Day 24

                                                                    Day 24
                                                    Lebanon, IN to Richmond, IN
                                                       107 miles, AVG 16.0 MPH

     We lost an hour yesterday, moving to the Eastern Time Zone at the Indiana border and subsequently, when the alarm went off at 5:30, I felt as if it were 4:30.  I had committed to visiting the Roark Bicycle Factory and departure was to be after breakfast.  There were 7 of us that went, while the other 14 intelligently chose sleep over education.  The bike shop was about 20 minutes away by van and once there we were given a tour of the factory which primarily makes aeronautical parts in addition to its small side business of making custom Titanium bikes.  My analysis of the visit.....First, they use titanium tubes molded to specific shapes that are then welded together in the shape of a bicycle frame and Second, I wish I had been one of the 14 lucky ones that was spending this time sleeping.  After awhile, we were back in the van and back at our hotel.  It was during this van ride that I committed my first major blunder of the day.  In spite of the fact that the van clearly had its windshield wipers on, I chose to ignore this fact.  No instead, I relied on the internet weather report that promised only 20% rain and temps starting at 45 rising to 55 by the end of the day.   Thus, I headed out wearing a long sleeve jersey with a light non-waterproof windbreaker over it.  I put my warmer, waterproof rain jacket into my duffel which then was stashed securely into the luggage van.  Within minutes of departure, it started to rain.  I couldn't believe it.  With the combination of wind, cold, and rain, my hands were getting numbingly cold...so cold in fact that I had trouble working the shifters.  The first SAG was at 34 miles.  Perhaps there I could warm up.  What I wasn't expecting enroute was a Road Closed sign right in front of me.  This was not on the cue sheet.  The last time this happened, Mike was there instructing us on how to proceed.  Mike was not there this time so I figured that if they had meant to divert us they would have told us, therefore, the thing to do was to proceed onward past the road closed sign.  This was my second blunder of the day.  What I had failed to notice was that there was writing on the pavement, placed there by America By Bike, instructing us to follow the detour.  Shortly I found myself on a ripped up road with construction equipment digging around me.  I was stopped by the foreman, who asked what I was trying to do.  I told him what road I was trying to get to, and after walking through a bit more muck, I followed his directions on an alternative route that got me back on track.  Fortunately, with about 8 miles to go, the rain let up, and the feeling in my fingers slowly returned.  I had now successfully obviated the obstruction, was starting to feel warmer, and life was indeed looking up.  By the time I got to the SAG I felt pretty good.  I also found out there, that 6 bikers in the group, faced with the same obstruction, chose an entirely different route to our destination, Richmond.  One member of that renegade group knew Indiana well.  He led and they followed.  They cut 10 miles off the ride. 
     The rain had now ceased entirely and I was feeling pretty good.  That is until, after following the cue sheet meticulously, there was a choice to go right or left that was not listed.  This was odd as every direction on the cue sheets for our entire trip had been spot-on.  I waited there for a bit and then unfolded the soggy cue sheet to look at the map on the back.  This was no help.  Just not detailed enough.  Had I made a wrong turn somewhere?  This didn't seem possible.  Eventually I was joined in this quandary by Anthony who reaffirmed my belief that we had made no mistake and that the cue sheet was wrong. Still, we didn't know if we were to go left or right.  Fortunately, we were joined by Ohio Steve who had a treasured device mounted on his bike....a Garmin!  He quickly figured out using the map feature where we were and more importantly where we needed to go.  We later learned that this road did not exist the last time America By Bike used this route and thus the cue sheet didn't take this into account.  We were shortly off, and after awhile arrived at the second and final SAG at mile 65.  It was cold and I found a little shelter in the side door of the luggage van where I huddled and ate my sandwich. 
     Before I left, it started to rain.  How I regretted not having my warmer, drier jacket.  It was made clear to us at the start of the ride, that once the luggage is packed into the trailer, it is to be left alone.  It was essentially forbidden to try to retrieve an item during the day once it was stored in there.  However, I was one of the last to leave that day which meant that my luggage was the last to go in, which meant that it potentially would not be a disaster trying to get to it.  I asked Karen, the co-ride leader and she mercifully said OK.  Soon the door was open and there was my duffel.  Within a minute I had on the better jacket.  Immediately I started to feel better.  I even put the hood on under my helmet.  I felt like I could handle anything.  Could I handle the remaining 40 miles, in 49 degree temperature, with winds coming at me at 15 MPH?  With this jacket on I could.... and I did.  It wasn't pleasant.  It wasn't pretty.  It was a true slog in every sense of the word.  I was creeping along at about 14-15 MPH but I felt that with every mile I was getting that much closer to the promise of shelter and a hot shower.  Mike, at the start of the ride, promised that at times "our comfort zones would likely be stretched".  I would say that today there was a lot of stretching going on. 
     Tonight, I along with UK Bob, and Anthony, got to spend time with Steve's family at a Mexican Restaurant.  Steve's family lives within driving distance of Richmond and came by to see him tonight on his journey.  This was a great time.  He's got a great family and I felt very comfortable and at home.  We're doing a very intense thing here on this ride, but the people at home are equally intense in their support.  It was cool to see a collision of these two worlds.  I miss my own family, I really do, and I will see them pretty soon. I look forward to it.  In the meantime, there's still work to be done here....precisely nine more days worth.  Lets hope for warmer weather, brighter skies, and tailwinds, tailwinds, tailwinds.

-Grinner

Great Welcome Sign from yesterday I forgot to include from Hillsboro, IN

Huddled with food in luggage in van

Roark Bicycle Factory