Another hilly day was in the cards for our riders today. They left St. Josephs, MO at 7:10 am under clear skies with a crisp temperature and some wind. The wind was pretty neutral today (I bet they were all thankful for that !). Very hilly country. They rode 30 miles to Maysville, and the first arrivals waited outside of town for the entire group to meet up. They were all wearing their team shirts and rode into town in formation. Each year the ladies of the Historical Society provide pastries and food for the cyclists. Some kids were allowed to leave classes and come down the hill to have journals signed. They were in Maysville until approx. 10 am, and definitely enjoyed the time spent there.The route today consisted of 86 miles of unrelenting hills.....a good workout, I hear. Gil said he "did well.".The weather was beautiful and Missouri is very pretty...reminds him some of Virginia.
They saw some buffalo and Gil made some noises and three came to the side of the road, giving him an opportunity for some good video shots. Gil's nickname of "Chief Gil" (due to the feathers he has glued to his helmet) changed today.....going downhill quickly, I'm sad to say. The story goes that he "obtained" a raccoon tail, thinking it would look cool trailing behind him if attached to his helmet. The tail was put in a Ziplock bag (fortunately, since it was also maggot-infested). He tried to clean it up at the hotel, but it fell apart under the hose. (Thank you, God.) For the moment his nickname is "Roadkill Gil". I truly hope that doesn't last too long, it doesn't bring a very nice picture to mind, does it?In Chillicothe, Gil's friend Dale Arbour joined the group for the next 4 days of the tour. Dale's wife drove him there over some of the route they will be riding tomorrow, and I hear there were some comments like "Oh no, this hill is gonna kill me" and "what was I thinking?" Apparently someone on a previous ride counted the hills they'll encounter tomorrow.....148 hills. Hope they have fun and I'm REALLY glad I'm not there.
Some of the riders met this evening to watch the last 3 days' taping on the video.
2 comments:
Thank you God, indeed.
For those that may actually be surprised that Gil would be interested in animal carcass, there's also the skin/wings of a dead bird on a lamp on his dresser. Beak included.
Pictures please? Before Gil grows his hair back :-)
Missing Gil's cliff notes a lot :-(
Adeel
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