Tough start to a tough week

I knew this week would be hard but the hardships still always seem to be a surprise. Monday morning started well as Jeanne and her two granddaughters got up and were at camp to see us off at 6am. Arranging a few more favours for the kitchen crew, this woman and sister in Christ was a blessing to all.

Now we had had a sprinkler issue on Saturday night again. Apparently there are 180 zones that run the system at the high school in Boise. They had been kind enough to try and get the one that affected us but missed a few by mistake. So at 12:30am, both Hans and Greg woke to the zoop and fst,fst,fst of a sprinkler popping up in their respective tents. Hans's was directly between his fly and tent which turned his sleeping abode into a kiddie pool and Greg's was in the middle of his vestibule, which became his personal shower. A few fellow cyclists to the rescue to try and gather their stuff and get them somewhere to sleep. Both had a fairly great attitude about the mess in the morning and I had to confess to Greg as we chuckled a bit that it was only funny because it wasn't my tent.

This morning, it was. Just before I had to get up to do my movie reviews, I heard the zoop and fst,fst,fst of a sprinkler popping up. OK....I could hear the water falling on my tent and bike but the window was closed and my only option was to open the door which would then lead to me stepping into the sprinkler and exposing my tent. I decided that a little water wasn't a worst case scenario and let the situation clear on it's own. Disaster avoided.

It was off on my ride, ready to take on the day. Sadly at about 11am I felt a migraine start to build. I quickly popped some medication and hoped that it would stave off the debilitating headache. The heat was getting higher and, in this sagebrush covered desert, shade was hard to find but Julie, Bill and Mary were very resourceful

And they had to be kidding when they named this street.

Unfortunately, it continued to get worse. At a few stops, I tried a few Ibuprofen and worked extra hard to get to camp as quickly as possible. I was able to finish the day's ride but was in obvious pain and distress when I arrived. Again, the community came to my aid. Fred signed me in while Marti and Hans worked on my tent. I took my next dose of meds and grab my air mattress and an ice pack to collapse in the air conditioned gym. A while later, Barb came to check on me. It was getting noisy in the gym as the school had a volley ball practice scheduled. Barb gather me and my stuff and arranged to have a quiet dark hall opened for me to recover in. I was able to finally leave just after our peleton meeting and in time for my small group to care and pray for me. I drugged up again and tried to sleep. Sleep is not very restful when meds are involved but I decided to take what I could get and make decisions in the morning.

Today I woke, feeling slightly better, and to the great gift of an overcast day. With some more meds, I decided to give the day's ride a try. The cool morning gave the meds a chance to kick start and I was riding clear by mid morning. As the clouds cleared, the heat built and the ride was long and hot. Along the way I had a chance to give my friend, Tracy a call about some stuff she is looking after for me at home, but really it was just a familiar cheering voice and encouragement that I needed after a tough 24hrs. I started to lag a bit, some of the younger crew who had taken a detour caught up and road with me for a while. I'm really enjoying getting to know them. As the day got hotter, I got slower, several people said to me that day that they weren't in the mood to be on their bikes either. Those are the days we realise why we don't do this alone but as a group and as a community.

Coming into camp I noticed that my front tire was going soft. With the assistance of a few riders with pumps, I came into camp without a flat. I set up my tent, and found Opa John to see if he had time to look at it. He said that he would while I went to the shower. On my return, He told me of the 6 goatheads he had found in the front tire and 4 from the back! And still my tires had held- who said they haven't seen miracles!

An unfortunate thing happened on the way to the Peleton meeting, the sweep team leader for this weekend came to me and asked "Did I know about the long ride on Saturday with the steep incline? What was my strategy for that day?" I was shocked. Seriously? I told him I didn't really have one as I hadn't gotten there yet. I'm just trying to get through each day as it comes. I mean really. I know that I'm not one of the fastest riders, that I take too many stops for others liking, that my sight-seeing and exploring delays me even more, that I carry too much stuff and my bike is much heavier than what a "real" cyclist would choose. But isn't there more than one way to enjoy Sea To Sea? More than one experience to have? Is there really only one way that this should be done?

It was even more distressing at the Peleton meeting when it was announced that the sweep team now had the option to get to pass the slower cyclists, with their permission so that they could get into camp earlier. Is that really what the purpose of the sweep team is?

How did the leadership come to the conclusion that this was a good solution?

I can't help but wonder, what if we applied this attitude to the issue of poverty-which is the main focus on this tour not cycling? What if our attitude toward the poor was, well I'm sorry that you have it tough but I need to make my living and live my life and helping you would hold me back from that? I don't see how this can be reconciled? Maybe I have missed something. I wasn't involved in the decision process so maybe there is some piece of the puzzle I don't have.

I'm not concerned about being left behind. I am resourceful and I ensure that I have the tools I need if necessary and that God will provide. I will make it somehow. But others may not and with the heat and fluids issues some people may not be able to rationally make the decision to be left behind, it's a medical fact.

I pray that I might have a better understanding as to why this radical change was made. I pray that if this is a wrong decision that God guide those to reverse the call. Pray that no one feels like a burden or left behind. I pray that those who are stronger, feel the call to what is needed of them.