Tomorrow – on to Utica!

Today is winding down. Folks are enjoying a well-deserved beer from a local brewery (nope, not me…) and there is also anticipation. Tomorrow is a notable day in this journey. Tomorrow we turn west. Tomorrow is also day 4 which marks the halfway point. And, more literally, tomorrow we actually do pass the halfway milepost. Oh, and tomorrow is our hundred-mile day too. So…lots happening.

We had our evening program after dinner. Tears were in abundance, all the way to the standout moment where we were introduced to a young man who wanted to ride with us, but he was quite literally undergoing chemo, so he was present via FaceTime. Very real indeed.

And, in the vein of real things, we were told one of the riders was diagnosed with COVID today. The ESR team have protocols in place, and they are working through this, but we have one rider today who will not be along for the rest of the journey.

I am amazed at the different people participating in this ride. From non-athletic, conservative people who just want to be a part of this in ANY way…all the way to people are weekend warriors. The evening program includes a safety report, and they had one rider, I kid you not, riding on the wrong side of the yellow line….with both hands off the handlebars….taking a picture with his phone. This guy was, quite literally, one stray pebble away from being history.

I passed my own milestone today. I cycled past the spot where I was hit by a car last year. Safely. That was a big deal for me, being here at Shaker Village not being worked over by the medics, and not having my bike picked over by the mechanics.

And I didn’t forget…tomorrow is NYAC day…more to come tomorrow…

Tonight’s biggest accomplishment…navigated into a hammock to write this post. Successfully.

Lastly I actually had someone ask how I’m feeling. I guess I talk about what I’m seeing and what others are doing but not about myself. Well physically definitely taking a toll. 220 miles has me sore. My stomach isn’t sure what to do with the extra few thousand calories I’m stuffing into it. I miss the animals. Not many geckos to meet here. But I do have one on my helmet. So..it’s hard. It’s work. I’m uncomfortable. But it’s good for the spirit. Very much so.