Tour Day 81 Let Your Guts Hang Low Sept 14 2010

I woke up this morning with a sore shoulder, throbbing legs, and drowsy eyes. I was out and packing up my stuff when I just went back and decided today is a day off and promptly fell back asleep.

When I woke up at 8am (a huge sleep in) I immediately felt better. Everything in my body was thanking me for not pushing it over the limit again.

I laying half awake I was thinking of the things I was going to fill my day with because I had no chores to complete. Other then a few emails I had nothing. That meant that I had an entire day to relax and do absolutely nothing.

When I got out the door I was met with super dark clouds and a heavy wind that would not have been at my back. With the next town 30 miles away it would have killed me that morning, so again that gave me a positive feeling.

At breakfast though I could not help but feel a little guilty. Here I am stuff my face when I should be turning over the pedals and getting my butt down the road. It is funny how cycling for me has progressed as a kid it was a hobby, as a teen it was a passion, now becoming an adult its an obsession.

With the feeling of guilt in my head I had to make myself useful. I did that by looking at my maps and deciding my route out of Florida. Because I am not coming down the coast anymore I have to actually plan. It is not as simple as saying “o I will just fallow route 1 for 13 days in a row”. When I looked at my map I had no idea what to do because really any route had multiple large gaps. So as a backup I went to goggle maps to look at side roads. Usually if you see side roads there will be some business of some sort. Or at least that’s what im hoping. My choice in terms of route is to not go up the inland. Instead I will be going up the golf coast. I will have a better breeze, better scenery, and hopefully more stuff.

After taking a nap and spilling half a tube of toothpaste on my shirt it was time for lunch. Now I did not realize I had that much splatter on me till I was halfway across the street. I had gone about 20 feet into a 350foot journey and I decided that it was to far to turn back and get a new shirt. I mean it seems here that any shirt is rarity. I would have just loved to read the minds of the people that were helping me.

Before I go any further I have come to a conclusion. Florida is not filled with old people. They are actually all young but the humidity has the same affect as sitting in water for a long time; you become like a grape. On the water note I was taking a bath today (the first in about 6 months) and farted. After this I was left with a question. Why do farts in any water smell so much worse then anywhere else?

Now it was time to just relax and do some research for when I get back. I figured the reserve I am going to try to get into. I am going to apply with the 15th field artillery regiment in Vancouver. Artillery is something I always have been interested in because it is the most technical of the frontline forces and no battle has ever been won without it. I looked at things like becoming a technician or lineman, more safe options but if I did those I would not truly be committed 100% to my reserve.

At this point it was time for dinner and I decided that it was time for a buffet. At this Chinese buffet I was the only one in it to start off. As the night wore on all these single guys came strolling in and they all had one thing in common. They had this strange walk when the approached the door. It was almost as if they had ridden a horse all day, or in this case they were awaiting there guts to drop once full. Buffet edict is also something interesting. You have to process how am I going to make this worthwhile. In this case it was tackle the crab legs, and dairy products. Make them pay for only charging me 8 bucks.
Trip Distance: 0km