Stage 8 - Victorola

48 hours and still no toilet time. Weak, tired and bloated is where I was this morning at 8:00 AM and about to abandon the whole thing when I hear Barry's voice from my driveway yelling, "Come on, Elvis! Time to ride!". Like a dog hearing his master's voice I donned my cycling gear and rolled the bike out of the garage.

The first twenty miles weren't too bad but since my body is not metabolizing energy or water I quickly bonked. On my own I would have called home to schedule a pick-up which would have been the end of the Tour. The Boss of course would have none of that and like the good friend that he his he positioned himself between me and the stiff wind that was blowing, giving me a little bit of energy savings. He did this for the last thirty five miles. And it was hot out too.

Our route took us west into the headwinds and west from my house means more hills. We went round-about the Holy Hill area and then south (thanks to road construction) to the northern fringes of Hartland. A too short stop at a filling station for Gatorade and water and back on the road where for me the entire ride was a bit dreamlike because I was so light-headed.

Speaking of road construction, do we really need all 97,144 miles of Wisconsin roads to be glass smooth? We don't even need all of those roads. Most of our nation's road and highway projects began as a part of President Eisenhower's fear that if a war were to be fought in the United States, we didn't (in 1952) have enough paved roads to move men and materiel around efficiently. Wars like Ike's WWII will not be fought again. Now it's terrorist activities and smart bombs.

Wisconsin spends about $2,000,000,000.00 (that's two billion if you can't count all of the zeroes) annually on road construction and repair. Roughly $1,300,000.00 for every mile that is re-constructed. I like smooth roads as much as the next guy but I'm real tired of paying $0.28 per gallon of gas in highway taxes, the second highest in the nation. I've ridden lots of miles in both Minnesota and Iowa, where the gas tax is much lower, and have noticed no difference in the quality of the roads. Gee, that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that donations to political hacks from construction companies has skyrocketed, would it?

Anyway, The Boss did a great job of routing us around all of the construction zones.

The best view in the house if you've bonked

Even with all of Barry's help I felt about as bad on a bike as I've ever felt. No power, no endurance, no strength, no energy - I got nothin'. Since tomorrow is a rest day The Boss told me to spend the rest of today eating and drinking, which I am trying to do. I also tried some oatmeal and a cup of Oregon Chai to kick the bowels into gear but so far it hasn't worked. Hot tea with honey is next. Click HERE for a funny guide to pooping at work. On a positive note, my pee has cleared up. Still, if I hope to see this thing all of the way through I need all of my innards working at peak efficiency.

The week in review;

The first of three weeks of this "50% of the Miles, 100% of the Effort" Tour Challenge is in the books. It's the longest stretch of riding without a rest day - nine straight days. There are two rest days in the forthcoming fortnight. Twelve more days of riding left. Rest day, six days of riding, rest day, six days of riding.

It's the biggest mileage week of the Challenge - 489 miles. Only 671 miles to go. At first blush that sounds good but it still means twelve more days of riding an average of 56 miles per day.

My current weight is 162.8 lbs. which is down one pound from the start. I hope to drop another pound or two soon (!).

Doing this Tour Challenge is totally pointless, which is why I've dedicated three weeks of my life to it.

Today's Mileage Goal: 54.87. Miles ridden: 55.