DAY 28
April 11, 1999
I left at 8:15am after gooping my butt up with that stuff.
I'm finding that it is really making a difference. So, I've been starting to
use it more and just goop a bunch of it on until I've got this big goopy mess in my
shorts. It feels gross at first, but man it sure makes a difference for me. Anyway, I headed north on 49 which initially had a wide shoulder. At the Monroe county line the shoulder became rough and too bumpy to ride on. There wasn't too much traffic so I rode in the right lane until a car came behind me then I'd jump on the shoulder until it passed. The wind was blowing southeast, hitting me at an angle. Not feeling like working too hard, I just pedaled very easy . One car load of punks yelled something at me and gave me the finger and it didn't phase me a bit. Surprisingly enough, I didn't have even the slightest urge to give them the finger back. Wow! That was the first time I was really able to let something just go by me. The more this stuff happens, I suppose it is giving me the opportunity to learn how to control my emotions. Arriving at 70, I saw a sign saying that trucks with oversize loads use the road up to Briscoe. The ironic part was, as I headed west on 70, guess what? NO Shoulder! What kind of backwards people design these roads??? But the traffic wasn't too bad an I only had one truck deliberately run me off the road. Fortunately, I was able to maintain control of my bike in the loose gravel and soft shoulder. That's when I began hearing a noise coming from by bottom bracket and realized it was getting loose. OK, now for some reason they put a shoulder after Briscoe and there was a shoulder the rest of the way. I stopped at a convenience store in DeValls and when someone started talking to me I realized I could barely talk. Going all day without saying a world and then realizing I was speaking in a low, dry, scratchy voice was weird. I bought a tuna sandwich in one of those little triangle plastic containers. I've wondered who bought those things :-) I rode into Haven and with no campground I stayed at the Haven Inn, 3 miles north of downtown, by I40. My butt wasn't very sore at all! I finished the day with no pains anywhere. Not even muscle pain since I pedaled easy. Today - 75.18 miles |