Day Five Update

The riders put in over 80 miles today instead of the projected 71. And it was hot, of course. Lots of sunshine beating down. But there was no rain and we were mostly finished by three. That meant a good bit of downtime this afternoon. We are being hosted at the Chic-fil-A Lodge in New Smyrna, so thanks Bubba, Cindy, Dan and Chic-fil-A. This, like everything else you guys do for us, is amazing. The boys have been swimming and lounging. Lounging and swimming. Supper was provided for us at the Lodge as well. Pizza and a salad so fantastic it defies logic.

Today was mostly uneventful. Nothing too terribly exciting to note. Which is good, considering some of the other things we have noted in the past several days. Today, Cliff sagged and Jeff rode a bike with the guys. It is great to have those guys along. Bill and Jesse spent the whole day with us instead of only the first bit. Karen is still with us as well. And Chris and Fran, of course. Rex and April left us last night. They were amazing.

And today we lost Jake. He had to head home for a family trip, I believe. Jake volunteered and rode a bike most days, though he did take one day off, sacrificing his own opportunity to ride for Joseph, who has had bike difficulties. Instead of riding, Jake worked on the road crew. Surprisingly, he went back to riding a bike the next day. Being a member of the road crew is, of course, a very meaningful and fulfilling role. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult than riding a bike. Not that Jake couldn’t handle it, mind you. But not just any ole monkey can work on the road crew, well not in the van anyway. The Yukon, perhaps. But not the van. Or at least, not in the passenger seat of the van. Maybe the driver’s seat. But not the passenger seat.

But forgive me. I digress. Thanks Jake. You were a great addition to the team. Have fun, and please do not feel bad about only doing road crew one day. I know that’s where your heart was, but you had committed to riding a bike. We monkeys admire the fact that you are a man of your word.

So guys, watch for a video coming out in the next hour or so. (By the way, can you imagine how difficult it is to find fresh and interesting ways to present in video format the bike ride after five days? I mean, you realize all I have to show is guys riding bikes. Only so many angles. So if I start putting videos of pandas in there, please be understanding. That may sound like a joke, but I’ve used panda videos before.)

Until tomorrow’s blog write up, tootles!