Lots of rain and lots of pain sums up today. It began fine. We woke up in our own beds, which only made it harder to get up, and after trudging out the door, we did our normal routine, slipped into Hudson's breakfast line after noticing a surprisingly delicious breakfast, and head out the door. We knew it was supposed to rain a lot today, so as soon as I felt the first drop, I preemptively out my jacket on, and we continued. Then, it began to rain. Despite the wetness, there were much more appealing sights. A store right on the route was selling amazing breakfast burritos (those of which were somehow wrapped to where they wouldn't unwrap. I'll have to learn how to do that.), a PALM-certified stop had cookies at one place, Blissfield had like 5 stores and restaraunts, and the licorice stop had plenty different kinds of licorice. But, rain. I was washed over dozens of time, whether it be the rain, a semi hitting a puddle, or a tent collecting water, then dumping it on me. This was equally bad for our electronics. The iPad switched from maxing volume to muting it and random, and also tried to turn itself off every now and then, and my phone's screen just kinda flickers. I'm sure that's broken. Good thing it's only $15!
Sorry for not adding anything to my Mom's post last night. Really tired, and I had I had a lot of other things I was looking forward to since I was at home. I'll be sure to post like usual tomorrow and let's hope we have a quick, fun end to the last 20 miles of the PALM ride.
(Amy)
Anyone remember this picture? It's from last year's ride, but since it was too wet to even get any pictures today, this represents the day quite nicely.
After a great nights sleep at home, we met Debbi in Hudson and took off around 7:45. We didn't make it far when Debbi mentioned her back tire felt funny. I watched her ride and it looked like there was a wobble to it. She stopped and checked and there was actually a bulge on the sidewall where the rubber was starting to separate from the tire! So, back to the school for a new tire and tube. Got going again, but didn't make it out of Hudson before it started to sprinkle. We made a quick stop at a local corner store for breakfast sandwiches and continued on. Sand Creek High School had a stop for us with free homemade cookies! They had made 172.5 dozen cookies! They were yummy, but damp since it was a full-on rain at that point. We got back on the road, but hadn't made it too far when Debbi's shoe slipped off her pedal, got stuck in her spokes and ran into the curb and tossed her off the bike. Yikes! Once she was up and moving, we realized something was wrong with her brakes, so back to the high school where the roaming bike shop was. They gave her a quick fix and we were good to go. That was around mile 17. All I can say about the next 32 miles was that they were very wet, very cold, and very flat. Somehow, when we pulled into Dundee High School, it seemed like the day had gone pretty quickly. I don't know why, but I'm grateful for it. The rain had stopped when we got there, so we thought we better set up the tents while there was a dry spell. Unfortunately, the field they have us camping in has turned into a bit of a swamp. We trudged thru most of it to get to the far end where it was a bit drier...at least no standing water. So keep praying that we wake up dry in the morning.
Jeff will be here in the morning with Aaron. We'll take Aaron for the last leg and the he can be a part of the parade and picnic after. Keep hoping for dry weather!!
2 comments:
Wow does it sound like I was a pain in the back side today!! I tried not to be and we spent a lot of time side by side talking today! That was enjoyable.
No! Not a pain, just your turn to visit the shop...it was our turn last year. :) I was just happy you didn't get hurt! Loved when we got to ride side by side!
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