On our way to Boston

This is only the first SAG

Good afternoon all,

Sorry about not posting last evening but when we have a day off (today) things tend to get a little hectic. We also have the helmet decorating contest tomorrow so I had to work on my top secret project.

Yesterday was another mixed bag from a cycling perspective. Early on we had some headwinds and a bit of climbing. The roads were a bit iffy in posts so that the pavement wasn’t consistently smooth. I was anxious to get the day over so that I could get some rest for my saddle sores. At the first SAG, almost all the riders, including those who left early arrived at roughly the same time. I felt somewhat sluggish in the morning and was happy for the chance to get something to eat and refill.

Most of the riders stopped at DQ at about mile 50 or so but I kept on riding. I don’t like to eat too much while riding and I like ice cream AFTER riding. Consequently, I pressed on to 2nd SAG and arrived there first. There were some pretty lakes on the ride and the road had some gentle hills until about mile 40. At that point, I turned, got the wind at my back and had some decent flat roads. It was easy to exceed 25 mph although a few of the passing trucks and their “wind wake” made for a bit of instability. Getting into Champaign, the ring became a little more hectic. We had some more roads with crack and potholes and some of the drivers didn’t cut me any slack. There were a couple of tricky railroad crossing and I walked my bike across them.

Champaign is as busy a city from a traffic perspective as we have been in and I cycled very cautiously the last 5 miles. there are plenty of stop lights as well. I got into the hotel fairly early and took my usual nap. Larry had had a bump (he and bike transported ahead in the ride) and was already in the room. I could tell he was really beat and somewhat down. He rides a lone a lot in the back and I think the cumulative effects are getting to him. I will try to ride with him  more in the future as I think that wi9ll lift his spirits. He is the one person whose primary goal in riding is to raise money and awareness fro his cause (dyslexia).

The Drury Inn gives out 3 drink tickets to guests and puts on a decent food spread and most of us dined there . We went to a local custard shop for desrt and shopped for helmet decorations. Later on I will give a short update on our rest day and what we did .

I wanted to levee you all with a quote that a friend sent to me – I thought it was quite profound and wanted to post it all for you. I don’t know the origins:

The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away." 

Tailwinds

Chuck