Day 2 (2)

So my dad brought the tent and sleeping pad and we were back out on a full days ride to ste genevieve or whatever. About halfway there we found a tiny little covenience store with deli sandies, so we pulled over and did the dew. They had a poster in the window that said "an american tradition...(Picture of eagle with red white and blue feathers on its wings)...leanin' tree". The ad gave no other clues as to what it was all about, so we said "f+ck it" and destroyed it right there in the p-lot. Just kidding. As we continued on, my fatigue became noticeable for the first time on the trip and ben's superiority bike-wise was evident. The hills quickly became more intense and frequent until we were basically just going up or down for a while. Cars were really whizzing past us at this point and I'll admit, it did get frustrating at times. It can be that way when you can see the top of the hill, or where you want to go, but can't make your body do it the way you want and it takes forever. But for up there is a down and there was pne point where we probably coasted downhill at about thirty mph for two miles or so. That was awesome and I stood up on my pedals and took my hands off the bars and just let the wind and the bugs enter my zone for a while. Not too long after that, it was more rolling hills (though I hate the term because it makes it seem like you just roll down one side and up another, and its never like that, so I'm going to call them shit hills from now on) and I started to notice a latent pain in the back of my left knee area. I chalked it up to pissy pants and just kept riding. We came to a "road closed" sign, and decided to see if we could make it across. Just as soon as we step foot on the wrong side of the sign, a man came out from (presumably) his yard and asked where we were headed. "New Orleans" we replied. He said,"oh! Well they took the bridge out three months ago and its been sittin there ever since. They'll have it done by thanksgiving though. But anyway, because the roads been closed so long, we got real good at giving folks these directions..." That was a bad story, which basically said that we had to take a slight detour, which he did not lie about having one enormous hill, which suckeduck. It wasn't untril we trudged through another tall grass field to find a suitable place to set up camp that I had the bads. A very sharp pinching pain! Shitty. In the same spot too. I had been silencing all previous pains, but this one was intense. I could barely even swing my left leg forward through the weeds and grass (is grass a weed when it is unintentional?) And I was pissed for real now. I can't stand pain like that, let alone on the second day of a superride. What a baby! So I just relaxed for a few, and the pain was easier going then. Now I am trying to ice it and stretch it a.m.a.p. Laying in the tent, on top of my comfy sleepypad, I am hoping this does the trick. *I must give a huge amount of thanks to the my dad who not only took time out from work at an important moment, but rescued me in the process. Dad, you are so completely the shit and I am so lucky to be your son. I can actually lie on my stomach now and fall asleep which I feel like doing now as I listen to cars on a distant i-55 and a babbling little stream next to our new and improved campsite.
Sent from my fingers and brain.