Okay, I’m going to try to add some pictures.  I took two yesterday, and I think two today, and I don’t imagine there will be many more.  I’m moving awfully slowly, with many miles to go before I sleep (I’m sure Robert Frost meant to be on a bicycle).

This was an emu farm that I passed yesterday.  I’ve seen emu farms before (there used to be one on Hwy. 49 on the way to Charlotte), but never one where the birds were so close to the road.  The one in the top picture was watching me warily; I had to move slowly getting the camera out, and I was afraid that the click would scare him off.  But he stood strong–cool birds.

So this afternoon, Marcella and I headed out for our little recovery spin.  It was such a beautiful day, and we were tooling along down these incredibly quiet little farm roads, so we stopped to take a couple of pictures:

This is Marcella, looking urban in front of the silos.  For the record, this photo is deceptive–it looks flat.  Let me assure you, that particular road is anything but flat.  Anyway, I posed next for the midwestern agriculture landscape shot:

And we got back on the bikes, and I promptly flatted.  Again.  Same tire.  I’m not sure what’s going on, but we since we had nowhere to be in a hurry, Marcella gave me an excellent tutorial, and I’m now feeling much more confident (except that I’m running out of tubes!).  She’s a Team-In-Training coach, mentor, and fundraiser; they’re a really great organization, and having met many Team members in races over the years, I can say that they are amazingly nice and always enthusiastic people.  Marcella is no exception to that rule.  She’s also excellent at changing tires. 

Anyway, we eventually solved that problem and headed on.  We turned onto the bike path, and I have to say–I LOVE the bike path.  I have no idea what it’s called, but it’s shady, traffic-free, flat, and PROTECTED FROM THE WIND.  This is a very good thing.  We didn’t follow it all the way to the end; we stopped at about 19 miles and had slushies in a little village ice cream shop, then we headed back.  Fabulous ride.

So here are my three observations for the day:

–First of all, I’m struggling not to feel WAY out of my element here.  This is an incredibly fast group; I guess I should’ve realized that only the very strongest randonneurs would be insane enough to do all the brevets in one week, but I didn’t fully process that that fact would mean THEY ALL GO REALLY FAST.  It’s freaking me out quite a bit.  I really don’t like being on my own in the dark, and I’m guessing it gets pretty darn dark out there in the heartland.  I suppose I’ll find out on Wednesday night.  I think I’ll be all right if I know I’m not dead last, but that may be iffy.  It just depends on who is riding that day.

–Second:  the roads we’re riding on, while they are (mostly) very, very quiet, they are also incredibly rough.  I’m feeling pretty banged up; this pavement makes those seams around White Lake look tame.  Even the bike path, while it was shady and calm, was bumpy enough to make my bike rattle hard every few seconds.  It’s kind of exhausting, which is not good.

–Finally, I have to keep reminding myself that the mental challenge of being away from home and alone with my anxiety was the whole point of coming here.  That’s what threw me in France in 2003, and that’s the obstacle I’m working to overcome.  It’s not easy, though; I’m having a lot more low points than usual, and am having more trouble finding my happy place.

Anyway, I’ll just keep working on the mental piece, and spend tomorrow hydrating and stretching.  We have some seminars in the afternoon, so hopefully I can get to know a few more people.  It might help me to feel a bit more connected to the group as a whole.  I don’t want Marcella to feel like I’m clinging to her, or slowing her down, but I also don’t want to spend the next 36 hours anticipating riding 1000k all by myself.

Time to stretch.  Send me happy thoughts, and calm winds!