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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Ryans and even sun tans

Oddly enough I have only known a few Ryans in my lifetime. All of them have been pretty cool stand up guys. This of course includes our riding partner earlier. Well tonight, we can add one more to the list. He is in Berea, KY right now at the campground. Luckily for us, so are we. 60 miles today (we got a super late start this morning) is all we got in.

So as we pulled in, we spotted another tent and on closer inspection a bicycle accompanied it. We invited him over to eat with us. He is a finance major in Indiana. He is doing the trans-American trail alone. If you ask me as far as finance majors from Indiana go he must be the most outgoing and adventurous one to be doing this trek alone! He was pretty cool and we chatted a bit while we ate. I hope I did not scare him too much as I have a tendancy to come off pretty strong. He also is doing a blog but does not get to post as often as we do. His site is

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ryan779I sure hope he posts our website in his blog as well (hint, hint).

So yesterday I decided it was time to start working on my sun tan lines (big mistake) from biking. You see, since we wear biking clothes we have some pretty funny tan lines. They look like farmer tans up top and serious shorts tans on our legs with sock lines as well. The parts exposed are a dark golden brown by now and the covered parts are a stark contrasting bleached out, no freckle, white color. Hope that helps with the visual. Not to mention our funky half finger, one circle (this makes sense if you have ever taned with biking gloves, you get tanned on one circle area that the velcro strap does not cover) glove lines. Since we are in Kentucky and it is summertime the weather is hot and humid... oh and humid too (not sure, did I mention it is humid here?). I decided I would be more comfortable without a shirt (does not hurt that my gut is much smaller too) and work on my tan lines while I was at it. So I kept going and eventually that little voice in my head kept nagging me (not a good voice to ignore unles he tells you to hurt people, then its ok to ignore it) to put on my shirt. I am sure you are all thinking I got burnt right? Well "oh yea of little faith" you are all correct. I got fried. My back is in an unbelievable amount of pain that seems to increase exponentially with the amount I perspire. Hmm let's see hot humid Kentucky + biking all day = a lot of pain. Heather is applying lotion regularly and I am taking motrin as well. It will heal in a few days, I am sure. This is a lesson I will not soon forget (by soon, I mean give it a month). In the meantime I just go around grimacing a lot.

Did I mention it is humid here? Well, if not then there, I said it! This means there is no need for a sleeping bag. Actually, as I type this I am laying on top of my sleeping bag and I will sleep here too. Actually I am inside my sleeping bag liner (thin coccoon made of coolmax material that goes inside the sleeping bag) inside my bivy sac (to keep the bugs out) typing away. It is a pretty comfy setup even if Elissa thinks we look funny.

Both Heather and I are amazed at how well Elissa does keeping up still. I know I mentioned it before but it merits mentioning again. They will only be with us for 2 more days then we are on our own again. I hope we do ok fending for ourselves.

I had a hard time eating last night. It was a good meal of rice, black beans, and chicken. It tasted good but I ate very little. I thought it might be because of my back hurting. This morning it was the same thing with the oatmeal. I was starving but could not eat. At noon I was shaking from hunger but nothing seemed to satisfy me. So I decided to listen to my body. I went to a gas station/food mart and just wandered until something looked good. I bought a hugh chicken breast and some potatoes and a biscut. I prectically inhaled that chicken. I could not eat it fast enough or get enough meat from it. Almost immediatly I stopped shaking and shortly after that I felt great. So seems like I needed some protein. We do eat protein on our trip but I guess I needed a boost today. I sure am glad I listened to my body on this one.

Well, it is past my bedtime so I am off to sleep. Until we meet again, go out and do something you always wanted to. I know I am.

-dana

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a parent I am so glad you guys recognize how smart us "old" people are. Trust me...it grows on you. Heather, what a laugh! Remember your first trip to try to potty in the field? Dad did not think it was very successful. Dana, your poor back. I hope you are getting some relief with the motrin and the lotions. We are having thunderstorms here so hope it is not travelling east towards you. Keep up the good work and wonderful spirit. Love, m&D

Anonymous said...

Dana,
Amy and I just read your post for today. We miss you and heather so much! We miss your humor. I truly admire the endurance and spirit you guys have together..
Ahh, ouch! So sorry about your back!
Heather,
Good girl for using sunblock lotion! Teach dana how to put some on! Lol
You guys are almost here!!! You have a lot of people looking forward to having you back in DC!! There are wonderful pictures of you guys with your bikes and gear outside Jean's office. It was great to see you both, makes me even more excited to have you guys here!! We love you and am so darn proud of you guys!! Keeep goooing keep listening to your body(Dana said so!)!!
Love,
Paws, Pistol, Jenilee and Amy