Kansas!

Day 32 - July 5,
87 miles. Richmond, MO to Lawrence, KS

Everyone has been looking forward to Lawrence for a while. I mean when you're doing three 90 mile days in a row you better have something to keep you going. It didn't help that since i had done the town facts research for Lawrence I jumped up on a chair in the morning to eagerly announce my findings. Seriously listen to this town and how it oozes hipness:

"Lawrence is known for a thriving music and art scene; Rolling Stone named Lawrence one of the "best lil' college towns" in the country. The New York Times said Lawrence had "the most vital music scene between Chicago and Denver". Locally owned bar and music venue "The Replay Lounge" was named one of GQ magazines top 25 bars/venues in the country in 2007. The Lounge is also apparently a Pinball SHRINE!"

I rode with Carlie all day today and it was most fun. She is quite possibly the most chipper and enthusiastic girl I have ever met. Her happiness and positive energy is so contagious in the best way. I think most of us have been falling into the rhythm of riding entire days with the same group of people and it seems to be a much more fulfilling sense of accomplishment and bonding this way and i think i like it more than switching it up at lunch. The best part is that we all start off more or less together and sort of just randomly settle in with whomever which is nice.

The first 5 miles of the day were marked by this bizarre mound of dirt rising above the ground that Doug, Carlos and I stopped at. Of course, its climbability was like a magnet to our testosterone. Did we get ridiculously muddy? Yes. Did we conquer victoriously and claim eternal glory? Oh yeah.

Among our many musings, we somehow stumbled onto the concept of water balloon bike warfare. Again, 90 miles daily = craving for on the road entertainment. But seriously, water balloons on bikes, who would be silly and crazy enough to do that...

Well within 30 minutes we had secured 100 of them from the dollar general store and I created Handlebar satchels out of bandanas while Carlie filled them up. At 1300 hours primary bombardment of the lunch spot commenced, but collateral damage was minimal due to firing malfunctions(so maybe a few exploded in my hand...). All was good as we restocked atfter lunch to show other riders how we had been keeping busy. All in all, it was safe to say that victory had been firmly achieved at day's end and our waterballooning forcers biked on with triumph. Victory of what or over whom i dont know yet, but victory nonetheless. Just like my acquiring red velvet, I absolutely love when random amusing thoughts can turn into reality through sheer willpower. Kinda makes you wonder what else is possible next time you have a fun idea.

First of all, Kansas is not all flat. Lets get that straight. Coming into it over the Missouri river was pretty exciting as Kansas is literally the middle of the country and it really makes our "cross country" trip feel that much more real. Odd how there are two towns called Kansas City right across the river from each other. Also, apparently the Kansas City Royals baseball team is actually from Missouri. So crazy!!!

Along the rolling hills going through a populated boulevard, I heard a sedan honking at me. Great I thought, someone wants to either yell at me or run me off the road, AGAIN. As they approached i noticed three pretty tough looking gangster dudes in the car and was less than excited when they started slowing up next to me. And then my world got rocked. I looked over, they looked over, and they all flashed a peace sign and were like "Hey man" and then drove off.

An actual car full of non-cyclists had slowed down just to say hi to me. I think you can figure out who felt pretty damn cool right there and then. Awesome, i think yes. In general, I have rarely felt more like a celebrity than when i am riding with that spandex and jersey on. Waving to people we pass and getting hellos back is kind of intoxicating. Everyone needs to feel a little cool now and then i guess, right?

Going into the last 20 miles of the day, the impossible happened. Yes, we finally had a slight tailwind. We all agree that it was pretty much the best riding of the whole trip. We were all doing 20 mph without much effort and the rolling scenery and fields were just gorgeous.

