Day 48
July 18, 2005
Today is another one of those days where the morning of which seems like forever ago. But of course it wasn’t, it was this morning.
Today I woke up feeling sick to my stomach. This isn’t the first time this has happened recently, but hopefully it’s the last. I had planned on getting up early and updating the journal, but due to the nausea I decided to eat a little something and, hopefully, rest the tummy to recovery.
Still not completely over the sick stomach, I got on the road a little after noon and was thankful for the great day I had to ride. It was in the lower 80’s and had not a cloud in the sky. Right off the bat I was posed with a choice I still hadn’t answered for myself. I could either, take interstate 70 east out of Limon, or take state road 40 “east” out of town but actually southeast in true direction. In taking 40 I would have added another 20 miles or so in climbing back up north to cross 70 down the road. Plus, there was a strong wind coming out of the south that would have smacked me head-on. As you can gather, I chose to take I-70 out of Limon.
It wasn’t bad at all. As I made my way to the interstate, I did so with the intention of checking it out and heading back for 40 if the shoulder didn’t look too good. But I found I had 10-12 feet worth of a shoulder to work with and the traffic wasn’t bad at all. The only slight bummer was the cross wind coming at me from the south. I’ve been told that’s how it is the length of Kansas, so I figured I’d better get used to it. And it was ten times more manageable than the headwind the day before.
Not feeling the best, I wasn’t sure how far toward Burlington, the scheduled stop, I was headed. As I got pedaling I slowly worked out whatever was bothering me and felt better. I went about 40 miles and thought about calling it a day. Instead, I ate a Snickers for Manny, drank a Gatorade and kept plugging along.
The girl at the gas-station told me the towns along this stretch are ten miles apart because that’s how far the train could go back in the old days before it needed water again; cool little fact. So it was comforting to know I had options before locking myself into Burlington, 50 miles away. I ended up getting 16 shy of Burlington. I’m in Stratton. Tomorrow I’ll pass Burlington and head into Kansas. It’ll be good to get to another state.
The mental challenge of the trip has started to weigh on me. I can’t really describe how I feel at this juncture, but it’s definitely different. It’s not necessarily a decidedly good or bad feeling, it’s just blah… I feel like I’ve subconsciously underestimated, or even denied that I was actually and only half way. Like I was somehow expecting to be on the home stretch and coast the rest of the way, when, in actuality, I was truly only half way. I’m not concerned about the feeling; I know it will pass. A huge part of it is just getting on the bike every day again and re-establishing my rhythm, mentally, as well as physically. As I said before, I feel like I’ve been on a vacation from the trip and the bike. I’m finding the “vacation” is more difficult to recover from mentally than physically.
Other than that, I’m on pace and in good shape for the rest of the trip. The next mark to meet is St. Louis. I’m meeting Libby, a good friend of mine, there on the first of August. It’ll be good to see her and hang out before the final push to the Atlantic.
“The Atlantic”… It has become my Mecca. I long to see it, I dream of bathing in it… I’m joking, but I’m serious.
Two nights ago I couldn’t sleep because I was busy thinking. Thinking of all kinds of things: the first half of the trip, people I had met, sights I had seen, lessons I had learned. And then I calmed down a bit and was able to relax when I started thinking of what it’ll be like to finally get to the finish line – and that got things going all over again. I was camping that night. I turned off the lamp and put away the atlas around 9:30. It was 12:15 when I looked at the clock to see how much time I had killed with the restless thought.
Up to this point I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the thoughts of the finish line at bay; I don’t want to kill myself too much with the thoughts of the end and the many miles I’ve yet to go. However, it is a thrilling thing to ponder. I wonder what that dive into the Atlantic will feel like; how it will feel knowing the ride is over, that it has been completed. I wonder…
Today: 62.73 Total: 2,151.29
Today is another one of those days where the morning of which seems like forever ago. But of course it wasn’t, it was this morning.
Today I woke up feeling sick to my stomach. This isn’t the first time this has happened recently, but hopefully it’s the last. I had planned on getting up early and updating the journal, but due to the nausea I decided to eat a little something and, hopefully, rest the tummy to recovery.
Still not completely over the sick stomach, I got on the road a little after noon and was thankful for the great day I had to ride. It was in the lower 80’s and had not a cloud in the sky. Right off the bat I was posed with a choice I still hadn’t answered for myself. I could either, take interstate 70 east out of Limon, or take state road 40 “east” out of town but actually southeast in true direction. In taking 40 I would have added another 20 miles or so in climbing back up north to cross 70 down the road. Plus, there was a strong wind coming out of the south that would have smacked me head-on. As you can gather, I chose to take I-70 out of Limon.
It wasn’t bad at all. As I made my way to the interstate, I did so with the intention of checking it out and heading back for 40 if the shoulder didn’t look too good. But I found I had 10-12 feet worth of a shoulder to work with and the traffic wasn’t bad at all. The only slight bummer was the cross wind coming at me from the south. I’ve been told that’s how it is the length of Kansas, so I figured I’d better get used to it. And it was ten times more manageable than the headwind the day before.
Not feeling the best, I wasn’t sure how far toward Burlington, the scheduled stop, I was headed. As I got pedaling I slowly worked out whatever was bothering me and felt better. I went about 40 miles and thought about calling it a day. Instead, I ate a Snickers for Manny, drank a Gatorade and kept plugging along.
The girl at the gas-station told me the towns along this stretch are ten miles apart because that’s how far the train could go back in the old days before it needed water again; cool little fact. So it was comforting to know I had options before locking myself into Burlington, 50 miles away. I ended up getting 16 shy of Burlington. I’m in Stratton. Tomorrow I’ll pass Burlington and head into Kansas. It’ll be good to get to another state.
The mental challenge of the trip has started to weigh on me. I can’t really describe how I feel at this juncture, but it’s definitely different. It’s not necessarily a decidedly good or bad feeling, it’s just blah… I feel like I’ve subconsciously underestimated, or even denied that I was actually and only half way. Like I was somehow expecting to be on the home stretch and coast the rest of the way, when, in actuality, I was truly only half way. I’m not concerned about the feeling; I know it will pass. A huge part of it is just getting on the bike every day again and re-establishing my rhythm, mentally, as well as physically. As I said before, I feel like I’ve been on a vacation from the trip and the bike. I’m finding the “vacation” is more difficult to recover from mentally than physically.
Other than that, I’m on pace and in good shape for the rest of the trip. The next mark to meet is St. Louis. I’m meeting Libby, a good friend of mine, there on the first of August. It’ll be good to see her and hang out before the final push to the Atlantic.
“The Atlantic”… It has become my Mecca. I long to see it, I dream of bathing in it… I’m joking, but I’m serious.
Two nights ago I couldn’t sleep because I was busy thinking. Thinking of all kinds of things: the first half of the trip, people I had met, sights I had seen, lessons I had learned. And then I calmed down a bit and was able to relax when I started thinking of what it’ll be like to finally get to the finish line – and that got things going all over again. I was camping that night. I turned off the lamp and put away the atlas around 9:30. It was 12:15 when I looked at the clock to see how much time I had killed with the restless thought.
Up to this point I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the thoughts of the finish line at bay; I don’t want to kill myself too much with the thoughts of the end and the many miles I’ve yet to go. However, it is a thrilling thing to ponder. I wonder what that dive into the Atlantic will feel like; how it will feel knowing the ride is over, that it has been completed. I wonder…
Today: 62.73 Total: 2,151.29
posted by SuperByron3000 at 7/19/2005
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