Friday Morning 29 September
Day 20
Last night because Martha and I were busy prepping Pop’s Macaroni Slop, aka PacTour Goulosh, to server for lunch today, I didn’t have time to post anything. Here’s what I remember from yesterday.
The ride
I think we all rode easy – only 98 miles, little climbing, winds light and variable. Quiet country roads through eastern Arkansas, small towns, pine tree farms, deciduous forests cornucopia of tree species. Spent the day being lazy, just being nature’s friend.
I was the last rider to leave Arkadelphia and allowed James and Daniel to pace me for 15 miles until we caught up to Brent and Karen Ann, then Young Ian and Captain Jack. After listening and digesting more words of wisdom from the Captain, I blew off the first sag, then rode slowly allowing other riders to catch me.
A fifteen second stop at the second sag allowed me to continue riding slowly and also hang briefly with groups of riders as they later passed me. Any one of these groups would have happily allowed me to glom onto their wheels, or ride in with them, but this day I preferred to noodle along slowly, enjoying the scenery, lost in my own world of thoughts.
I thought about the riders, this group, what an extraordinary privilege it is to ride and hang out with them for nearly a month. Each individual speaks kindly, acts graciously, rides straight, steady and strong. Bicycle angels in cycling heaven.
Tidbits
After reading my blog post from several days before, Captain Jack gently corrected some of my statements about musical acoustics. If you want to learn about music, don’t rely on my blog. Talk to the Captain.
As a crew member, I spend some time shopping and waiting in lines at places like Walmart. Back home, everyone waiting in line is doing something on a cellphone. Here in the South, people are talking with each other.
A few weeks ago, I whined about lousy layouts in WordPress. Turns out I didn’t know how to use the gallery feature.
QB Ken showed us a link from the Shamrock, TX newspaper. Tonight in Indianola, he says there’s another game, and both teams are undefeated.