If hip and cool had a baby city, that city would be called Lawrence. Its a wonderful college town that has a great main street, zero sprawl, local business, young folks, and TONS OF BIKERS. Honestly though does being a hipster really mean you have to look like your in a 70's workout video. Lawrence is to Hipsters what light is to mosquitos. Seriously, these dudes make Brooklynites look boring and mainstream. It's all good though and totally cool, just not what i expected so deep and random in the country. In honor of it, Larry will henceforth be referred to as Lawrence for the next two days per his request.

The Habitat Chapter here is basically the greatest ever. They've arranged six rooms for us at a riverfront Marriot Hotel. Room Service? Continental Breakfast? Jacuzzi? Not sleeping on the floor? We might as well be bathing in lavender scented silk ribbons also.

We had a great dinner at Johnny's Tavern, legit THE place in Lawrence, and the pizza and corn was awesome. Finally getting to eat some of the latter after riding through a million miles in it was pretty good. But even better was the fact that the TV was playing the tour De France. Aside from bowls of guacamole i have never ever been so fixated on something. We were all just totally mesmerized by all the crazy cyclists and speeds. They were legit averaging 40 mph which just shouldn't make sense. I so wish we could watch more of it on the trip. Its crazy how much more you appreciate somehting after having done it. It totally showed my skyrocketing level of appreciation for cycling and the mentally unstable athletes who actually choose to participate in it. Watching the Tour def pumped us up for more cycling. It may also may have given me a reality check for understanding our own level of 15 mph hardcoreness.

At night we checked out the Replay Lounge and by checked out I actually mean pillaged. It was pretty cool and hip. Lets just say Doug's mohawk wasn't the only one there. Though I doubt their dance floor has ever been rocked as hard as by the 32 of us. Some locals joined in but most couldn't get past their amazement of our grooving. Sometimes I can't help but laughing inside at the first glimpses of confusion whenever we roll into a new town.

Lawrence is a great cozy town to be in for 2 days and we're so excited to spend two days here. It'll be great to really affect our build site and to get to know the town. Def looking forward to raiding the funky book and clothing stores. Hopefully no womans sweaters will tempt me this time...

Happy Birthday America!

Day 31 - July 4, 9:05 pm
92 miles. Moberly, MO to Richmond, MO

Happy 4th of July!

The only thing i like more than a sunny day is having it be rainy in the morning and then turn to sun from there. The latter happened today. Lets face it, preparing for the worst and then having a pleasant experience instead is pretty sweet.

What isn't so sweet is helping out Colin Hood clean up trash only to realize its an assassin trap in disguise. Enough said, but a kill well earned on his part. Nothing like a healthy dose of deception and cunning to build character. Worked for Sparta right?

Other than passing by the world's largest pecan(?) (it was metal, boo) today not too much has really been going on these few days. Its mostly just riding which is a little of a downer because its the really random silly things like running through corn that totally make my entire week and keep me going. There were tons of cool trains passing by today though. Corn was still here but no so much. It seems the Pecans have been guarding their turf well.

One thing that did suck was a car throwing a small firecracker at us as it drove by. I saw this weird smoky thing in front of us only to have it explode and scare the hell out of us. Its kinda funny but mostly retarded. Honestly, I never ever thought i would be the type to get roadrage, and I still won't, but I legit wanted to throw a rock at this car if i could have and it scares me to say that. But it was such a messed up thing to do and could've actually caused an injury. Humans are probably as stupid as we are smart sometimes.

The riding itself was unbelievably quick today. Lunch at 40 miles came in only 3.5 hours, and felt like a snap. Though there were some hills and headwind we were just pushing along. I don't know if its my body or my mental attitude adjusting but I was just really not feeling the effects of the mileage at all which is great. I was thinking more generally today of what ridiculous riders we've become and reminiscing on the first week where i literally thought my body might explode at any second from all of the crazy adjustments. I'm totally feeling the groove physically and mentally now which is awesome and is the kind of character building i was hoping for. Even the initial rain didn't upset me that much!

Had a great conversation with Miranda about African drumming today since she has also done it in college. Major bonding ensued and we could hardly get over how much we both love it to death.

