June 18 Crossing America

Sebree, KY – Cave In Rock, IL.  Distance 55 miles

Whew, glad today is over.  Up at 5:30 excited to get on the road early as this is to be a short ride day and were staying at a State Park with something to see and do.  Mother Nature stepped in a put a damper on my plan.   Within 5 minutes of being up the sky let loose with several sonic booms and rain came down in buckets.  About quarter to six the severe storm warning sirens came on.  For the next 7 hours the rain alternated between light to sheets of rain sweeping sideways with the help of high winds.  Finally at 1:30 the sky brighten and the rains subsided enough to ride.

Getting started late in the day is not good for me, the slowest rider of the group.  I got a slight head start over most of the riders but by the time I rode 4 miles everyone had caught up and past me.  At about mile 24 I bonked and struggled to make it to the second rest stop which was at 43 miles.  Our added BONUS in addition to rain today was to battle a 15+ mph headwind. I was completely exhausted and ready to call it a day.  However the VP of a local bank stopped by our support van and offered to pay for all of us to have dinner on him or the bank?  Of course, we all took him up on that deal, except Rachel and Ike who had already headed out.  It was nice to sit down in a chair and relax for about an hour and fill my belly with a decent hot meal.  Thank you to another “Road Angel” Chris the VP of a bank in a small town with a good heart.

After the rest and good meal I felt much more like riding but did tell Bridget and Pepper
if I fell behind the group I expected them to stop and pick me up.  The time was now 7:30 PM and we still had 12 miles to ride.  We would be taking a ferry across the Ohio River and it only runs till 9:50 PM.  The last 19 miles I had averaged less than 7 mph which means I wouldn’t make the ferry if I continued at the same pace.  Surprised myself as I felt strong and knocked off the 12 miles in less then an hour.  Hmmm!  A short rest made a
traumatic difference in my attitude and effort.  Could it be this group’s schedule is too aggresive for this Old Guy?  About 25 minutes after I arrived at the ferry the rest of the troops arrived and filmed them riding onto the ferry and the ride across, hope it
turns out as it was getting toward dark.

By the time I set-up my tent, a shower and gear organized for tomorrow it was 10:30.  This was a long day for sure but made it through another day, have to be nearing 1,100 miles.

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