Donald Miller and the Ride:Well Team Bike America

Arriving in Texas was probably the most celebratory moment of the tour, so far. Arizona had us clinging to cactus for shade and water, and though the state was certainly beautiful, the days were long and hot. New Mexico showed us beauty, but our bodies were still adjusting. But it was Texas, the smell of crude oil and the sudden flatness of landscape that charged our spirits. A breakaway happened before the border that had the tandem (Jesse and Brianne) Greg, Joane, Jessica Abt and myself racing toward the border. A person at a gas station told us the border was only five miles away, so about four away I broke out and challenged Greg Bargo toward what I thought was the state line (A rest-area sign in the distance).

You should know that Bargo has climbed Mt. Mckinley then rode his bike from Alaska to Mexico so it was a stupid thing to challenge him but I figured I could kick him over when nobody was looking. But people kept looking. Anyway, he pulled ahead but then both of us realized it was not the border, so we slowed and the rest of the front pack caught us. Then we raced for eleven more grueling miles, Jessica, Joanne and Bargo pulling out front a few times, and Jesse and Brianne kindly getting me back into the race by allowing me to draft them back up to the front pack. But in the end, Bargo and Jessica took off and there was no catching them. And Bargo finally broke away and crossed the border first. It was good. He is a Texan. It needed to be a Texan.

We turned up the stereo at the border and took turns taking pictures in front of the sign. We sang country songs and called our parents and friends. We were in Texas. In this state we will cross our halfway point. We will have our first community ride. We will eat more barbecue than a person is supposed to. We will be treated with Southern hospitality everywhere we go. And we will climb no mountains. Thank God.

We are having a great time out here. Our bodies are feeling better. We are gelling as a team. Today we discovered a little town called Albany that is having a festival, so we are shuttling back to attend a musical and be entertained with the over 1500 other people who will show up at Fandangle. We loved the town as we passed through, and all of us are excited about going back.

Good night America. We are in your belly now. We are crawling cross your hills and we are seeing every bug, every dried up river bed, every closed shop, every crude pump and windmill, every cow bathing in every pond. Every staring cow, wondering what kind of cows we are, and how we could run so fast, and what we are running from.