Distance 120
Saddle time 4:49
Average speed 24.8
Max speed 57.5
Total ascent 864m
Total descent 905m
Today was an eventful day. I
was riding with Kaitlyn and Katie, and we started out our day by getting
lost. We missed a turn around the 10km
mark of the ride and when we hadn’t had a SAG stop by km 30 (and they are
usually every 25km) and the faster group of riders hadn’t passed us, we figured
we had gone the wrong way. Fortunately,
we were about 15km north of where the route was supposed to pass, but we were
almost on the same latitude of our ultimate destination, so we spent some time
sleuthing routes (asking at a house we were stopped near and then at the gas
station in the next town) and determined we could get to Chariton without
backtracking (and adding a hilly 30km to our day) if we took the state highway
(a moderately busy road with a decent shoulder) and just refilled our water at
the town about halfway. So, after
letting the tour organizers know so they wouldn’t be looking for us, off we
went!
We had a great morning!
Excellent road, great riding buddies and being off on our own lent to
the sense of adventure we felt. We made
it to the intermediate town (40km from the gas station in the town we first
determined our route from and 40km from our destination) and stopped for an
excellent lunch. We were thoroughly
enjoying the ride, when I was unfortunately struck by a vehicle 4km west of
town (don’t worry, I’m OK!!). Here’s the
story.
The road had narrowed, and we had lost our nice shoulder, but traffic
had been very courteous, with even semi trucks waiting for safe times to pass
us. When we got close to Chariton, the
road was a bit narrow and Katie and Kaitlyn were riding a little ahead of me as
we climbed up a hill. The shoulder was
soft gravel, so we rode on the main road surface (safely as close to the white
line as possible in single file). While
we went up the hill, a semi was coming in the opposite direction and a pickup
truck pulled up beside me (leaving me almost NO space to cycle) and the driver
yelled “HEY!!” at me out the open passenger window (when I interpreted as a
“get off the road” type of yell). Having
no where to go, I continued riding forward, when the pickup’s RV trailer struck
me in the shoulder (not hard), forcing me off the road and onto the soft gravel
shoulder. The gravel was deep and soft,
and my bike almost immediately skidding right, causing me to fall to the left
onto the pavement of the road UNDERNEATH the RV trailer. Fortunately, the wheels had already passed
me. I was going quite slowly as we were
climbing a hill (less than 15km/h although I don’t really know how fast) and I
didn’t hit my head as I fell (I sort of landed on my left back, right shoulder,
left hip and left leg). I got up as soon
as I was sure my head and neck were OK, and got off the road, carrying my bike
(which also seemed to be OK). I was
really worried the driver of the truck wouldn’t stop, so I ran up the shoulder
with my bike, yelling at him (I was pretty pumped up on adrenaline at that
point! I’m pretty sure if I had to lift
a car, I would have been able to do so without difficulty!!). He did pull over.
When the driver of the pickup got out, he started screaming obscenities
at me ()(#@$*& bikers on the #$*&en road etc). I was also yelling at him. Fortunately (I’m going to use that word a lot
in telling this story), my riding buddies had been able to get back to where I
was by this point so one of them got in between the driver and I, one called
our tour manager (who arrived in short order with our nurse, definitely helping
to defuse the situation along with 2 fish and wildlife officers who stopped to
see if I was OK) and the driver of the car behind me (who had stopped) checked
me to see if I was OK. I didn’t seem to
be badly hurt, and my bike looked OK (I checked the frame, fortunately I had
landed slowly and on the non-drive train side), so I got the information of the
driver and decided to ride the last 4km into camp. I felt OK and while I have a BIG bruise on my
left flank, a bruise on my left hip and outside leg and some road rash on my
right shoulder, I am pretty much uninjured!
Definitely could have been worse considering I fell into traffic!!!
Anyway, I guess some people think I should have called the cops, but I
suppose to what effect? Some drivers
hate cyclists, and it was my opinion that this driver ran me off the road
intentionally (as evidenced by his yelling at me while passing unsafely on an
uphill and then screaming at me that I shouldn’t have been on the road after
striking me with his trailer and riding me into the shoulder) and it’s scary to
me that drivers like that can be out on the road endangering the lives of
cyclists. In the same breath, I’m
exceptionally grateful to God that I am OK and everytime by back or shoulder
twinges it’s a telling reminder that things could have been MUCH worse and I am
grateful for my relative lack of injury.
I look forward to another ride tomorrow!!
 |
| Feeling like I got pretty easily after my encounter!! |
When we got to camp, we got to have a special surprise that some of us
have been planning for a few days. It
was the 30th birthday of one of the riders, and when we had talked
about his birthday, we had talked about maybe getting ice cream cake from Dairy
Queen. However, when he googled it,
there was no Dairy Queen in Chariton (or, in fact, on the whole route we rode
today). So (unbeknownst to him), we
ordered Dairy Queen ice cream cakes for the whole tour from a DQ just off the
tour route, which one of our fabulous drivers picked up. The person whose birthday we were celebrating
was completely surprised, so mission accomplished! All in all, I would say it was a great day
(except for the part where I got hit by a car!!) :P
Day 32 Chariton, IA to Pella, IA
Distance 83Saddle time 3:52
Average speed 21.4
Max speed 56.7
Total ascent 741m
Total descent 776m
Back in the saddle again today after yesterday’s crashing adventure. I actually felt pretty good when I got up (no thanks to the trains and rain that kept me awake last night) and some of the spasms in the muscles in my back were better, so I decided that since it was a relatively short day, I could ride. I felt very sluggish on the bike, my muscles are SORE, my back is STIFF and I have a couple pretty sweet bruises, but I made it the whole distance, riding with my daddy. Today we passed the halfway point of the tour for distance, which of course deserved a photo!
 |
| Halfway there! |
Along the way, some cyclists found a kitten on the side of the highway
running around alone. After trying to check
with some of the close by houses and finding no one there, they brought it into
town and gave it to the animal shelter.
So cute!
 |
| Kittens make everything better! |
We spent the afternoon exploring Pella, IA – a very cute little
town! Tonight we have our first
celebration service and then a 100 mile day tomorrow!
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