The wind woke me at 5 by pulling hard on my tent. I prayed in my spirit: "Lord, please let
this wind be a tailwind". It was not to be. Sometimes the Lord allows challenges into our
lives to make us stronger for the day of tomorrow, and this was it. As we rode out of camp
we immediately had to form a rotating double paceline, since a 15mph wind was blowing in our
faces. Some gusts from 45 degrees to the right were much stronger and sometimes threatened to blow us off the bikes. The flat broad spokes on wheels I'm testing for Trek don't take kindly to a crosswind and act like sails, so the bike veers over with each gust of wind and i have to be careful to hold my hands on the bars because the other riders ride so close in the paceline. Concentration and focus are key here. In times of trouble it is good not to "freak out' and get all upset or disheartened about the prospect of having to fight a numbing struggle for a hundred miles, but rather focus on team strategy and coping for the next pedal stroke.
Claire Elgersma and friends left 45 minutes before me, so I only managed to catch up with them at the first SAG. The plan was that I'd pull for them if the wind remains strong, which it did. I stayed with Claire's for the rest of the day, till 6 miles from Fremont, when I went ahead fast to
go set up the tents so long. The day was very, very hot and humid! At Walter's SAG, to our
delight, he treated us to watermelon again, one piece each.
Half of the way went east so we got battered good by the diagonal wind. The terrain was
undulating with some steep rolling hills and a rough road surface that added to the
resistance.Turning north twice occasionally gave us a breather as it was a tailwind then.
I pulled Claire and some others into the wind most of the day, and we came in at 4ish. Many
others did the same and helped out some slower riders to make their life easier today. We
are camping at the YMCA ice arena in Fremont. The guys and some girls are playing hockey on
the ice as they could rent skates and sticks. Even Markus Lise joined in the fun on the ice.
They are all enjoying the games lots. My legs are tired after 6 days of 150km/day, so I
thought it better to leave the skating to enjoy back home.
The ride went through some of the best agricultural areas in the state, and we saw lots of
soybeans and millions of acres of corn under irrigation. This part of Nebraska has more
mature trees than we saw yesterday. Tonight we had hamburgers and fresh corn on the
cob....delicious! The thought crossed my mind while riding through the corn fields that it would be nice to have corn on the cob for dinner one night....and see...it happened! The heat got to us all. 38 C plus the reflection off the pavement..plus humidity! I'm sure one can fry an egg on the road top surface! It is now late at night and still so hot and humid outside that it is hard to breathe. Today the perspiration dripped off everyone in buckets. We were all glistening in the sun, lubricated with lots of and perspiration.
I took some photos of the multiple rolling hills we climbed today, more than 2000 feet all added up. I had hoped to go to bed early tonight, as I am tired since I had several late nights this
week due to technical difficulties trying to get on the internet, combined with the more
than 500 miles we cycled in 6 days. Next week we will have two 180km days. This
means we have 3 very demanding weeks one after another. One week of climbing mountains, and two of very long distances and extreme heat. But we love being on the tour and are enjoying each others company and all the sights, sounds and places we are privileged to get to see every new wonderful exciting day!
If any reader of my blog wish to respond to me personally, my e-mail adress is mdp@rogers.com
this wind be a tailwind". It was not to be. Sometimes the Lord allows challenges into our
lives to make us stronger for the day of tomorrow, and this was it. As we rode out of camp
we immediately had to form a rotating double paceline, since a 15mph wind was blowing in our
faces. Some gusts from 45 degrees to the right were much stronger and sometimes threatened to blow us off the bikes. The flat broad spokes on wheels I'm testing for Trek don't take kindly to a crosswind and act like sails, so the bike veers over with each gust of wind and i have to be careful to hold my hands on the bars because the other riders ride so close in the paceline. Concentration and focus are key here. In times of trouble it is good not to "freak out' and get all upset or disheartened about the prospect of having to fight a numbing struggle for a hundred miles, but rather focus on team strategy and coping for the next pedal stroke.
Claire Elgersma and friends left 45 minutes before me, so I only managed to catch up with them at the first SAG. The plan was that I'd pull for them if the wind remains strong, which it did. I stayed with Claire's for the rest of the day, till 6 miles from Fremont, when I went ahead fast to
go set up the tents so long. The day was very, very hot and humid! At Walter's SAG, to our
delight, he treated us to watermelon again, one piece each.
Half of the way went east so we got battered good by the diagonal wind. The terrain was
undulating with some steep rolling hills and a rough road surface that added to the
resistance.Turning north twice occasionally gave us a breather as it was a tailwind then.
I pulled Claire and some others into the wind most of the day, and we came in at 4ish. Many
others did the same and helped out some slower riders to make their life easier today. We
are camping at the YMCA ice arena in Fremont. The guys and some girls are playing hockey on
the ice as they could rent skates and sticks. Even Markus Lise joined in the fun on the ice.
They are all enjoying the games lots. My legs are tired after 6 days of 150km/day, so I
thought it better to leave the skating to enjoy back home.
The ride went through some of the best agricultural areas in the state, and we saw lots of
soybeans and millions of acres of corn under irrigation. This part of Nebraska has more
mature trees than we saw yesterday. Tonight we had hamburgers and fresh corn on the
cob....delicious! The thought crossed my mind while riding through the corn fields that it would be nice to have corn on the cob for dinner one night....and see...it happened! The heat got to us all. 38 C plus the reflection off the pavement..plus humidity! I'm sure one can fry an egg on the road top surface! It is now late at night and still so hot and humid outside that it is hard to breathe. Today the perspiration dripped off everyone in buckets. We were all glistening in the sun, lubricated with lots of and perspiration.
I took some photos of the multiple rolling hills we climbed today, more than 2000 feet all added up. I had hoped to go to bed early tonight, as I am tired since I had several late nights this
week due to technical difficulties trying to get on the internet, combined with the more
than 500 miles we cycled in 6 days. Next week we will have two 180km days. This
means we have 3 very demanding weeks one after another. One week of climbing mountains, and two of very long distances and extreme heat. But we love being on the tour and are enjoying each others company and all the sights, sounds and places we are privileged to get to see every new wonderful exciting day!
If any reader of my blog wish to respond to me personally, my e-mail adress is mdp@rogers.com
1 comment:
I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your blog every day. I have been following the tour every day since I rode with you guys (yourself included) from Yakima (WA) to Kennewick (WA). Living vicariously through others for now until my kids are older and we can start going on big adventures as a family.
Gods blessings,
Steve Witvoet.
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