What I see most

Connie wears red. Jan wears tank tops these days. We switch off. Me first. Connie first. Jan first. Me first. Connie first. Jan first. 5 mile turns today. Less on a harder day. Today wasn't really hard so longer turns worked just fine.

Today we rode 93 miles. No wind. Smooth roads. A relative breeze. We were on Route 90 for most of the day and our cue sheet said, pretty much, "get on route 90. Ride 90 miles. Get off. Turn right . Go to the Hampton Inn." (not exactly but almost.)

Today we had slightly more than 6 hours of actual riding time. We were out for longer than that, but every time we stop, the little bike computer stops. We start. It starts. Pretty cool. At the end of the ride you push a button and it tells you how long you've been riding. Fancy computers also tell your average speed, fastest speed, elevation gain - fancy stuff. Mine is a simple one. How far did you go? How long did it take. You want the average? Do the math.

It did get hot after a bit, which sent us into convenience stores. We troop in, head for the ice machine, fill up, head for the ladies' room, go to the drink area, load up with drinks, and finish off at the ice cream freezer. We're all aware that we need to start tapering off pretty soon. We simply cannot go home and eat like this unless we're spending the entire day riding.

At our second convenience store stop of the day we created the usual scene. We don't really MEAN to, it just happens. I mean, most convenience store shoppers are not used to three middle aged women biking around. And we're not exactly shy and retiring. Um, no. It doesn't take much to set one of us off and then the three of us get going and that's about it. Another scene.

Today, after the scene at the cash register, we ended up sitting with a Deputy Sherriff who was trying to eat his lunch of chicken and macaroni and cheese. I'm not quite sure how it happened but somehow there we all were, sitting with him in his booth, poor fellow, all of us talking at the same time. The people at the booth behind him were shaking their heads in amusement. The clerks gaped. We poured out our stories, answered his questions. He blessed us. We thanked him, told him to get out on a bike, and left.

Well, before we left I said, "Nice talking to you," and Jan said, "well, AT you," which cracked us up. We find ourselves stupidly entertaining at times. Maybe it's all the ice cream. Maybe it's the miles. We're probably not as funny as we think we are, but it doesn't matter. We rode 93 miles and that feels good.

We're in Mariana tonight. The truth is, we're at a motel near the interstate and we could be anywhere. I'm glad to be off the bike. I'm glad to stop, hop in the pool, take a nap, jot you a note. Later we'll have dinner in our parking lot and then we'll go to sleep and then get up and have breakfast in our parking lot and then we'll get on our bikes and ride some more. I spend an inordinate amount of time in parking lots these days.

We're almost done. Not quite, but almost.

Until tomorrow,
Cheers,
Laurey