I'm on trailer crew this week and we get to fill up the trailer every morning with all 32 bags. It's honestly like real life tetris and kind of fun. Though having real live 8-bit Russian medley's probably wouldn't hurt either. Actually, wait, hold on, i just found a great tetris dance remix on my computer. Guess who's gonna jam tomorrow morning...!

Dinner was real fun today as i realized I am becoming decently knowledgeable on the different Protestant denominations. But mostly it was because i had a sweet conversation with this short little sweet lady named Joe Ann of the DAR. No she is not a member of the Duly Arranged Reptiles, but rather the Daughters of the American Revolution. What that means is that she can actually trace her lineage all the way back to an ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War. I don't know about you but that kinda blows my mind, especially coming from Queens, basically the Immigrant capital of the world. I knew almost nothing about them before and it was a great pleasure hearing her talk about the organization and her involvement.

Crazy cool randomness: super small door in the church next to a large one. Good thing it didn't throw us onto the Jersey Turnpike or into anyone's consciousness.

Now ass for the fireworks you've obviously only read this far for. Essentially, imagine cleaning your bike in a mortar field. No joke, there have been explosions left and right continuously since 6pm. Our neighbors might as well be trying to burn our church down. It got really sweet at 9 since we are on the top of a hill and can see the entire town's backyard fireworks. It was actually a full 180 degrees of sulphurous stimulation. We couldn't even decide which ones to focus on but we could all agree that Missouri rocks. Hopefully not too many children had their arms blown off today.

Finally we sat to watch the spectacular fireworks presentation a few of us has had actually spent two hours preparing. We couldn't decide whether it was the fireworks themselves or the military like precision with which the members were running around with torches yelling codenames like "Pink Elephant" and "Mortar Up" that was more awesome.

I even got to set off one of our 600 bottlerockets. It was my first firework ever since they're illegal in NY state and also since I'm terrified to death of handling them up close. However, the ensuing power rush more than made up for all of that.

Got really thinking today about the whole America thing. People were decked out in all sorts of red, white, and blue paraphernalia. I've never really identified super strongly with America and have always been kind of in an interesting place with my Greek Heritage being so strong and living in NYC which is a universe of its own. I feel that nationalism and localism in general are pretty silly but I think they are still essential to one's sense of self to an extent. This trip has really been interesting in terms of helping me appreciate the American side of my Greek-Americanness. Wish i had more fully developed thougths but i suppose just the fact that im even thinking about this stuff is good enough. There'll always be time for answers i guess.

Overall, solid day ridingwise. I'm excited to be feeling so confident on the road and with my (hopefully real and not just supposed) mental and physical toughness. Also, I've been doing a lot of practice lately with hands free riding and am making great progress. Definitely a fun goal to work towards on the way to San Fran. Not much else to do on flat 5 mile stretches.

Well actually, the other things i did do today was 1. calculate the fact that we'll have each pedaled roughly 2.2 million times by the end of the trip give or take 200,000 or so. Seriously, i tried keeping count for a while and that's just a big number.

2. My other thought was of why can't roads be different colors besides beige and black. Seriously how much more fun would they be! Think about it, you could color code different directions of traffic which means its at least arguably functional. And intersections would have cool blending effects making them pretty which is probably even more important. You could even have like a hometown's sports teams colors. Hopefully at least like 4 people take this idea somewhat seriously.

Off to bed in what is basically trench warfare between competing fireworks camps. Apparently more fireworks = more Americanism?

Noodlers Anonymous

Day 30! - July 3rd, 6:16pm
80 miles. Hannibal, MO to Moberly, MO

On the road i was wondering if they could've named more things after Mark Twain if they tried. We were still seeing things up to 50 miles out. There was definitely less corn today and more rolling hills as a result. Nothing too crazy but good enough for a solid workout. Got to use my special blue bowl at lunch and it worked like a charm. Watch out food.

