Skip has had so much fun biking here, the mountains were a great challenge, and the scenery was amazing, but the beauty of the rolling hills and constant challenge of making that big 11% climb, only to find another right around the bend, gives him a new sense of satisfation at the end of the day. So when plans were made the night before, no one really knew what the challenge would be. Arch and I caught up with Skip in Summersville. I decided to hop on the spare bike and join Skip, knowing it would be quite the ride, but liking the idea of finding out how strong I really was! 20 miles, and three or four of the biggest hills I had ever climbed, we arrived in Eminence, MO. Wow, and Skip had been doing this all day! I have to admit, it was a great feeling getting to the top, realizing you mad it,and then having the reward of being able to sometime reach 40 miles an hour on a bike, on the way back down the other side.
After a stop at the local grocery store to refuel and rehydrate, we pressed on... Arch had come back with the car to check on us after he had scouted out our original destination. He came bearing some bad news. The one hotel in town didn't take dogs! We were only about 4 miles outside of Eminence, and had about 20 more to go, into a town where L-E would be sleeping in the car. It was getting late, by Skip's calculation, if he continued on his own, he still wouldn't make it in till about 7PM, and his knee was acting up on him, which might slow him down even more. We decided to make the 4 mile journey back to Eminence where L-E was welcome and we would be able to have a good meal before the restaurants closed.
I think we were all thankful for the change of plans. It was awesome to able to bike down a couple of the hills I had biked up, and find myself amazed that I had actually done that! I have always had an unmeasurable amount of respect for what Skip is doing, and it grows everyday.
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