed that for a while longer! I wonder sometimes what my life would look like if I was willing to let my faith guide it to the max...


Our route today passed through Penryn, which is actually where Sonia's parents live. They made the trip out to the post office to cheer us on and are pictured at left. They're wonderful, hospitable people and we'll see them again on Monday night before we road trip it back west.

I really should have taken more pics of the wonderful scenery, but it was really in my best interest to keep moving when I could. I did have to let go of some of my pride today - call it stubborn-ness, but I have this thing where I don't like to use the granny gear (third small chainring up front) on my road bike. Just pride I think. Well, this ride broke me of it and I used it four or five times today towards the end. I fell once, too, changing from the middle to the large instead of to the small on a Hill Of Significance, which made me stall out and topple over faster than you can say... something clever at a fairly moderate pace. Then I flopped over a second time trying to get started again on that hill. Anyway, it was overall a great ride and I'm very happy with how I did.


Tomorrow is a new day, with a new challenge: now that I've completed the longest ride I've done, it's time to do the second longest ride I've ever done...and it's a whole 3 miles sh

orter than today. I like to stack up my milestones... So, yeah, please pray for no bonking tomorrow - it's gonna be rough and I won't be able to do it all on my own!


The route for tomorrow is detailed at:
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/course.aspx?course=44498

And now, the moment you're waiting for - the Spandex Picture of the Day! Here are Brent and I at a memorial at Valley Forge National Monument, maybe 4 miles short of the end of our route today.

Have a great day and thanks again for your support!