Today at 6am was the official start of Bike and Build Assassins and the bloodbath has already reached epic proportions. No friendship or rider is safe. Lets just say I've never been less comfortable peeing by myself. And lets also just say that Assassins really lets you see who takes things to extremes. Rules are you have to kill someone by squirting with a water gun or bottle and there can't be any witnesses. Safe zones are on your bike and in your sleeping bag. Casualties are accruing left and right but good news is they don't include me yet. And moreover, guess who got his first ever kill in assassins today! It was a pretty textbook "sit down at table for pretend conversation with the person opposite you while really sneaking a squirt underneath" I'm honestly content with finally having at least killed one person and wouldn't mind dying that much now. But my next target still better watch out...

Not that much really going on today honestly. Had a great time riding with Lara and Larry and kept a great pace all the way through. Now we've seen our share of wierd things on the road, but today's Adopt-a-Highway sign we saw was legit like "what the hell is going on". Perhaps you've heard of "Noodler's Anonymous" but i def haven't. Since we were at such a loss, all Lara and I could do was attempt our best anonymous noodling.

Just found out that Noah got $150 worth of fireworks donated for tomorrow! It'll be great. Especially since our town tomorrow doesn't actually celebrate July 4th until July 10th. Yes, you read correctly.

Still waiting for dinner and its my earliest journal ever! Hoping to totally overdose on sleep tonight. We're staying at this crazy large Christian Cafe/Lounge called Cafe 41/ The Destiny Center. It's stocked with comfy couches, tons of table games, and yes Rock Band. Boy, talk about roughing it...

Today is actually a full month since we all met on June 3 and we're basically nearing our halfway point. To be honest if the trip ended now I'd be totally satisfied with everything and the way i see it, every extra day out of this is really just a bonus that i'm gonna try and enjoy and immerse myself in as much as possible. I think in California this'll be one of those experiences that'll I'll be slightly sad but definitely ready to leave and i think that's a great place to be in general with big journeys like this.

Fireworks tomorrow! Can't wait to celebrate the formation of a country based on ideals of liberty and freedom by blowing stuff up.

EDIT: Just discovered that the cafe actually has an entire concert stage set up with instruments and lights and everything. Dennis is apparently a crazy drummer and broke it down with Ryan Farr on the keyboard as we all got up to spit some rhymes on that house. Colin Hood legit improvised an entire biking rock ballad. Nothing like a bike and build rock concert and mosh pit to settle us down for bed.

Good Evening, Clarise

Day 29 - July 2nd, 9:57pm
55 miles. Pittsfield, IL to Hannibal, MO

The church put out an awesome breakfast spread today that i still can't get over. It makes such a difference. One of the members, Jerry also showed a few of us some great magic tricks involving a chain that I wan't to make sure I memorize since I don't know any and they always come in handy.

Today we hit a serious milestone that i think we're all really proud of. It was not our 786th group picture but rather crossing the mighty Mississippi River into Missouri. It came around mile 19 and we headed down to the shore to chill out for a good 45 minutes and take it all in. We all dipped our feet in it and some went so far as to follow the "tradition" (?) of washing your face in it. It felt so cool to be physically and literally immersed in such a significant site of American History and identity. It's even funner since its not some like cool waterfall or crazy architectural wonder or something but rather just some lazy river that is so damn important. You can't help but think how those first settlers were happily mozying along on their way west when they saw this thing and we're probably like "Aww man, how we gonna cross this!".

Also, Missouri, the "show me" state. Seriously, could you think of a more innuendoish motto. We decided to give our own inerpretation.

It got me thinking a lot about world monuments in general and how to balance the awe and wonder of the history behind it with the fact that if you stare hard enough its really just another building or body of water, etc. Essentially I'm concerned with the slight anticlimax involved in such wonders. Rob interestingly pointed out that the real wonder and joy is in the journey getting there, especially on such a trip as ours. This resonated with me and my desire to live life by being present. Either way that river definitely is mighty and it was one of my favorite stops yet.

