Didn't ride yesterday and I will try to get a short one in today but it is very hot and very humid. Tomorrow I drive north. Maybe I can squeeze a short ride in before I leave as I decided to drive only as far as Minneapolis tomorrow.

Day one report: I rode with a friend the entire ride. I averaged 14mph which is my fastest ever. Maybe that was a mistake, but I did ride her wheel most of the route. I would drop behind on the uphills and then she would let me catch up on the downhills or flats. Not tired. I think I will be fine to go tomorrow. I forgot to "start" my GPS after the lunch break. That was irritating as I never stopped it. So I didn't have an accurate mileage. My friend showed 68.68 miles at 14.17mph average. Good enough for me.

Now I am going to vegetate at my hotel until dinner time.

Note to Garmin: If the device is moving, and the timer isn't started, please flash the entire screen. If it's not moving for over five hours, and it hasn't been "stopped," put up a warning message next time the user turns it on.

Nice.... Enjoy your ride!

It does flash a banner across the middle of the screen and beeps at me, (800 model). Maybe because I'm such a techno-geek, I'm frequently looking at the silly thing and am aware when it is "talking" to me.

Well done, Goldfinch. Get a good night's sleep and you'll be ready for tomorrow.

Good dinner.

Now I am pretty tired. My only real problem is dealing with asthma, which is worse this evening than it was during the day. I don't want to take too many huffs on the inhaler.

Tomorrow looks to be a fairly flat route, but with a headwind most of the day. Ick.

I guarantee you that you will NOT be the last one to finish!
Go do it!

Rode with my friend again today but we were much slower due to a headwind, averaging only 12.8. Tired. Sixty miles and time to rest before dinner. Tomorrow is more headwinds, with even a stronger wind. We plan to slow it way down and ride with some people we know that are even slower than we are. The last day will be a tail wind if the forecast holds.

We are not the slowest on the route by any means.

Someone today got hit by a car. Apparently, the car was coming out of a crossroad and did not stop. Hit the lead bike on a pace line. He was airlifted to the hospital; no word yet. The group had passed us maybe 10 minutes before the accident.

12.8 into a head wind is a good effort.

What time do you start riding?

We started about 7:00a.m. Had to have breakfast first

Today was very windy. We did 71.3 miles averaging very slow, a hair under 12mph. We had a "stately" pace line of slower riders. We all took our turns at pulling into the wind. It was a very good day and I feel great.

Our last day is tomorrow and the forecast is for a tail wind the entire day.

We got the news on the guy hit by a car. Broken ribs, broken knees maybe, and a minor concussion. He will be in the hospital a few days but is going to be ok.

No incidents on the road today. I do need to do something about a camera. I have no pictures; my phone is taking photos that look like Peter Max artwork.

Well done, goldfinch - very well done. You are actually doing this! You should be proud of yourself.

That's awful about the guy getting hit. I hope he heals quickly.

Finished the ride! Yesterday was a tailwind and I certainly needed it. We were slow and tired after the prior day. Saw a big ball of twine in the small town of Darwin and made it 56 miles to the end. Miles 49 to 51 was a significant hill. I was surprised I made it up. And wasn't the last one up. I was second to the last in the collection of riders attacking the hill. I drove three hours home, laid on the couch listening to This American Life, went to bed at 8:30 and slept to 6:00am.

I'll do this again. It was tremendously rewarding.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement.

Grats Goldfinch Im proud of you and also inspired by your ride Charlie

Fabulous accomplishment

Congrats. if you survived that day 3 headwind, you can survive most anything - that was seriously nasty. The tailwind the last day was something else. We were running 24-26 for long stretches with no apparent effort

When you get back on your bike you will be surprised.

Congrats Goldfinch! By the way, what is the name of the ride?

Yet, you must have been pedaling! We spent lot of time coasting yesterday.


BAM. https://www.bambiketour.org/

Absolutely Outstanding!!!!!

You are a winner. Looking forward to read more as you conquer challenges.

good work! must feel great to have accomplished that.

Nice job. You're now a proven "tough cookie". What's the next challenge?

The next challenge is that family is coming to visit! That is tougher than a headwind.

Not sure what I am going to do next. I think I need to wait until allergy season is over or head somewhere without a lot of allergens in the air.

Good job goldfinch!

goldfinch - you doing BAM this year?