Pit Stops

I'm writing from an elementary computer room in the Boys and Girls Club of Norcross, GA, which is in the northern metro region of Atlanta. 

The ride was 54 miles long out of Athens. It began with drizzling and wearing my rain jacket. I've been breaking down my rides like this:

• First 10 miles: warm up and then stop to stretch
• Mile 15-20: morning snack
• Half way point: lunch, stretch, more sunblock
• 75% through: afternoon snack
• Last 5 miles: cool down pace

I took advantage of today's fairly shorter ride to get some errands done. I had to stop at three different gas stations before I could find sunblock. I ran out of sunblock yesterday, and thought I could get away without sunblock during yesterday's overcast weather. However, my arms are actually pretty burnt, and I even got a tan line on my face from my helmet strap.

I stopped at a hair dresser for a haircut. Some guy was waiting in line and talking about how he has been cutting his own hair for years, and has finally decided to splurge on a $12 professional haircut. He then asked me about what I was up to, and when I told him about Bike & Build, he gave me $20. Many of us riders have noticed that someone's economic status did not deter them from donation to affordable housing, which has taught us gratitude.

I also had to stop to look for postcards. Every town center I ride through, I look for postcards in antique store and thrift and gift shops. However, since we're going through so many towns that aren't notable for their tourism, the hunt for postcards is not very easy.

Lastly, I stopped at a bike shop for more spare tubes. I was laughed at when I told my teammates that I only brought one spare pair of tubes for a 4,000+ mile ride.

So, there's lots of stopping, but I'm trying to plan carefully. The next three days are 80 milers, so I won't have as much time for pit stops as during this 54 mile day.