The thunder and lightening came during the night. Since I use ear plugs, I didn’t hear thunder but the flash of light woke me. At first I thought it was my phone flashing. Then I woke enough to realize it was lightening. There was also rain as the roads were wet when we started out this morning.
We got a little spritzle of rain in the morning but hardly worth mentioning. However, we got plenty dirty from the wet dirt sprayed upon us by bikes, cars and trucks. I had to use a washcloth and scrub and scrub my legs to get them clean.
The terrain is pretty flat so the 112 miles went by quickly. We were at the Dairy Queen around 2:00. Average speed was over 16mph. The trade off for riding with a group is I don’t get to stop and take photos unless someone else wants to stop too. So, I don’t have my own pics today but am sharing some from other riders.
Riding along the roads and shoulders of roads today, I got to thinking there should be a rating system for cyclists so we can know what to expect. Most of today’s riding surfaces were OK but there were some sections that were painful. Of course when the day is over, it was a great ride…no matter what happened or what the surfaces were like. I’ve already forgotten all the wet sand and gravel we had to ride through and that rough shoulder that just wore you out and the ka- thunk, ka-thunk sections that jarred the whole body.
Tomorrow is ONLY 99 miles. Funny how one’s perspective changes. We are riding amazing distances every day so to have less than 100 miles seems like an easy day.
My riding partners for these two days are awesome. They keep me on track and we ride well together. Thanks Marty, Deb, Hao, Alan, Kim, and Texas Marty.
thecyclingdiva 