"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." — H.G. Wells
Oh, the ol' sleeping bag felt mighty good tonight. The first 60 miles today were fairly easy, but the last 40 were really hard with a series of small climbs, and we had significant headwinds. At one point, we had to ride 2 miles on a bone-jarring gravel road through a construction area. There were many tired & sore bodies rolling into camp, all ready for a good rest.
I'm in Missoula Sat & Sunday. Sunday is our rest day & everyone is doing laundry, writing postcards, e-mailing, shopping, and generally taking it easy. Last night, a group of us had dinner at a local restaurant and had a few tasty at some local bars. While walking past some street performers,I asked if I could play the guitar if I made a donation. The guy started to hand it to me, but pulled back quickly and said, "Money first!" I tossed in a bill & he handed it over. After putting it somewhat in tune, we played & sang for about 15 minutes & somebody actually put money in the hat for us (it was empty before). Busking in Missoula with the homeless. That was an experience.
My fellow Altoonan, Dave McConnell went home today and I'm going to miss him. It was such an experience running into him when we never connected in school. We rode together a lot this week and "talked about the hometown, a million miles away." Though the week was pretty grueling at times, he said he had a good time. 14 other riders left us today, & 10 new people are joining us for week 2. Tomorrow, we're off to Lincoln, MT.
I'll try to talk about some of the people I've met, but there are so many, so I'll try to hit the highlights. This week's most interesting bikers were Richard and Errol from England. They were riding a tandem, with Richard the son in front, and Errol in the rear. Errol is from India and has stories about travelling the world with his wife. He's 72 now, and is rather stooped over and walks really slowly, but he rides and rides. A true inspiration.