Day 5-6/20 Updates
John's Day 5 Journal: Kansas, Me and You
06/21/08 22:46
Route:
Eastern Colorado
through Western Kansas
Total Miles: 120
Miles I Road: 100.5
To Date Total: 525
Weather: 50 degrees in the morning and 80 degrees at end of ride; the weather continues to be perfect
Highlights
The mornings are the best. You watch the start of the new day awaken before you, each time in a new state, and each state has its own way of waking you up. The cornfields of western Kansas have probably provided the best morning wake-up so far. Fresh from an overnight rain, the sun awoke the vast open space with a translucent orange glow.
We didn’t get to our room until after 10:00 pm the night before. We would have to drive to our flag hand-off some 40 miles away, so that meant another 3 am wake-up call. The one thing I will not miss is the lack of sleep.
The ride itself was open and fast and, after the day in the Rockies, was welcomed. My body is holding though I have a real pain in my ass, the legs scream every time I start moving again, and my feet are continue to burn after about 70 miles of riding each day.
We had a major curve ball thrown at us at dinner tonight. The ride organizers have asked us to split our team of six to four and two, with two going to Washington D.C. a day early for a major CureSearch event. The remaining four members will stay behind with two members of other teams joining our ride. The new team would continue to ride not only our 120 miles but also start riding the remaining 240 miles. At some point, members from the other teams would be shuttled back to meet and complete the ride. In reality, we would likely be looking at riding an additional 100 miles on our ninth day. This now puts a different light on the remaining portion of the ride. It has been incredibly hard to sustain the number of daily miles. To date, I have ridden over five centuries in five days. This means, if I am one of the four members to remain with Team 1, that I will need to scale back my miles over the next few days.
We rode our bikes off the freeways most of the day. Riding through the cornfields gives one a lot of free time to think. What kept coming up in my mind is how fortunate I am. I began to think about the many people who have given me support to be able to be part of this ride and started to think of each story behind them and then how damn lucky my life has been to have each cross my path.
Thanks everyone! You are part of this ride too!
Total Miles: 120
Miles I Road: 100.5
To Date Total: 525
Weather: 50 degrees in the morning and 80 degrees at end of ride; the weather continues to be perfect
Highlights
The mornings are the best. You watch the start of the new day awaken before you, each time in a new state, and each state has its own way of waking you up. The cornfields of western Kansas have probably provided the best morning wake-up so far. Fresh from an overnight rain, the sun awoke the vast open space with a translucent orange glow.
We didn’t get to our room until after 10:00 pm the night before. We would have to drive to our flag hand-off some 40 miles away, so that meant another 3 am wake-up call. The one thing I will not miss is the lack of sleep.
The ride itself was open and fast and, after the day in the Rockies, was welcomed. My body is holding though I have a real pain in my ass, the legs scream every time I start moving again, and my feet are continue to burn after about 70 miles of riding each day.
We had a major curve ball thrown at us at dinner tonight. The ride organizers have asked us to split our team of six to four and two, with two going to Washington D.C. a day early for a major CureSearch event. The remaining four members will stay behind with two members of other teams joining our ride. The new team would continue to ride not only our 120 miles but also start riding the remaining 240 miles. At some point, members from the other teams would be shuttled back to meet and complete the ride. In reality, we would likely be looking at riding an additional 100 miles on our ninth day. This now puts a different light on the remaining portion of the ride. It has been incredibly hard to sustain the number of daily miles. To date, I have ridden over five centuries in five days. This means, if I am one of the four members to remain with Team 1, that I will need to scale back my miles over the next few days.
We rode our bikes off the freeways most of the day. Riding through the cornfields gives one a lot of free time to think. What kept coming up in my mind is how fortunate I am. I began to think about the many people who have given me support to be able to be part of this ride and started to think of each story behind them and then how damn lucky my life has been to have each cross my path.
Thanks everyone! You are part of this ride too!
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