Sorry that this post is late, I didn't have access to wifi at the last gymnasium that we stayed in.
Course: Sacramento to Jackson
Distance: 43 miles
Elevation: 2,959 ft.
Weather: Hot
Terrain: Flat at first, bumpy
roads and sustaining hills after
Today was a bright and early
wakeup. Since we weren’t ready on time the day before, we were required to wake
up 30 minutes early at 5am. We had a sponsored breakfast by the same husband
and wife that provided our lunch the day before. After eating we took off for
Jackson. I rode with Doug and Jack. Doug is a 29-year-old Pi Kappa Phi alumnus from
Northern Illinois University and Jack will be a senior next year at the
University of Tennessee. Our goal was just to take it slow, since we are by no
means the fastest or most experienced riders.
We knew that the mileage was
shorter so we started off as the last pace line to leave before the sweeps. For
about 25 miles we stayed behind, but after that we noticed that we had caught
up to a couple of pace lines. Before we knew it, we were blazing by other guys
on the hills. Our pace line was the third to finish, which is great considering
that everyone that finished in front of us seems to be in Lance Armstrong’s
bloodline.
After everyone finished, we
staged up in arrival formation and paraded into our largest friendship visit
yet. We even had police escorts so it was pretty official. When we got there,
there were at least a hundred people cheering us on. Most of the people there
had a disability. We lined up after arriving and they all went through and
shook our hands as we introduced ourselves. Afterwards we all ate lunch
together and a lot of the people with disabilities came up to us with maps of
our route that they wanted us to sign. It was awesome to see how much they
looked up to us. Sometimes we really don’t stop to think that those people are
the reason we even brought a bike.
After having a great time at
the friendship visit we headed to lodging, showered up, and then went to dinner
at Mel’s Diner – a place that has been serving JOH food since ’87 when it
started. We met with the Jackson Lion’s Club. A men’s club that raises a lot of
money and helps out local organizations with fundraising. They do everything
from collecting pull-tabs to selling kegs of beer for charity. It was great to
talk to the guys of the Lion’s Club and see what someone else does for the good
of others.
I came back to lodging and
had Dean (the professional cyclist who has been biking for 35+ years and riding
with us since the beginning, sorry if I failed to mention him earlier) look at
my bike since I had been having trouble with one of the shifters. He found that
a piece of my drive train had broken, so I’ll need to get a new piece soon.
I’ll still be able to ride tomorrow, though.
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