There were tracks that ran right along it and just as we were leaving this great locomotive started passing carrying at least 1 mile's worth of cars full of coal. It was pure insanity how much that engine was hauling. Several of us had to fight our urges to grab onto the ladders and follow the train down south, though that doesn't mean we didn't pretend to do so as we ran along it.

Right before lunch, I had a pretty liberating experience that I won't forget for a while and which I'll keep to myself. Oh public journals...

The weather and terrain were pretty similar though it was much hotter today and we saw our share of rolling hills. I was actually thinking today that I'm really excited for the rockies not only for the natural beauty but mostly for the fact that we're gonna show just how badass we are as we climb those impossible ascents. Well today Missouri apparently caught wind of this and just so happened to throw a few "mini-mountains", as we called them, our way. As we were descending one hill we could see this other monster ascent directly in front of us. It was literally gruesome. Some expletives definitely came out while still descending towards it along with like "Seriously!?". These guys just came all up in our business, no introduction or nothing. Flat, Flat, rolling, flat, HEY LOOK MOUNTAIN!. Needless to say we beasted them, but there was definitely much commiserating at dinner.

Right at the end of the day we came across the "world famous" Mark Twain Caves. They were kind enough to give us a group discount on the guided tour. These are apparently the caves where Mark Twain would go exploring and where he based many of the scenes from Tom Sawyer on. Hannibal, the town we're in, was in fact his boyhood home. Even without the history, the caves themselves were so cool. Like really, who would think rocks could be so fun. Just winding path after winding path. At one point we were even directly under the Mississippi River!. And Jesse James used to hide out there! It was also freezing in there at like 50 degrees. The tour was pretty informative, anecdotal, and of course filled with horrible puns but overall enjoyable. They apparently also had this Mark Twain impersonator who does shows everyday which i find just hilarious.

At showers today at the YMCA i used the hot tub shamelessly. The lady who saw me get in and moan with delight had nothing but shock on her face. Apparently she thought it was too hot, to which I instinctively responded "Not enough". It felt so great in there, muscles and all, definitely doing it every chance i get.

The Baptist church here put out a wonderful dinner including my first cheesecake on this trip. Afterwards we did more affordable housing presentations. Everyone had done lots of research but the delivery was just painful at times. It just drives me mad when people who are delivering a presentation read to you rather than talk to you. My intent is not to critique individual people but this is just a subject which actually gets me sorta angry in general. I feel that so often powerpoints are assumed to be boring slides with text so why bother doing anything else. I don't get why it still doesn't click with people that block paragraphs of text on screens don't help anyone and kill interest like we do the environment. Why can't we actually have some sort of public school structure for instructing young, impressionable children in effective presentation skills, both communication-wise and technology-wise. I mean seriously, most of the world's successful people are great presenters and why shouldn't cultivating this ability among our children should be a priority. Presenting well has so many other positive effects on one's self confidence, ability to communicate and interact with others, etc.

Ugh, wow haven't gotten riled up like that in a while. Basically i understand that we all had time pressures for these and such but I was so underwhelmed at some points by the delivery that i could'nt help thinking of this. Again, I really think this is a much larger and systemic problem within society and the way we prioritize education, not me directing anger at individuals who i love hanging around with on this trip. I could talk forever about this, but even I get tired of myself sometimes.

Paige has organized a game of Assassins for our trip and its starting tomorrow. I have a very harrowed history with this game both in high school and in college. Basically every time it comes around i get super pumped and plan out all sorts of deceit and strategy only to lose literally within the first hours to the most miserable random luck for my killer. The game is super fun to bring a group together but also legit stressful. I actually can't deal with that kind of heartbreak again so I'm hoping that maybe my blase attitude while have the opposite effect and make things somehow go my way. That being said, I can never quite control the inner ninja in me...

