sponsorships

                 

Please consider a donation to conservationist organizations

Part of Tracy's goal with this race is to bring awareness and support for the following conservationist organizations. In support of Tracy and this cause please consider a donation to these organizations. You will find a "Moots miles" donation button on their web sites:

Rivers Unlimited
Little Miami State Park

Friday, July 27, 2012

It looks pretty and.....

It messes with your mind. Jim and I laugh at each other for what we have been hoarding and for how long. Jim for instance (once he quit his power bar craze ) carried 6 subway chocolate chip cookies for nearly 300 miles. I myself have carried those little cherry pies until I could no longer read the wrapper for all the goo leaking into and out of the paper. How on earth and why does this happen? Well it's complicated but this is sort of how it goes. We roll into a "town" and seek out the cafe or bar for something to eat. While we wait for our food we discuss what we need to buy for the next miles or days...." we need two breakfast one lunch one dinner and snacks". While waiting for our food we fantasize about what we're going to buy. Once we have eaten we are in a hurry... We have spent to much time eating so we run through the little gas station grabbing whatever we can find but did NOT fantasize about. Then the fear sets in ... What if we don't make the mileage? What if the store, 79 miles down the road, is closed? What if we have a mechanical? So more food goes in the pile on the counter. Then in a hurry the food is shoved in any nook and cranny it will go into and we are off. Later it is raining so we grab whatever is on top ... And we just ate our breakfast for a snack. Chit. Later, when we are trying to get the last ten or twenty miles in, we grab something quick and... Well we just ate our lunch for a snack. Then when we get into camp we are to tired to dig through carefully so we shove things around; maiming the muffins, cookies and cherry pies while looking for the tuna. We find the tuna and don't eat our cookies cause we can't find them in the mess and collapse into bed. In the morning we eat peanut M&M 's and a snickers for breakfast and roll on. The next day we indeed get to the store as we thought we would. It is open so we eat store stuff.... buy fresher more appetizing things and shove them in any nook or cranny on top of what we already have. And of course we are in a hurry again because it has taken awhile to down a quart of chocolate milk, a ham sandwich and ice cream. Three hundred miles later when a store or cafe is closed when we get there; we find the food we have been hoarding and sit on the cafe's porch dejected and deflated eating the 6 cookies or he mashed cherry pie . Water is a mind messer too. How much water should we take? What if the church no longer lets us get water from the hose , or the cattle tank is dry? Or the creek is dry? So we fill up with water but when we lift our camelbacks we reevaluate and pour some out... certainly the church still does that ....then we think ... But what if the pastor changed? ... So we pour some water back in... Then we remember our saddle sores and reevaluate. And pour half of what we put in ... out. Then we get to the church with a bladder half full of water. The hose is indeed available so we pour out what we have onto a nearby plant and start the whole process again. "How much water you taking?" "Yeah but what if that spring is dry?"

6 comments:

  1. Just beautiful, and yep... that's just about how I imagined it all along! ;-) You're something else womyn. ;-) Great story, once again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Don't know you but know we all have our races to win and our mountains to climb --thanks for being this mornings inspiration

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL - I can imagine times when everthing that's leftover gets mashed together into some kind of unholy "casserole..." Mmmm!! You must be so ready for real food - LOTS of real food! Soon, TB, very soon!
    Love, -cindylist

    ReplyDelete
  4. So Tracy, do they call you guys "cycletrash" instead of "hikertrash", because you sure are acting like it! Ha!
    Very proud of you - and Jim, too!!
    Love ya, B Wex

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great post, Tracy! The visual image of you and those mushed up cherry pies...my, oh my!! Enjoy your ride to the finish!!! WooHoo!! Pam

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tracy, I've been out of town so I'm just now seeing that you have made it!!!! Congratulations to you and fellow rider "Jim". Hope you are as proud of yourself as we all are of you. What an amazing journey. Hope to make Aug. 12th.
    Kathy B.

    ReplyDelete