Day 14 – Finally some Agriculture

Today was a beautiful day of riding. It all started out great.  I told you about having to shop at a convenience store and the only cereal they had was Cocoa Krispies and Sugar Puffs, two of my favorite cereals. Also, most of the riders don’t like those sugary cereals, so I got to eat as much as wanted.   The weather did turn out a little hot and humid.  We usually have some wind that will keep us dry through the day, but today the wind was small and at our back and as we would climb hills, it would seem that there was no wind at all.  The sweat that your body generates to cool it down doesn’t go anywhere in this humid climate, so it just runs down your face and arms.  Finally when you get over the hill and start heading down the other side, you get the cool down as the wind hits you.

We finally started seeing some agriculture today.  It was so nice to see fields of corn, beans, hay and tobacco. We stopped and took a look at a tobacco barn that had recently been harvested and the tobacco hung to dry.  Chris had mentioned these from his mission in Kentucky.  We also rode by some beautiful lakes. We rode about 55 miles today.  It was a hilly day, but the hills had less grade to them which was welcome.

I have pretty much carried the pots and pans and lids from the day we started.  I was thinking today that when I was in Korea on my mission, my Korean name was So Tu Kang.  They tried to give you a name that mimicked your last name, but still sounded Korean.  When I got to Korea my pronunciation was terrible and when I said my name, people would just break out laughing.  That did a lot for my self-confidence.  What I was actually saying was, “My name is rice pot lid”.  After doing that way too often, my nickname there became Rice Pot Lid.  Carrying the lids just reminded me of that.

We have kind of developed these little riding groups.  It has been good for me because in my riding group is Nancy and Tim Love from Tacoma, Washington.  We ride pretty much the same speed, but what is really good is that Nancy is great at knowing which way to go.  That has never been a strong point for me.  Just ask Carey.  Carey is always trying to help me out.  Anyway, I have spent a lot less time being lost since we have riding together. They are a really nice couple.  He buys for REI so he has some great ideas for some cool camping gear.

We are in Pleasant Valley, Connecticut tonight and staying in the American Legion State Park. We will be riding into New York tomorrow.  We have to ride 74 miles tomorrow, which much of it is going to be some difficult riding.  I am a little nervous about that distance.   The internet is too slow here too upload any pictures.  i do have some good ones, so I will upload when things are better.  Hope you are all well.