Day Twenty-six (32.5 miles, 1131.1 total): Sick on The Road Part 1

I wake up sweating. The sun is pouring through the window and its glare hits me right in the eye. Ugh. I flip over but can't get comfortable. Ella growls at me, annoyed I woke her up. I keep tossing and turning so I just get up. I'm thirsty and chug half my water bottle. Ella starts weaving in between my legs like a figure eight. I look out the window and she runs for the door like its a race. There's a big street out side so I pick up the little tike and carry her across to a patch of grass. She hops around like a rabbit then runs back at her best attempt to tackle me. I lift her in the air like Simba and she licks me right in the face. Great!

Back in side, everyone else is slowly dragging themselves out of bed and into the world of the living. Bill asks me what time it is. I hadn't even checked yet. 8:00AM. Overslept on the day we planned on getting up at 5:00AM. Third day in a row, must.get.up.earlier! It's already hot out, so we don't care about speed packing. He and I are the only ones leaving this morning. Celia is meeting a friend then leaving later. Bill and I shuffle over to a nice coffee shop next door and I get a smoothie. I had a really strong urge to get a fruit smoothie instead of coffee. It was a great smoothie. Refreshing on a hot morning like this. When we get back, we say goodbye to the NBS crew and to all our friends then set out the door. Wait, one last picture out front!

We set off for a grocery store to stock up on extra water and some Gatorade. Loaded with extra water, we set out to face the headwinds and heat. The first few miles were slow but they weren't to bad at all. Pushing on against the heat, we turned to some tailwinds. We hadn't been on the road long, but the tailwind was already a relief. The turn had taken us through a nice shaded section of highway as well. Cool and energizing escaping from the heat. It's amazing how much a little bit of shade can do even when its blistering hot out.

We pedaled on into the early afternoon until we reached the next turn right back into the headwinds. BUHLER 10 miles. Great, that's not so far! On and on I pedaled, smallest gear turning against the wind as best it can. Bill is gaining a lead on me, slowly moving out of reach. I'm drinking as much water as I can but it's not helping against the heat. Ella isn't enjoying the heat either but I'm doing my best to keep her cool and shaded. She perks up a bit every time I pour more water on her and she's happy again. At least I think she is! I can't get my bike up past 8mph. The wind is dragging me back like a lead weight. Bill is becoming a blur on the horizon, a black dot hidden in the heat waves of the asphalt. I'm swerving all over the road as the wind knocks me around. The heat is enveloping me and sapping all the energy I have. BUHLER 6. Longest 10 miles of my entire life.

I'm gasping as I pull myself along the roadway. Thank God there wasn't a ton of traffic otherwise I might look like one of those turtles back in Kentucky. My head is bobbing to one side as I pedal on in the afternoon sun. The last 6 miles took us almost two hours baking beneath the heat waves. At last, I see Bill on the street corner beneath some trees waiting for me. I feel like crap. There is no better way to put it. Bill says we should get some food and rest until the sun goes down before we try going any further.

We stop at a nice little cafe. I park my bike beneath the shade, take Ella out, pour her some water, then crash against the building as I sit down. Bill says to come inside and I tell him I'll be in in just a minute. After about 5-10 minutes Bill comes back out with a massive cup of ice water for me. He realized I must have not moved at all. Finally, I manage to bring myself into the restaurant and eat part of a sandwich. I couldn't even finish a sandwich. The town thermometer reads 103 degrees. It's ridiculous. We leave the cafe and walk over to the grocery store to get some more water and Gatorade. Stocked again, we head on over to the park.

It's actually a very nice park with a play ground and pool and a few fields as well. We find an empty pavilion, where I let Ella out and fill up her water again. Bill pours some ice water over my head and soaks a bandana then wraps it around my neck. It helps immensely. We take naps on the benches for awhile before Celia and Mark show up in the park. Both of them are tired and head on over to the pool for a quick dip. Bill said it might help me feel better but I didn't want to. Bill went to the pool and I stayed right where I was, afraid I might pass out or throw up if I moved to much. I tried drinking my Gatorade and my water but it just wasn't helping.

When it got cooler in the evening, Bill, Celia, and Mark headed on to Nickerson. They wanted to know if I needed anyone to stay with me but I insisted they go. I laid in the same spot on that bench until about 9:00-9:30PM. Absolutely miserable, I set up my tent and crawled in, sweating. Fits of sleep came and went throughout the night. My plan was to find some help to get to Larned the next morning. Hopefully I would be able to find some. Sick on The Road will cont. in the next post soon.....