Tour de Pillow

KILGORE, TX - In the last post, Josh touched a bit on what the bike trip can help us do for others. Today, I'd like to address what it's doing to us. 

Our needs and wants have been largely simplified to food and showers, our senses of humor downgraded a few grade school levels and although civilized forms of communication are still intact, we are now able to get messages across to one another through a series of grunts and hand gestures. But it's not always easy to stay motivated to ride 80 miles per day, day after day in the hot sun. (We can only watch Rocky so many times.) Though our cause is great, it's not every day that we are able to meet and work with the Cinderella's of the world, putting our hands toward the cause and getting results (see previous post). 

Thus, we've started a few new causes to ride for. York peppermint patties in the cooler are helpful. A few weeks ago, there was a leftover slice of Pizza Hut pizza awarded to the rider who arrived first at the mile 20 rest stop. Even still, some require an extra push. Doug has successfully eased himself back into riding after a day-one crash, but Josh is trying to make sure he doesn't lose his stride.

Enter Tour de Pillow:

It's not quite a yellow jersey, (it's not even yellow), but a full-size pillow is still a grand prize when you're sleeping on hard floors for two months. It started slowly, with Josh throwing down a distance challenge to Doug. If he completed a long day, he could have Josh's gigantic pillow for the rest of Texas (two nights). Today - 95 miles in a 110 degree heat index - was Doug's second task. 

At the 80 mile rest stop, Doug looked a cheshire Josh in the face and (in so many words) said, "Bring it."

Josh won't see his pillow again until Mississippi. 

As a side note, Doug's wife apparently asked him, "Why don't you just go out and buy a pillow?"

Because if not for Fruit Loops, Mrs. Cosby's peanut butter cookies and fluffy pillows, some days just might be too much. 

As for the rest of us, I was made out to be a liar because I told everyone that my home state loves its roads and would provide smooth sailing and wide shoulders. I don't know which of the two is more important, but much of today's ride was on bone-jarring pebbles. But at mile 80 there was Bodacious BBQ and a local city council member who gave us all words of encouragement and $100 toward a meal. Wow! 

Chris deserves a huge thanks, as he drove my fiancee's car so that Tom could bike with me today. That was a special treat, as he came up to do the Dallas build with us, and it was Tom that got me through my long training rides. Tom seemed pretty bemused by our group dynamic and the multitude of "moving parts" in this trip, but he ran with our early morning schedule like a trooper, and was fun to have around. (OK, fun for me at least.)

Tom was my motivation today. Josh's pillow seems nice, but I think I was the lucky one this time.

Bike - shower - eat - sleep - repeat,
Katherine

FCBA Shout Out: Christ the King Catholic Church, where Aaron, Nate and Tony attended mass tonight and received a donation. Thanks!