I am hapilly and officially lowering my elbow and crash wounds to minor status. I've stopped wrapping my elbow daily and they're all on track to heal just fine and scar beautifully. Also I'm hoping to include a picture soon of a tan line update. Mine aren't the most extreme by far but I think you guys might def be somewhat proud at the very least.

Also, mail came today! Thank you Becky! and Sylvia! Go mom and dad also for sending my sweet blue silicone squishy camping bowl that you can turn inside out and lick clean. Possibly top 17 best inventions ever. I can't wait to use it and eat something besides peanut butter for lunch.


Really great past two days. Just what i needed and was hoping for after that bad sweep experience. Looking forward to more bike and build fun. Finally a 6am wakeup! We get to sleep in!

"Roger, Initiating Cyclist Escort Now"

Day 26 - July 1, 10:08pm
80 miles. Springfield, IL to Pittsfield, IL

Today was great. Smooth is really the word. I'm pretty sure it came down to the great breakfast that we had courtesy of the Church in Springfield. Having just cereal some mornings was really not cutting it and seriously affecting our ability to bike. Not the case with egg casseroles! The 5am wakeups are also becoming pretty standard procedure. I'll say it again, my morning routine is rocking and I officially packed my bag before Rob, which if you know how much of a zen master he is at organization says a lot.

A little cloudy and chilly this morning as we went back into corn country but the headwind was not serious. We were keeping a great pace all day and it was the first time ever that I haven't been waiting for lunch even though it was at mile 43 and we only snacked once. Conclusion: Big breakfasts from now on.

Couple of serious highlights today. Around mile 6 we stopped in this empty lot with three huge gravel piles to stretch. Of course, it wasn't long till us guys started to race up the tallest one we could find. Yes, It was a challenge even for our quads of steel. It was also super unnecessary, masculine, and fun. Aren't the best things in life?

I rode with Ryan Farr, Dan, Miranda, Clarissa pretty much all day and we had a great rhythym going. At one point we had to cross this super steep bridge to get over the Illinois river. We slowed to let this silver car go by us and then began our ascent. Little did we know that the driver of the silver car was actually an undercover cop who immediately turned on his sweet hidden strobes and proceeded to give us a full escort over the entire bridge. We couldn't have been more amped and he enthusiastically returned our fist pumps. Seriously, we are always joking about how funny it would be if a police cruiser spontaneously decided to escort us. To have an undercover car do that just blew our minds. How cool would it be if he had been tailing us since Providence as our hidden guardian accomplice only to appear in times of need. Hmm...Maybe we're not that important.

Highlight #2: Now that the corn is finally tall enough we decided that the time for frolicing was ripe. Let me tell you, running through corn stalks is just super. It's as overwhelming and crazy as you'd think it'd be. It was even better when we played our game of hide and seek for about 25 minutes. I had some time to really look at it up close and i realized that corn is actually a very interesting plant. It grows so tall and its stalks are super strong. It also has a really weird texture that just makes you want to run your hand along them.

The last part of the day saw some smooth cruising despite my 3rd flat of the trip. But it was all good since Clarissa gave me her Muscle Milk bar which apparently had 25 grams of protein(!?) in a little 5 inch bar. All i was missing was a creatine injection. We found a post office and i finally got to send some out that I've been holding since Kentucky. It's way harder than you'd think to send post cards on this trip given how little time we spend in each state and how little time we have to stop and look for them. Trust me though, everyone is trying their best to get them all out.

The church in Pittsfield put out an amazing spread for us as well as arranging for us to get some pool time in, as well as free haircuts and organizing homestays. I kept my hair but had this great Pizza/pasta dish and for dessert this wonderful strawberry fluff, jello like substance that i had to have them take away from me for my own safety.

I'm staying along with Max, Ryan Ellis, and Dan Coop with Lawrence and Rachel. They're such a sweet and warm couple. Rachel used to be a school teacher while Lawrence used to raise hogs(pigs). In fact, our very own Pittsfield was once the hog capital of the world. The details on when and how that title left are still oddly hazy with everyone i ask. Though the tradition of Pigs Day is still alive and is actually next week.

