Tired

I'm tired. Really tired. We've done two century or near century days in a row. Dogs were out today providing us with the opportunity to have several intervals of sprinting. My dad's theory on dogs is that they are sprinters and then tire out. So if we just pedal really fast, they will eventually give up. This has worked so far. The reason we don't use pepper spray is that my dad is convinced that if we hurt someone's dog, the owner will hunt us down and shoot us. So we pedal. fast. Today we also employed a yelling technique. When my dad yells, dogs cower. We stay safe.

Creative writing cannot flow in this fatigued state. But a quick brush stroke of our day. Rise early. Leave the Sunset Lodge, by far the sketchiest motel yet. Ride hard to get to Shiloh... two wrong turns allow the rain to catch us before we caught shelter. Drenched, we eat sandwiches from a gas station and then take in Shiloh.

Shiloh to Crump. Food. Friendly motorcyclists who offer us a place to stay... but driven on by impending bad weather tomorrow and a desire to spend a rest day with my aunt and uncle in Carbondale... we ride on. Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine is our new audiobook. It is absolutley fascinating. We are thoroughly distracted for the next four grueling hours. We are officially the nerdiest bikers ever. Comfy beds with quilts and a pizza buffet. aaaahhhh. SLEEP.