2015-06-18 - IN - Day 22 - Monroeville to Denver

A bunch of us got breakfast at the Blueberry Pancake House. A folded rim tape meant that I had a leak and had to replace my tube. The delay made me the last one to start riding by far. I thought that I would be the last one to the first rest stop. Cycling alone into fifteen mile per hour headwinds, the worst of the trip so far, did not help one bit. I managed however to catch up to Ayhson, Cole, and Leo. Cole had gotten a flat earlier, but had fixed it without checking whether there was something in his tire, so he flatted again. We stopped at a driveway where three dogs barked at us without cease. Cycling together, we missed the turn for rest stop one. An extra two miles finally brought our tired selves to the rest stop.

I did not stop for long before hitting the road again. I cycled with Nils and for some time too with Alex to the grain silos of rest stop two under scorching sun and beside submerged fields. Nils and I rode together to the gas station of rest stop three where we stayed inside to avoid the worst of the rain.

Bridget, Nils, Libby, and I left the third rest stop together, but Libby fell behind so I dropped back to pull her the twenty-three miles to the end. I did not want anyone riding alone into headwind and rain.
- "Dude, you did me a solid! Thanks so much!" Libby said.
- "You owe me."
- "I do."
The church where we stayed was amazing. Loads of free food, ice cream, chips, fruit, and a kind person who vanned people to the communal showers at a nearby high school. There was slow WiFi and lots of outlets. Sleep came easy.