I woke up today and was sore. My brain was not functioning and my body was aching. I just wanted to go back to sleep and not ride. The thing that keeps getting me is my dang will to ride. For example I said I would slow down and now im riding further then ever before. I said I would take a break in set cities and passed through them. I simply love to ride.
That being said it is not always nice to ride in 80-degree heat at 6 in the morning, in the dark, across a bridge that had no shoulder and was about 2.5km long. Maybe it was because I have been buzzed so often on bridges but I have been getting really anxious on them lately. To the point that my palms sweat more then normal, and my body gets really ridged on the bike. Today was no exception for that, but it was an exception for the drivers. For the morning and throughout the day people passed me wide and took up unoccupied lanes to save my nerves.
Thankfully this morning I had a favourable wind so I was lighting hay bails I was going so fast. It really saved my legs because they were cooked. Any time I got a burst of headwind I slowed to a crawl when usually I can just power through it.
The road today was actually really pleasant because for the most part I had a newish shoulder that did not feel like it had land mines blown up under it. On that note let’s talk about the rear wheel. Because of the roads yesterday it threw my wheel out of whack by a good chunk, not bad enough to feel it every revolution but bad enough to undo the rear brake. When I went to inspect the wheel I found hairline cracks forming around a few more spokes. I refuse to part with this wheel. It is a strange sticking point for me. I just feel that it summizes the trip to a tee. Infact when I get home the wheel is going to get framed and become a decretive piece in my room. They say you have to find your souvenir for a trip and I found mine.
I was rolling through mile after mile of Louisiana country that really was not too interesting. I kept pegging out water towers to pace myself to. Then I saw it. The perfect water tower. The perfect lighting. It was easily the most photogenic moment of the trip so far. I grabbed my front brake and sketched to a stop and went to grab my camera. Great my bar bag was acting up and the latches were stick. I wrench on it with my good hand and it pops open. I take my sock and lens cap off and turn around to catch the picture. It was gone. The cloud had cover the beautiful lighting and all that was left was a black mess.
Not one to waste a stop I thought of what to take a picture of. And it came to me take a picture of my hands. To paint a picture for you my entire palm is a callas and by the end of the day a 2-inch wide and 4 inch long strip is bright red and tender. My thumbs from wrapping around the hoods are useless and hurt if you try to incorporate them in anything.
Lunch was typical I stopped for a sandwich and sat down beside this father and son. Now I am like most people that are somewhere alone. I listen to there conversation and was shocked by what I heard. It was the exact same conversation that I had with both my mom and dad about life after high school. It actually got weird it was so similar, I wanted jump in and give my fallow your dreams speech but I held back. That was until they kicked open the door by asking how old I was. Then I spilt over like Niagara Falls. This moment made me come to a conclusion. This is not just a ride. This is my dream. I cannot give up in Austin. The last stop is L.A. That being said After Austin the ride is going to suck because the state highways zip zag all over the map. It is not going to be as simple as the east coast where I just went down route 1.
I was starting to get a headwind and was ready to stop in Kinder when a truck flags me over. Then another tuck pulls a u-turn. I am wondering what the heck is happening here, am I going to die here on a state highway. Well not today death. What happened was the white truck passed me wide and the other truck would not move over. They then smacked mirrors and that was that. So it is 91 degrees and im sitting on the side of the road for an hour waiting for the state trooper to show up to give my report. I guess there went my nap. On the plus side I have e never met two people that were happier to have an accident.
Trip Distance: 185km
Ride Time: 7:58hr
Avg. Speed: 23.32km/h
Total Distance: 13650km
Total Ride Time: 631hr
Destination: Kinder, Louisiana
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Damn those truckers! I hope you gave them your " I am not doing this trip to die" speech.. If not....I will call them and give it to them both.
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