OUR THOUGHTS
|
|
Highlights:
|
Bob left after a great hot lunch and headed left down the road.
Susan yelled out: "Bob, you're going the wrong way. We don't ever
ride with a tailwind on PAC Tour!!" Bob turned right around and
slowly powered into the headwind ... like each of us were
facing again after the Hot Lunch that tasted good.
Out of the 150 miles today, we may have had 300 yards of tailwind
today. The rest of the day was strong headwinds or crosswinds with
no tailwind components. It was a tough day of testing. We knew it
would be so we started off strong and hard. Cheryl and Chuck teamed
up and rode the section after lunch together ... and we had some
good talks. This PAC Tour is for sure harder than what we thought
we were signing up for ... the heat, the wind, the weather,
the miles, and the climbing are wearing us all out!!
At mile 140, Chuck had a slow leak front flat so he encouraged
Cheryl to go forward to the finish. This was a true mystery flat ...
Chuck hates flat tires but mystery flat tires drive him crazy.
Chuck received a very nice surprise shipment from his most supportive
wife Carol at the finish line. Inside the box was a TwinLab Opti-Fuel
jug. Inside the jug was a whole bunch of Homemade Chocolate Chip
Cookies!! And what's really amazing is that these babies were
all in one piece ... not broken into crumbs. A beautiful sight
for sore eyes. Chuck went right to work on those babies. We
talked a couple of days ago about how each of us only achieve
things with the help of others. There are a million examples
of this ... but those Chocolate Chip cookies tasted so good you
couldn't believe it!! Carol, I Love You!!
Chuck was greeted at the Finish Line with visits from Uncle
Bill and family ... it was great to see them from Columbus, Kansas.
He went to dinner with Aunt Shirley and family also from
Columbus which is a small town south of Pittsburg. Cousin Doug
even took him for a quart of milk at the local Wal-Mart and so Ken
and Chuck enjoyed Milk and Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies in
their room later that night.
Ken later diagnosed Chuck's mystery flat to be inside towards
the rim strip tape so we decided to swap out the rim strip tape
and eliminate that variable.
We continue to see what "Howling Winds" are all about here in Kansas.
Tomorrow has 140 miles but includes 6,300 Feet of
Climbing. There will certainly be some howling wind added to
this day.
The weather forecast shows us just ahead of a cold
arctic storm which could challenge us even further. We have
concluded that this PAC Tour is becoming a very big challenge
for sure and that we're going to have to dig very deep indeed.
Please
send us some tailwinds ... seems like we've been fighting
brutally hard 20+ MPH headwinds and sidewinds forever!!
Chuck
|
|
Memorable Scenery:
|
Now we're seeing a lot more trees
Grey, cold skies
Howling winds
|
|
Mechanical Problems:
|
At mile 140, Chuck had a slow leak front flat so he encouraged
Cheryl to go forward to the finish. This was a true mystery flat ...
Chuck hates flat tires but mystery flat tires drive him crazy.
|
Biomechanical (Engine)
Problems:
|
We were mighty tired today on the bike ... these winds are taking
a big toll on us
|
|
What Worked:
|
Not a whole lot
|
|
What Didn't Work:
|
Cold and headwinds
|
|
Quote of the Day:
|
"Bob, you're going the wrong way.
We don't ever
ride with a tailwind on PAC Tour!!"
Susan yelling out to Bob leaving from Lunch.
Today we had 150 miles with 300 yards of tailwind!!
|
|
Chuck's Song of the Day:
|
"I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in wind
Everything is dust in the wind"
Kansas, 1977
"Dust In The Wind" on "Point of Know Return"
|
