Rick and I had pushed pretty hard yesterday and weren’t at our best today. We decided to maintain a more relaxed pace for the day. Our bodies are tired after having multiple long days back to back. We have two more days before the off day in Indianapolis. Tomorrow we have 82 miles and the next day 64. The reduced mileage is welcomed.
Today there was another accident. Robb one of the bikers that Rick and I have ridden with on several occasions was riding with his friend who joined us yesterday and somehow crashed injuring his shoulder. The call came in at the final SAG stop that he had crashed and was injured. The ABB staff took one van and went to pick him up and take him to the hospital. Surprisingly Rob was at dinner tonight. He has a broken bone in his shoulder and apparently a dislocation of the shoulder joint. He is on heavy pain medication and will be flying out of Chicago tomorrow to return home to Philadelphia to receive treatment.
Jeff, my other roommate didn’t ride again today. He has been bothered by allergies and also maybe the GI Bug.
I caught this picture of the ABB staff today at the final SAG stop before they received the call that Rob was injured. Andy Hiroshina the co-leader is on the right, Michele Sahli the Co-leader is next to him and Christine Leineinger head of SAG operations is sitting at far left. Girard the mechanic is on the bike at left. They are a great crew. They are very professional and work really hard to keep all the riders riding safely, getting us fed, loading our luggage each morning and unloading it each afternoon. Andy always has a ready joke and an enthusiastic laugh.
After riding cross country with ABB 3 times Andy decided the tours were something he wanted to continue to be involved in. Andy has Co-lead 5 coast to coast tours. Michele rode the coast to coast for the first time in 2000. She has co-lead tours with Andy the last 5 summers. Christine is a lifetime cyclist and has ridden many ABB tours. Girard has been mechanic on 5 cross country tours. The ABB staff all take turns riding the route. At least one and sometimes two of them are riding with the tour participants each day.
We finished our 96 miles at 3:15 today. Our first priority on arrival was to check into our room, get a shower and find a place to do laundry.
3 comments:
Wow, Jay,
I just caught up with ALL of your adventures (the last time I read your blog, you were at Lake Tahoe!).
What you have experienced is nothing less than incredible. How blessed you are to be able to do all of this, particularly to be in the physical shape which ALLOWS you to do it. You can take credit for much of that...the rest of the credit goes to a higher power : )
I know that you look forward to seeing Pat and the family, but what you have done, and will do, will become an intricate part of who you are...and you will be the stronger for it. What a gift.
We had a delightful day with Pat today, and drank up the Deltaville atmosphere, highlighted by a terrific lunch at Kokomo's (spelling?).
Be ready for a game of Scrabble when you get back. That IS what you're looking forward to, right?
Andrea Black
Jay. You are doing a grueling physical feat, so it is understandable that you would chose to ride easy on some days. Consecutive days of riding 60 to 100 miles is tough. //Ron
Hi Jay. We just got back from a week at Smith Mountain Lake so there was a lot of "catching up" to do with reading your entries. I'm relieved that the injuries from your crash were not serious and that you continue to make good progress across the country. The big mileage that you achieve on consecutive days is impressive and I can understand how you might be energy-depleted at times.
At work tomorrow I will print up your last week of entries for the folks to read at their leisure. They really enjoy following your trip while studying the itinerary and consulting a US map!
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