Rubber side down: Day 23

                                                                   Day 23
                                                      Tuscola, IL to Leabnon, IN
                               122 miles, Avg Speed 15.4 MPH, Time in saddle 7 hr 51 minutes

     We had a strong NE wind today and since our general direction is NE, this was not good. In fact, most of our general direction for the remainder of the trip will be NE. I yearn for the days of the tailwinds. Will they ever return or are they gone forever? It was essentially a push the entire day with no let up. Even if you go up a hill, you may work hard to get to the top, but there is some recovery as you descend. Today = no recovery. It wasn't painful, but it was hard work the whole way.
   We got a relatively late start, 7:30, this morning. The good news for the day was that it was going to be sunny and dry, although temps would be in the low 50's. However, with a strong wind, there was clearly a windchill factor going on and I'm glad that I dressed as warmly as I did. Immediately we had a long section of just heading North, straight into 15-20 MPH winds. This was our wakeup call. After 14 miles, we turned right (east) expecting that our speeds would increase. They did, but only slightly. The flags told the story. What was supposed to be just a northern wind today was really a Northeasterly wind. Thus there would be no escape. Somewhere around mile 30, I noticed that I seemed to be feeling the bumps on the road a little too well. On stopping, my suspicions were confirmed. My rear tire was soft and needed to be changed. With the help of Mike, who drove up at just that moment, the tire got changed and I was off again. This was flat number 11, a high number, but still shy of the leader with 13. The first SAG was at 44 miles and I got there at 11AM. I knew at this rate, I might not get done until 7PM, given the fact that we're going to lose an hour going into Indiana. After that SAG it seemed to take forever to get to our lunch spot at mile 84. I ate quickly and caught up to Lee, Anthony, Simon, and UK Steve. We had a paceline going for a short bit, but then Lee and Anthony fell back and soon we were joined by Manny and Buckeye Bob. Soon, the five of us were working together. It was then that I made my big mistake of the day. The previous night at RAP we had a free for all discussion on safety issues. One of the topics was pacelines. I took it upon myself to "educate" the group on what I felt was proper paceline etiquette. This included suggestions on turning your crank at all times, not standing up without proper notification, holding a straight line, not overlapping wheels, and foremost.....keep the speed steady and DO NOT SURGE WHEN YOU GET TO THE HEAD OF THE LINE!   So with all that in mind, as soon as it was my turn at the head of the line, I immediately cranked up the pace by 2-3 MPH and blew apart the paceline. Manny and Bob stayed with me, while Simon and Steve dropped back. Now it was just three of us. We kept up this unpleasant pace, for about 10 miles, until Manny and Bob dropped off to go look for some beer to bring back to the hotel, which was still 20 miles away. Why they needed to do that now was bewildering, but there was no time to discuss it, as they were clearly on a mission and fading specks in my rear view mirror. Now I was by myself. I longed for the good old days when I didn't have to bare all of this wind by myself. Just then, Simon and Steve caught up to me, both chiding me for my foolish paceline behavior. After a few apologies and an offer to spend the night in the cooler, all was OK and we worked diligently together for the last 20 miles. Once there, we stopped at McDonalds for shakes and had the worldly discussion of who makes the best shakes.   Our conclusion? Well, this is how it shakes out from top to bottom: 1) Denny's 2) McDonalds 3) Sonic 4) Steak and Shake 5) Burger King.
     For dinner, Craig, (the strongest cyclist in the group), Lassa, Simon, UK Steve, and myself went out to a local sports bar where we took in the local flavor including a few non-local libations. We also got to witness Lassa downing a second hamburger. The big man needs his grub.
     Tomorrow, some of us will be getting up early for a visit here in Lebanon to the Roark Bicycle Shop where they build custom Titanium bikes.   Although I'm clearly not interested in purchasing another bike right now.....I already own the Rolls Royce of bikes, Calfee......factory tours have always been a favorite pastime for me and the Rourk factory can not be passed up.

-Grinner