Hard day

Carthage to Athens 89.8 miles/101.46 miles

"There are no bad days on Bike & Build, some are just harder than others." ~B&B saying

If you had asked me at noon how the day was going, I would have told you it was my worst day ever. Eight hours later it had become one of my favorites. We started out the day at the MacPherson's with a wonderful breakfast and a great surprise. Today was scavenger hunt day!!! I have been looking forward to this almost as long as I have been looking forward to B&B. We were given a lost of 34 different prompts and we needed to take a picture for each of them. Some of the ideas were "best Chuck Norris look-alike" "best upside down" "gas station mayhem" "picture with stranger-bonus if hugging stranger-double bonus if kissing stranger" "best animal photo-bonus if armadillo-double bonus if alive armadillo" "best donation magic" ect. All creative and all lots of fun. We were split into teams. My team included Kelsey, Kenan, Grant, Lynsey, and Josh A. We started off well with a Chuck Norris picture, stopped at a gas station where we had a stick-up with water guns and Grant got a kiss from the cashier, then on to a farm to get tractor pictures. As we approached the back door to ask permission a very angry man came out an asked us what we were doing on his property. It being Texas, we were a little concerned, but Lynsey told him we were doing a photo scavenger hunt and asked of we could take a picture on his tractor. Expecting a "no" we all half turned around, but the man's demeanor changed immediately. "Of course!" He asked us more about what we were doing and where we were from, then told us to go ahead and take the photos. We posed on the tractors, tried to cajole the donkeys into coming close enough to pet (kinda worked), then spent some time with the horses. As we were walking away, the man came out again and said "wheres that girl from Michigan I was talking to?" everyone pointed at me and the man said "you need to have some Texas" then handed me the most ginormous garlic plant I have ever seen. It was bigger than a softball and still had the stalk attached. I thanked him and then rode the remaining ten mile to lunch holding garlic in my hands. We stopped at a dollar store to get more photos and ended up getting our picture taken for the paper and I got interviewed about Bike&Build :) another high was getting tojump around on a trampoline while we took our upside down shots. At lunch we made the decision to pause the hunt until 2nd lunch because we still had 60 miles and it was already 12pm.

That's when things got hard. My team was separated since we didn't need to be together for photos anymore, but all of the people who ride my speed were either way ahead or way behind me. I ended up alone for most of the thirty miles to 2nd lunch with rising temperatures and some of the worst winds that we have seen yet. I kept pushing, hoping I would find someone or that things would get easier, but neither happened. I got in a mind funk, where I kept fuming over little things, which just made me more and more unhappy. At mile 55 I stopped to take a picture of the bank sign that said "103 degrees." I followed that up with a couple miles of a sobbing pity party on the road. I didn't want to stop moving, but I was just angry and frustrated. After feeling like my cycling skills were continually improving in Florida and Louisiana, Texas was making me feel like a failure. I stopped at a gas station for some water. The woman inside was really nice, even though I was a little crazy :) She got me ice and convinced me to stay and cool down before venturing out again. We chatted for a little bit, until I was calmer and less shaky. As I set out another group of cyclists were passing, so I hopped into their group. It worked out great because we were headed right down the biggest street in town (think 28 St in Grand Rapids area). Being in a big group makes it a lot safer in those situations because the cars have to see us and respect us. Halfway through town a red SUV dropped in behind and started flashing his four ways. It turns out that the president of the Texas cycling club happened to see us on the road and wanted to make sure we were safe so he became our unofficial chase car. He followed us for five miles all the way to second lunch. After such a horrible afternoon it meant a lot to me that he took the time out of his day to protect us. 

Second lunch was quick because we had been told that we needs to be to the host by 6:30 at the latest or we would have to be picked up by the van. It was 3:30 and I wanted to be as far away as possible if the van started picking people up. I had not suffered through 30 miles of mental madness to be picked up by the van in the end. I think most of my worries and anguish were about the possibility of being picked up by the van. 

I set out again with Coleman, Lynsey,Corey and Kristina. After a few miles Kristina decided that she needed to be picked up, so Corey waited with her and the rest of us kept trekking. We pushed our way through six miles of winding, windy uphills but when it came time to turn, there were no roads to turn onto. We had missed a turn! Ahhh! Because of a huge lake, the only way to get to Athens was to backtrack six miles. I was just so tired and so scared of being vanned for taking too long. We booked it back to the turn where sweeps and Corey were waiting for us. Corey had seen us miss the turn but couldn't get our attention. We decided to push on an try to make it even though it was 6:00. Up and down, down and up we went over hills that lasted two miles. Corey was riding with me up one particularly nasty slope, when out of nowhere a giant black lab lunged at us. The rational side of my mind had left me back at mile 30 so I did the first thing that came to my mind. Instead of yelling "stay!" or "sit!" or squirting warm Gatorade in it's face, I screamed. Full out shrieked at it! I think I stunned the dog because it halted in it's tracks, but that is probably not the right way to handle dog attacks. We pushed on through the never-ending hills. Christine C and Dre did a wonderful job as sweeps, encouraging me up the hills. I think that it became one of my favorite days because i really tested my limits and went beyond them. At 8pm we finally made it to the church where the rest of the team was waiting to give us a spirit tunnel and lots of food. We were also  met with a great surprise, homestays! Each of us was going to spend the night with a church member and one or two other B&B'ers. Bwalsh and I spent the night with Toni. She let us use her shower and did our laundry for us. Her daughter even made us a cake and wrote a note to us since she was away. I slept in her daughters room and Bwalsh slept in her sons room. Sleeping on real beds was a special treat. It was a great way to end an interesting day.