What a day!....It was the most miserable yet most fulfilling day of the trip....so far.
The day started with an interview which started at 8:30am with the Abilene press:
News Link
Then we had to say bye to Lisa, the most wonderful woman we have met. She was such a wonderful host giving her heart to us and even helped us purchase bike equipment. We really can't thank her enough...and also Mr. and Mrs. Dodson for the spaghetti dinner, fellowship, and the bananas!
Then we met a guy named Baylor Blessing (I know what an awesome name) who helped us get gear and these awesome Shot Blocks that are gummy bears injected with caffeine.
Then we started what me and the team would like to call, Hell!!
We unfortunately left Abilene at 11:30am (the heat of the day) for a 80 mile ride to Snyder, TX. It was the hardest day so far. So hard that we thought about giving up and driving to Snyder in order to get there at a reasonable time. The temperature was in the upper 90s, we had head winds blowing from the north, and the roads inclined for miles. When we began to sweat the wind would dry us out. All we had on our skin was salt. All the water we drank boiled. Nothing seemed to keep us cool. But we didn't give up. As the sun beat down on our heads, we pulled it together as a team. Instead of the usual 10 mile stretches we decided to do 5 mile stretches. This took us 9 hours, with 9 gallons of water. I can finally say that we pulled it together as a team. When one person came to the van down another would take his/her place. The ones in the van would fill up water bottles and make sure that we weren't dehydrated. Nathan pulled all the stops for the team, and came through.
Once we got into Snyder we were exhausted and met with a wonderful family, Mr. and Mrs. McWilliams, who gave us a wonderful dinner. The sun was setting and we looked back on our day with amazement, knowing that we didn't give up and we made it!
Ps: We learned a valuable lesson, timing is everything, and don't start biking in the desert, in the summer at 11am!!!
-Justin Brown
5 comments:
be prepared for that same heat (if not worse) in New Mexico and Arizona ... just in the last 2 days Arizona broke two records ... and it was 110 yesterday.
I better get to praying....
Justin's grandma
Woo hoo! Keep it up, gang. You're doing great.
guys! im so glad yall made it through such a rough day. Just wanted to let yall know that the other day, while working out in the slc.. i overheard a conversation from some of the nurses from upstairs. They where going on and on about how wonderful you guys are for doing this! I am so proud of yall, and I am so blessed to call you guys some of my best friends! Keep going! LOVE YALL!!
-Amy
Those gummy bears sound awsome! The caffeine will definitely come in handy on the road. I wish I could ride a day with you guys but unfortunately I am way up in Manitoba, Canada.
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