I started out today very discouraged. My knees hurt more than ever, and the first few miles getting out of the park were all hills. I got off and walked, but even walking hurt. I didn't see how I could make it to Texas -- I'd have to change all my plans, etc. etc. I thought about calling Mom & Dad, but I decided they had enough to worry about with 'Becca's baby shower, so I put off calling until evening.
Today was supposed to be a short ride, but knee pain necessitated a lot of stops, and the only campground with showers turned out to be a lot farther south than I had anticipated!
In Paoli, I stopped for coffee and wound up talking with the cafe owner about the trail riding (cattle driving) he did in the '70s. He gave me my coffee for free, but I tipped generously.
I woke in the motel this morning and had trouble getting going, between the wet and cold outside, the horrible stale smoke inside, and a new pain in my left knee. I put on a new knee bandage I had bought yesterday at the phone nurse's recommendation, but it just bunched up immediately and became more painful than the pain it was supposed to treat!
[sent to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo group on November 9, 2004]
Hi, folks! It's been three months now since I left Minneapolis. My trip is 1/4 over already! But 3/4 of it is still ahead...
It felt good to hit the road again! Mom made a wonderful breakfast of teriyaki fried eggs and fresh-baked breadsticks.
I took Bison Road out of town, which meant Dad and I crossed paths on my way out of town and his way to work. From there I rode on Highway 75 for a few miles and then took "Old 75" all the way into Owasso. Outside Ramona I stopped to stretch my legs and wound up picking up pecans for half an hour!
Here's what I wore on a typical day:
You may be wondering what exactly one might bring on a long-distance, solo bicycle trip. Enough people have expressed interest that I figured I should take some photos of what I'm carrying and describe what goes where and why.
[originally posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on November 1, 2004]
Hi, folks! I'm still vegging out in Bartlesville, Oklahoma... It looks like I'll be here until Friday. A few highlights of visiting my hometown in this way at this time:
This church service is offered online in the hopes that you may find it useful. If you perform or reprint it, please let me know. Hymn and reading numbers are from Singing the Living Tradition. Rather than reprint these documents here, I have linked to other sites that quote and discuss them.
This morning we attended a free breakfast at the West Side Community Center, intended to lure voters in for a rousing speech and then a parade to the courthouse for early voting. It looked to me like the event was attended mostly by volunteers with only a few disenfranchised voters, but we had a good time, and it was standing room only, so we could scarcely have handled more people.
