A Great Day With A Surprise Ending:

Last night we went down to the bar to celibrate Glen's birthday. Glen has been my room mate when we have been in the dorms. So We have become good friends. The bar was quite a distance from the school where were staying in Montevideo, so we had to ride our bikes down. Coming back was exciting as we had no lights on the bikes and the town did not have street lights.

That was yesterday and today was another ride. It was a total of 88 miles from Montevideo to Hutchinson with a climb of just 1070 feet. The big story of the day was the tail wind we had for most of the day. We where headed almost due east and there was a good stiff breeze coming out of the NNW. As a result the riders were just flying along. I stopped to watch a crop duster for a few minutes and Glen rolled up so the two of us rode on together. Picnic was at 46 miles and it came up at around 9:45 so we were well ahead of schedule. After picnic Glen and I met up with Frank and the three of us formed up into a pace line and whistled down into Hutchison in record time. The wind kept the temperatures down to around 74F. Combining the totally flat course and the tail wind made for a very fast and fun ride.

After arriving at the Hutchison school where we are staying I jumped off my bike and went for a 15 minute run. Baggage wasn`t unloaded so the run was in my bike shoes, which is kind of clunky but you do with what you have. So I have made my four runs of 15 minutes this week. I think that it has become easier to do and it feels less like I have wooden blocks for feet, now than it did last week so I am quite pleased. Hopefully this no run program will put me in good stead for the Long Beach Marathon in Oct.

The big surprise however is that the Hutchison Middle School has an olymic pool. It is absolutely stunning. So do blog or go for a swim? That question took less than a microsecond to answer. Out to my tent, find my swim trunks, and into the pool. It was so cool and wonderful. What a great surprise! I mean a middle school with an olymipic pool??? Come on! We have died and gone to heaven.

Supper is suppose to be beef tip, chicken wings, carrots and brocli with cheese, mashed potatoes, and salad bar. It seems like we have had more lasagna than you can imagine. Greg swears that isn't true, but I know we had lasagna last night and when I said something, to some of the other riders they all agreed that we have lasagna overload.

One day left to the end of week five---WOW!

Terry