Wednesday February 25, 2015

Ten good things that happened today. You probably recognize this, (I wrote one of these before when we had a crappy day) we had a really crappy day and I (like my hero Anne Mustoe) have to think of 10 good things that happened. This is going to be really tough because it was a really crappy day.

So here are my 10 good things that happened today:

1. Bacon, eggs, hash browns and good coffee for breakfast
2. A little mini muffin with streusel on top
3. Staying warm and dry at the Best Western until 11:00
4. A little mini muffin with streusel on top – I had two so I can count it twice.
5. Passing two dogs that were loose, and they didn’t chase us (it was raining, we weren’t worth getting wet for).
6. Passing another dog, that was loose that only barked at us (as above).
7. Being told that we were hard core cyclists (actually we were too cheap to pay for another night at Best Western and possibly be charged for the room in Oberlin)
8. Having a really nice hot shower at the motel in Oberlin
9. Having a peanut butter, jam and banana sandwich and a hot cup of coffee when we had arrived in Oberlin
10. Crisp, clean, white sheets at the motel in Oberlin.

Now this is how the day actually was. We knew the forecast was for rain so we stayed at the Best Western until we had to check out at 11:00 am, hoping that it would stop raining and warm up. It was still raining, but it had warmed up to a balmy 2 degrees, at 11:00. We headed out in the cold, heavy rain and knew it was going to be a dreary ride. The average temperature was 0.5 degrees, It rained for the whole 3.5 hours (60 ks), the last 10 ks as usual was into a head wind and to top it off as we came into Oberlin we were chased by a crazy dog for 2 kms. I was tired at the time, as we had only stopped once during the 60 ks, and my usual Mark Cavendish impression failed to materialize. We have to get some pepper spray.

The route was primarily rice fields. We saw two very large tractors up to their axles in mud. They were doing something in the rice field, but not sinking into the mud.

When we arrived in Oberlin after being chased by the crazy dog, I spotted the hotel. We pulled in and at first the manager couldn’t find our reservation, but he had vacancies and gave us some old sheets to put on the carpet so that we could bring the bikes into the room. As I took my sandals off I noticed that they are falling apart, one of the straps has come away from the sole. When we get to Austin we will have to spend some money on new shoes for both of us. Austin is about 10 days away, hopefully they will last that long. I like the Keen sandals, even in the rain. This might be odd, but your feet get cold and wet even if they are in shoes, at least in the hot weather I don’t get hot-spots and sore feet. Today I had make-shift booties (2 wal-mart bags) – you know you’re a redneck when!

We ate out tonight at the local diner, we had pork chops and baked potato with a salad. It was a really nice people and we had to smile at the waitress who kept calling us baby.