X-Sender: kegill@mail.mindspring.com Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 23:43:27 -0700 To: wetleather@micapeak.com From: "Kathy E. Gill" Subject: Day Seven : Homestretch The highlight of the day was that there were no highlights. ;-) Did not sleep well last night. Finished the (abbreviated) coding for the web site for the client to review today (Friday). Went to bed with AC running and the window open to let out gas fumes. Woke up about 2:30 - WIDE awake. OK, fine. I'll finish the pix and get the trip reports up on the web. That takes an hour. Up at 7 - out of the motel by 9. It's already hot. I later read that this part of eastern CO is having record drought/heat. Do the first 200 miles in 3 hours - one stop for gas/rest and one for sightseeing. I stopped for photo Gothenberg NE - pony express stop. Getting ready to take a pic of the bike - and a stranger asks if I'd like a picture of myself. sure, thanks! At 200 miles, a longer stop for lunch/AC/hydration relief. My goal was to ride for 100 miles - rest - repeat. It's further to Omaha than I realized - it will be another 500 mile day. Plus, I lose another hour when I cross into central time zone. I comfort myself with the fact I'll have two days with an extra hour to sleep on the way home. By mid-afternoon - it's getting Very Hot. I spend 45 minutes at a gas/hydration stop - in part because I met another rider on a Tiger. We chat - he has a 900ss at home (Iowa), used to have an ST, etc etc. I had thought I was about 150 miles from Omaha at this point - actually closer to 190. It is cooler - but the wind hasn't lessened. Oh yes. The wind. It's worse here, if that's possible. I think because there are NO breaks. I've decided that the reason the settlers kept heading west was to try to ESCAPE this constant wind. I did try shifting weight "right" ... and it did work. Except my left leg/hip bone said, after a while, "this is not a comfortable place on the seat." Anyway - at 8200 on the odo, or ~80 miles after leaving my last stop - I spy "York" rest area. Pull in - power nap time. After about 20 minutes, I wake up, but lie still because it Feels So Good in the grass in the shade. Then I hear a voice, "you alive down there?" It's Kenny, the guy with the Tiger. We chat again - then I leave him lying in the shade of the tree. I decide to see when the bike will hit reserve - I guess it will be about 175 miles. The light comes on at 173. I gas up - and the exit for the Best Western is less than 10 miles away. Get to check in at 7:30ish - EC isn't here yet - I'm sweaty - and the ceremony starts at 8. Time for Very Quick shower - tie my hair back up 'harley-fashion' with my bandana (i discovered today that this Works - my head was much cooler - and it's easier to get it wet than putting your head under a sink faucet!) EC and John arrive about 10 minutes later, but I don't see her until we are recognized (as a group) for our fundraising efforts. I break ranks and run over and give her a hug. ;-) Now it's laundry time for her - mail time for me - and we should both be sleeping. Odo: 8312 (iirc) or 3200 miles since Saturday. The seattle promo team rode 2800. Tomorrow : St. Joe We haven't decided which group we will ride with or if we will have our own group of three. Kathy on digest