Their house is awesome. Lawrence showed us how he converted his old hog barn into a great woodshop where he keeps busy on fun projects including this great bench. (fun fact: Metal inside of wood turns it black, who knew!). He also has a great arrowhead collection. They had this great pool deck that literally overlooked 80 acres of corn right next to their house along with a sea of fireflies. The sunset on the drive home was nothing short of breathtaking in its fiery orange and pink and their Golden Retriever Denver is just a great bundle of energy.

Just hearing Lawrence talk about his hog work and looking out over the huge field of corn really took my head for a spin. I've never ever been to a place this rural and to see the kind of quiet, simple, lifestyle here(at least relatively) is so mindblowing. All i can see from my back window is a parking lot, and here i am in someone's backyard where there are 80 acres of corn extending almost infinitely. What gets me even more is the generational history of these places. Ever since it was settled, farming has been the way of life here, plain and simple, with duties passed on from children to grandchildren. The kind of freedom to travel around and see new places that i take for granted may not have been necessarily present for these folks growing up here. At least thats the impression I get. All i could think about was how two people (Lawrence and myself) could lead such tremendously different lifestyles and what different worlds we were both from, and how many more great honest, hardworking people like him there must be in our country. The cool thing though was that despite our differences and my awe for his work we were just two dudes having conversation and laughing. I mean isn't that what it all comes down to?

You can also clearly see how large scale agrobusiness with its thousands of acres has disrupted the traditional family farm but thats a whole other conversation. I'm definitely gaining a much greater appreciation or at least consciousness of where the food in my grocery store comes from and how this whole process of massive food consumption is fueled.

Anyway, farming blows my mind and Lawrence and Rachel are great. Tomorrow is relatively short into Hannibal, Missouri. It's apparently the home of Mark Twain(Samuel Clemmens) or something so im sure there are many adventures and stops awaiting us!`

The MEGALOAD!

Day 27 - June 30, 11:03pm
Build Day. Springfield, IL

Today was the first day aside from our day off where I woke up and thought, hey i'm actually awake and don't want to sleep more. Wonder when that'll happen again...

We were working at a Habitat Site today doing interior work. It was my first time ever doing drywall. Some did that while others drywalled. Putting up the sheet rock on the ceilings by hand was an adventure to say the least. Once again, I have tons more respect at every site for those who do construction for a living. It really is a craft that deserves respect. Dan and I were talking about how great it would be to build our own houses by hand one day. Aside from being way more economical I can't imagine the sense of pride, accomplishment and fulfillment that must come with it.

Got back to the church and finally had some free time. It's odd i realized how we clamor for free time all the time but i always find myself not really knowing what to do with it. I guess that's what happens when you get used to leading such a simple life of eating, sleeping, biking, and building. I find this pretty interesting in general of how you don't know what to do with something once you have it, despite having wanted it.

It was nice though to simply not have to do anything organized and just literally sit around. I decided to induldge in some reading which was fun. Even funner was the nap i fell into while reading on this super recliner. Gotta love those, reading naps are the best. Got at least an hour in and felt great.

My chore group is breakfast and laundry and we headed to the laundromat to wash clothes like we do every 3rd riding day. Inside we came across the mythically proportioned "MEGA LOAD", a beast among washers. I expect it to provide at least 2 weeks of good joke material. We also had fun watching Ryan Farr try out one of those machines where you try and get quarters to slide off a ramp by inserting quarters of your own. He was up 50 cents at one point actually, aka the first throw, but for some odd reason he wasn't able to keep the luck going. It's almost like the game was "rigged" as the owner of the laundromat herself mentioned.

