Team 242: Day Two

Day Two: Silver Bay, Minnesota to Solon Springs, Wisconsin.  98.98 miles.

The entire group met up a few miles north of Duluth so we would be able to ride through the city together.  Even though it's been 10 years since I've ridden my bicycle through Duluth, Slovic trusted I would be able to remember the correct turns and get everybody through safely.  At the rest stop, Slovic had his computer and thanks to the wonders of MyFi, I'd have the opportunity to refresh my memory with Google Maps.  However, the MyFi wasn't working and I'd have to navigate based on memory.

After ~13 miles with a few rights, a few lefts, and just a couple of zigs with some zags, we were at the entrance to the pedestrian path that would allow us to cross the Richard Bong Bridge.  Good-bye Duluth and Minnesota.  Hello Wisconsin.

And once in Superior, Wisconsin, I was also in charge of leading the group to a park where 10 years earlier we stopped for lunch.  The park was important, it had a spaceship we climbed.  We made it, but the spaceship was gone.  I miss the spaceship.

The group thanked me and a few asked how I was able to remember all of that.  I didn't have an explanation other than pointing to my head and saying, "I don't know.  It's just in here."

Becky had a better explanation.  My mind holds onto a lot of things.  I do not easily let things leave my mind.  This has created some emotional difficulties.  As a young kid, I was playing along the curb with a blue whale toy after a rain.  The whale slipped through my fingers and down the gutter.  I was devastated.  I still feel that devastation every time I lose something.  CDs in the Chicago Amtrak Station.  My car keys.  From just a few hours ago, my bicycle shoes and jersey.  One of my Pollyanna dice.

And those are just inanimate objects.  Switch over to human beings and the devastation is amplified.  So when my best friend disappears or dies, it's worse.  Immeasurably worse.

But Becky was nice to point out that with the negatives there are positives.  This same mind of mine hung onto a map from 10 years ago and I was able to help navigate the team through Duluth and Superior.  I'm ok.

Other thoughts without connections:

On a bicycle tour in Oregon, logging trucks did not follow the Share The Road adage.  Today in Minnesota, a logging truck buzzed past by only a few feet while blaring his horn the entire way.  He had a clear line of sight on the road and no cars were coming from the other direction.  If this keeps happening, I may need to rethink saying nice things about logging truck drivers.

I finally feel confident (fifty-fifty) in figuring out the answer to: Is it a crow or a raven?

The two horses I encountered today really appeared that they wanted to say hello, but the electric fence didn't help any of us.

Matty J doesn't know the Carl Hubbard "Hey.  Yo." call and response when passing people.  I'll have to teach him.

Tomorrow we're scheduled for 137 miles.  I should be sleeping.

Today's Track 11 from shuffling my iPod: Liz Phair - Canary.  Send it up on fire.

Today was a warmer day.  (But remind me of what I thought was warm in just a few days.  We'll laugh.)