May 3, 2010 - Tour

We rode 108 miles from McAlester, Oklahoma to Fort Smith, Arkansas today. It was a little cool this morning when we left at 8:00 am, but heated up to 88 degrees by the time we finished. I rode with a friend who had 3 flat tires today, and waited with him at each tire/tube change to pace him back into the group. Anyone who has ever ridden, or ran, with Ron Horton knows this is what he teaches you about supporting folks that run into tough luck, Ron will always wait on others and help them out. This left me exposed to the heat a lot more than just the riding, I really had trouble with it, but finished. Especially challenging was the fact we'd just done 144 miles yesterday, almost like riding to Surfside Beach from Charlotte. Got a great care package from my friends at EDA today with food, suntan lotion, bath soap and a half dozen cards, great stuff, it made my day. I was pretty tired and sun-baked when I came into the hotel. Had two Chick-Fila sandwiches for supper. For those of you who know me, know this is unusual. Been trying to eat a lot of protein. We have an off-day tomorrow, I'll be doing my laundry and resting my legs for the last 10 days of cycling, we've almost completed 2,000 miles now, and my body feels all of them. The most challenging aspect of this trip is so many miles on consecutive days. I can't believe all the days we have ridden 120 to 130 miles, I never realized how hard those miles after 100 would be. "Cycling is Suffering," at this point. I'm attaching some really cool video my roommate shot of us using my Flip-HD camera. We're in a pace-line with some excellent cyclists at the front. This tour is full of experienced racers and tri-athletes.Click below to see some great video.
Bonus Video