I apologize for the lack of recent blogs. I am going to try to be more prompt about this. Fortunately, my riding has still been going on. On Tuesday I made the 6 mile journey to Oakland. I didn't actually go into Oakland and that is why it was only six miles. It was a cool ride. The wind was out of the North at 14mph, thus my going north to Oakland. The ride felt good and took me an hour round trip. I didin't stop at all.

Then on Thursday, I made another trip south on 77. I went past Logan View this time and down Stecher Hill. It is a fairly large hill. I had to stop when I got to the bottome because my load had shifted and was about to fall off. I did not dismount the bike though. It was a hot trip. The wind was blowing too. Going out I rode in 2nd gear most of the time because of the wind. Down some of the hills I used 3rd gear. On the way back I was able to ride in 11th and 12the gears. The wind really pushed me. The ride felt really good. I could have ridden further if I had the time.

I need to get my rear wheel balanced. It is very out of round.

Attention, Attention. I have officially begun my training for the Uehling-Hastings bicycle trip. Over the last two days I have cleaned and oiled my bike. Today at 5:01 pm I set out, going south from Uehling on Hyway (I don't know how to spell that. That is terrible) 77. I decided to go south due to weather conditions. The wind was blowing in from the south at massive rates of speed. This wind was made of 90+ degree air so it felt like I was riding behind a jet engine. I rode six miles into that seering gale until I reached Logan View High School. I then refilled my water and headed back. It took me 45 minutes to get to Logan View and it took 20 minutes to get back. I rode there in first, second, and third gears and rode back in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. It was a short ride but it was a good start. The shoulders on that road are not that good though and there are a lot of cracks that make big bumps. The bike rolled well though and my body felt OK. It is the beginning of a long, much longer, journey. More to come later.