Tomorrow is 80 or so miles and I'm looking forward to recovering from my last less than pleasurable ride. Crossing into Missouri should be fun. It's crazy how we're crossing whole states in 2 days and even moreso how we've come 1,400 miles. Perhaps its because i have more internet access than most, or maybe that ive had so much road time to think about the real world, I've felt a little detached from the wonderful bike and build isolated bubble. I mentioned this earlier and how great it is to just live in the present and focus on simplicity to the exclusion of real life responsibilites. Hopefully that rhythm will return starting on the road tomorrow.

Mind over Matter

Day 26 - June 29, 9:42
92 miles. Effingham, IL to Springfield, IL

First of all, I never really touched on the name our last town, Effingham. It's one of those things that you're relieved to find out you're not the only one who takes pleasure in.

Marisa and I were on sweep today meaning that we were suposed to be the last riders at all times. The last time i swept with Noah it was super fun and everyone ususally feels the same way since its basically an excuse to just take it slow and check out everything you can along the way. While i had high hopes for the day, we got a foreshadowing of what was to come when we did only 5 miles in the first hour.

It started out with my second flat tire of the trip. I've had a few tire problems in my time, but never an actual staple folded into my tire. Seriously, I don't think an actual stapler would have done such a good job of lodging it in there like that. It took 25 minutes altogether, not my best time. We then found out that Dennis' tire had one upped me and gotten actually slashed. When we caught up with them they had used a folded up dollar bill to plug the hole and inflate the inner tube. (It really works!)

The scenery was more of the same flat roads and farmland over and over and over and over again. We were literally in seas of corn. So much corn. So much. The only thing there may have been more of than corn was headwind. It just didn't want us moving. The craziest part was tthat no matter what direction the road turned, even when it did a full U turn, the headwind was still there to greet us.

Fortunately we hit a sweet bike path around mile 49 that took us about 11 miles to our second lunch. It was covered on both sides by trees so there was no wind meaning we could comfortably go 15mph or so as opposed to our previous of 9mph. It was so nice to be able to ride without worrying about 18 wheelers coming up on my ass and was a much needed mental break from the never-ending highway. It was so scenic and kind of made me feel as if i was riding through Narnia or something. Except without the centaurs and evil Ice queens and such.

I've established that after lunch is always my least favorite time since you've done so much but need to keep going and almost always gorge too much on food. But this time was especially bad. I hate to say it but around mile 70 I felt like i would shoot myself if I could. We were back in the Farm Sea and up against the worst headwind ever. The lack of a shoulder on the highway didn't help. Marisa was being a super soldier by powering on despite her bad knee, and it was no fault of her own, but it was personally maddening to have to pedal at 8 or 9mph when I knew that i could easily push 15 and get there twice as fast.

What really topped off this mess was that we could literally see 5 miles ahead of us at a time. The road was basically saying "Hey look at how much more of this constant peddling you have to struggle through!" It really reminded me of that shot from the wizard of Oz with the long winding road headed towards Emerald City with green on either side. It was basically that minus Toto and with a Corn Harvesting plant instead of Emerald City. Oh and I guess the yellow traffic lines do technically make it a "yellow road" I love it when analogies work out!

It was getting late and we just buckled down and kept pushing until we hit another bike path at 83, at which point the main struggle had finished. We ended up pulling into the church at 7:40, 12 hours after we had departed the first city. The church treated us to some great turkey burgers and Sherbet, that fun ice cream that instantly reminded me of those Flinstones Push Pops I used to inhale as a child.

This was definitely my most mentally challenging day yet, and speaks to how much cycling is not just physical. I had to start chanting at certain points to keep my mind from realizing how upset I was. It's kind of amazing how far we can push ourselves when we need to and I wonder/hope if I'll be able to carry this fortitude with me in my normal life.

Despite all of this, I did get to finally run through tall corn at one point, since it's been previously too short. It was super fun and way easy to get lost. I hope to venture deeper in the future. Maybe some bicycle themed crop circles wouldn't be too bad either...

Build day tomorrow!
Also, there are apparently some blog readers from Russia which is awesome, Privyet!