Today’s riding was utterly fantastic. Saddle soreness wasn’t much of a problem, the weather was fine (if a little hot), and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. One stretch of the trip in particular was amazing. I took video for parts of it, which should convey the immersion a little more clearly, but I’ve also uploaded a new batch of photos to the Flickr set.
Stronger, Faster
The pace today was definitely faster. I’m also adapting to the riding–it seems like my body is used to the notion of a stressful workout for several hours in a row. It’s a great feeling to zoom through an off-road section, pedaling quickly and dodging potholes and rough terrain. I did a have a bit of a crash myself, though, although it wasn’t much. I ended up going over a drop on a downhill section with my brake engaged. I didn’t notice it until I was too close to disengage the brake, so my only hope was to hold it perfectly steady on landing to avoid being thrown. No luck!
Nich’s Crash
The youngest rider on the tour, Nich (13), had a pretty wicked crash today. It was on a downhill section and he rides without a brake. I wasn’t near enough to see him fall, but I was the second person to quickly come across him. He was in a lot of pain and didn’t have t move his arm–at first the group was worried it may have been a broken collarbone, but the final diagnosis was a nasty cash a road rash and a possible sprain. The tour organizer, Ken, is actually a practicing doctor and was there on the scene within a few minutes. Tomorrow is a rest day, so hopefully he’ll be back riding after that!
Rest Time!
We’re here for another day–the beach is right across the street–so it’ll be nice to hang out and go for a swim. There are only two riding days left in the tour. I feel great and am looking forward to tackling them head on!
Nice shots. Poor leg on you, hope Nich will continue to be ok, glad you have a Dr. there, and boy- are those cows skinny. Keep on top of the leg, the germs being different and all, as I’m sure you know. Love getting the updates, and glad you are enjoying the peacefulness and variety of culture so much.
Myself: I’m in day 8 of flu B and just starting to see the hope of being better!
Take care all the way through to the end.
Love you,
Mom
Great to hear that each day is better than the last. I hope you will post some comments about how you feel in the aftermath of returning to the U S of A this week. And whether you have plans to make this an annual event of unicycling some country around the world. Going all the way across America might take as long as it took Forrest Gump.
BTW, I have been reading the uninam.net blog each day as well, but find it almost impossible at my state of age and eyesight to decipher those words that must be typed in for any message to be posted. I was constantly receiving error messages on my entries, so pretty much gave up on that approach. Perhaps that is why so few other comments have been posted to those pages?
Ride safe, and may your UPDs be kept to a minimum…
Love,
Dad