Sunday September, 21 2008 - Day 7

Sunday September, 21 2008 - Day 7
Joe rides 200 miles today. He starts riding early in the morning with Chet from Kentucky and ends with me just east of St. Louis. The hills and long winding back roads of southern Indiana are magnificent for biking. There are plenty of flat sections to get into a large gear and just grind away as well as some formidable hills to hop over and cruise down.
Bo and I have a leisure morning. We load the truck and I convince Bo that Waffle House is an American tradition he must experience. We head over to the Waffle House to eat and drink our bodies full for under $20. Bo picks up the tab but it is not until I get fully educated on world politics. I learned some very interesting factoids from Bo and now see the world differently. I am hopeful that Bo after experiencing Waffle House also sees the world differently.
Shortly after leaving Waffle House we get a text from Joe. He and Chet have eaten $10 worth of food in a gas station in St. Meinrad’s Indiana and they don’t take American Express. Bo and I will need to settle the bill as we move west to catch Joe and Chet. We have told Bo that he should be careful now that we are no longer in the Northeast. Southern and Western towns can mistake his Asian heritage for non-American and treat him harshly if he is not careful. We joke with him about it but there is an element of truth to it and he senses this the further we travel south and west. He goes into the store to pay cash and I stand in the parking lot and watch a man polish his 1950’s car engine to perfection.
At the 100 mile transition point, Bo has taken off ahead and Chet is relieved by me. Joe will not get relief till much later in the day and it is 12:00 AM and I hear them loading buckets of ice into the tub next door which means he still hasn’t found his.
I start riding with Joe and the first 100 miles hasn’t impacted his power or speed. We ride side by side for a while and talk about GMO’s, the corn and soybean fields we see and discuss ideas about “a world for a better tomorrow”. We share a deep desire to help people help themselves. To live their dreams and to leave the world a better place then we found it so that today’s children will also have a place to live their dreams. All this dreaming is making me tired. Speaking of tires, we didn’t kill any today.
I take the lead and start cranking a 25mph pace. Joe clicks in behind me and we start to cover ground. The road west bends north and now I am cranking into a 4mph headwind. It isn’t gusty or blowing just solid. Several dogs bark but I am in the lead and feel safe. If they come after us, they will get a bite of Joe as he is behind me. I pedal into this wind for about 15 miles and then begin to consider it may be a better bet to draft and be bitten by a dog than to lead and be continually bitten on the forehead by this wind. Once again I was looking to get something for nothing.
We ride for miles and several times ride side by side to discuss something or another. On one of these times a white van pulls up behind us. I wave them around but they don’t pass us. I figure maybe it will be turning soon, is out for a Sunday drive or just doesn’t have the confidence to cross the yellow line. The driver rolls down the passenger side window and shouts F%*&^ You, Mother F%^&%. Joe and I say we are sorry and he restarts his van and blasts off ahead of us. I look at Joe and say “I think he was talking to you”. Joe says, “the guy shut off his engine to yell at us”. I laugh. Joe laughs. Only, (hopefully) in Southern Indiana would someone shut their engine off while driving down the road to curse you. Furthermore, he was following us for several miles before he could formulate his magic sentence and get up the courage to present it. This is how the days go by.
We think Bo is ahead of us but after 1 and ½ hours we figure he missed a turn and is lost. We call Chet and put out an ABP for Bo. We continue to crank at 24mph. 20 minutes later on the top of a hill I see a dot and swing my head back to Joe behind me. I nod to the dot and say “it can’t be”. We pedal harder and catch up to the dot. It is Bo. It has been 40 miles since we started the second hundred and Bo has been pedaling at world class (for his age bracket of course) speeds. Joe says Bo took a short cut and we banter around a bit. Bo is also surprised that he has held Joe and I off for two hours. He continues to pedal to 65 miles for the day. Amazing!
It is late in the day. Joe has 185 miles under his belt and I search for something to give him relief. There is silence and the sun is setting in front of us. I tell Joe one of my fav quotes from Ramana Maharishi – “As you are so is the world”. Joe pauses and says he when he returns to Pittsfield he will put “As you are so is the world” on the front of a T-shirt and “now go home and complain” on the back. I laugh hard.
Tomorrow I hear we are taking some rest. I don’t believe it and won’t until tomorrow night when I can hopefully get to bed before 1.
Here is a link to my Picassa Photo album for this trip, Enjoy - http://picasaweb.google.com/maltomitch/RideAcrossAmerica#
Here is a link to the kids and cause we are riding for - http://www.lisas810.com/cause_AOR.html
With gratitude - Chris