Before the D-Day invasion began, General Eisenhower summed up the mission of the Allies by saying, “You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you…I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle.”

Hello everyone,

I wanted o acknowledge the anonymous donor who gave $1000.00 to the Wounded warrior Project. I don’t know who you are, but wanted to pass along my singer “Thank You”.

Yesterday, I finished the Blog fairly early but there was a bit of excitement after dinner. Several of the group, Alan, Ross, Barry, Pierre and myself went to Freddie’s for ice cream after dinner. The skies threatened storms but it wasn’t supposed to rain for several hours. After we devoured our ice cream and started to venture out, we discovered that a fierce thunderstorm had commenced. The rain was coming down in buckets and the wind was howling. Since we have no transportation other than our bikes or walking and the hotel was a half mile away. Alan tried to sweet talk a couple of ladies into giving us a lift but our odd tan lines undoubtedly gave them pause. We called Tom D who graciously came to pick is up. We each sprinted to the open door of the van but still got wet. The rain was coming down so hard that the drive was  difficult. Pierre remarked it was the type of storm in Dallas that cause folks to park under overpasses.

This morning, however, the sun was shining when we set off on our 62 mile ride to Abilene Kansas. The first 22 miles we had a decent tailwind and with good roads sped along at a good clip. We stopped now and then for photos. We then turned north and the roads became chip and seal. We now had more of a cross wind and besides the less desirable roads had some climbing to contend with.

By the time we reached, the SAg at mile 31, the sun was getting noticeably warmer. Carol outdid herself for her last SAG meal on this trip. Whatever she concocted on the bagels was delicious and my only regret was that i could only have one. Herm and I did take the opportunity to have our picture taken with Carol. She will be missed by all. Last night at dinner we all bid a misty-eyed good-byes. Th whole crew will miss this lady and her presence gives everyone a boost.

Herm and I rode together most of the day and as we approached Abilene, we were again threatened by rain. It may have misted a bit but  it was less noticeable than sweat and the air was getting cooler because of the cloud cover. Abilene is a town of just less than 7000 citizens. The most well known of course was Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United Sates and Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in WWII. Abilene was home to many cattle and railroad millionaires as evidenced by the large homes.

We went to dinner at Ike’s Bar and Grill and all enjoyed a good meal with good friends. Joanne shared a story of meeting some folks in Walmart,who upon learning of her cross country ride, offered to put her and Stuart up for the night. I guess that lightening does strike twice in the same place as Kansas is quickly becoming a favorite state of this group as well as the group I rode with in 2012. This morning at breakfast, one of the hotel workers offered to run to the store to but us some bananas because there were none available for breakfast. We all graciously declined but the sincerity of her offer struck us all.

Tomorrow, we will undoubtedly visit the presidential library and other attractions as it is a non riding day. I will clean my bike and hopefully get a little rest for the 100 plus mile on the following day.

Many thanks for all who are following my adventure.

Tailwinds and Goodnight!

Chuck