Day 33: Racked: Part Deux

Course: Lincoln, NE to Omaha, NE
Distance: 55 miles
Terrain: Bumpy roads, some rolling hills
Conditions: Slight headwind, a lot of construction
 I decided on a whim to sweep today with Beau. I knew that we had an arrival and that I would be seeing my mom, so the incentive of leading the double pace line into arrival if you’re a sweep was a good one. We started out in the city and immediately hit a lot of construction. There were cones, one-lane roads, lots of gravel and potholes, and a lot of big trucks passing. It wasn’t very fun to ride through, but eventually we made it out to the country road. Since we were sweeping and couldn’t pass anyone, we moved rather slowly to begin with. Beau and I are both strong riders, so we were behind a couple of pace lines for a while. Eventually we were behind a pace line of two, and one of the guys was hurting pretty badly. His bike is too small for him, so he typically endures a lot of pain. We ended up moving too slowly and getting racked at about mile 35. We didn’t really complain though because apparently after that point the ride got pretty painstaking with pot holes and more construction, but with stoplights and hills.
 After being dropped off at our stage up location we waited around for the rest of the cyclists to file in. When they all arrived, we staged up in double pace line formation and headed out to our arrival. When we got to the arrival point, my mom, girlfriend, and her friends were all there with cheesy signs to cheer me on. It was actually pretty cool to have a fan base. No big deal – I felt kind of famous. We arrived to the Disabled Veterans of America center to have a friendship visit with a local organization that aids people with Spina Bifida. We ate lunch together and then had a miniature carnival with games set up. People could win tickets and buy cool prizes with them. We also put on a puppet show. The people there were extremely nice and fun to be around.
 After the lunch we had some free time before we headed out to the Mockingbird Community Center to have another dance. This time it was themed and had a live band. Kelli came to visit and everyone had a great time talking to people and dancing. Like always, everyone tore it up on the dance floor. When the dance was near its end, it came time to say goodbye to Kelli. It was great to see her and her friends since it was a good slice of the outside world for a while, but it was tough to say goodbye. However, I’ve still got a lot of fun things ahead and I can’t wait to see what else the ride has in store for me!