June 6, 2011

Today's report from Mike's Ride for Make-A-Wish:



Once again, today's report is "bare bones".  I'm on a Mac and don't know how to get pictures from camera.  Please be patient.  Tomorrow night...

Yesterday was very discouraging.  I lost my sense of humor about 17 miles west of Wayne.  I heard it hit the ground and saw it roll into the ditch, but was too tired to go back and pick it up.  Frankly at that point I did not care.  I was pleased to see that it had found it's way back into my head this morning.  I nearly lost it again about 7 miles east of Hartington, but I quick grabbed it and held on.  

The wind was VERY helpful today for all but the last 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Naturally that's the way it goes.  Plus, it was HOT!!  That bank said 107 a block from our motel when we rolled into town at 5:00 pm.  

I was pleased that I did not have nearly as much pain when I started out this morning. Amazed would be a better word.  I changed to a different pair of cycling shorts, so different spots were being rubbed rather than the same ones on the first 5 days (I had worn the same pair of cycling shorts each day.  AFTER washing them of course!)

What ached the most today was my hands/wrists and feet.  Also my right ankle.  I'll keep you posted.  I know how much you look forward to my whining each evening.  The good news is that I didn't really hurt any MORE on day 6 then I did on day 5.  The increase in pain level from day 4 to day 5 was astounding.  So, perhaps I'm "turning the corner" and toughening up a bit.  I think I'm losing a bit of baby fat also.  That's nice.  

Final Stats for today:

           Started at 6:00 am and finished at 5:00 pm. 

           Covered 123 miles, ave speed of 14.7 mph.  Max speed - 39.0 mph

           Riding time - 8 hours and 22 minutes.  

Feet of elevation climbed - 4465'. 

Wind - out of the S.  On the "Hurt/Help" Wind scale, today was a +2.0. 

The "Hurt/Help" Wind Scale is my way of saying "this is how much the wind hurt/helped me over the course of the day".  It can Hurt me up to a -5, or help me up to a +5. 

Thank-yous for today: 



Thank you to Shorty Hahn and his wife (from Central City) who paid for my room at the Hillcrest Motel here in Hartington.  I was delighted to found out that it was only half way up the hill rather then at the top as the name would imply!  Thank you M/M Hahn for your kindness!

Bible verses dealing with Jesus and “wishes”.  A WISH…

     For an unnamed Samaritan woman to know Jesus – John 4:1-26

Quote of the Day: 

Mankind has invested more than four million years of evolution in the attempt to avoid physical exertion.  Now a group of backward-thinking atavists mounted on foot-powered pairs of Hula-Hoops would have us pumping our legs, gritting our teeth, and searing our lungs as though we were being chased across the Pleistocene savanna by saber-toothed tigers.  Think of the hopes, the dreams, the effort, the brilliance, the pure force of will that, over the eons, has gone into the creation of the Cadillac Coupe de Ville.  Bicycle riders would have us throw all this on the ash heap of history. - P.J. O'Rourke

NEW SPIN HOME WISDOM story: "Thoughts on toilet paper and Cycling".  I'll try to get the underlines out of it tomorrow night, but at least it's in there.  Enjoy.

-          Closing thoughts for the day: 

It is a shorter day tomorrow.  Hopefully that will leave me time to get my pictures caught up in the blog.  I really apologize for that.  Thank you for your patience.


-          Forecast for the next day:

Wind out of the SW.  Not good news.  We're going to get a REALLY early start.  I'm glad it's only an 80 mile day.


-          Route/Towns for the next day:

June 7 - Hartington to Bloomfield to Center to Verdigre to Hwy 14 (south) to O'Neill