Late start today. A nice 7 am wake up and on the road by 9. Trent and I rode sweep (i.e. the last riders who make sure everybody makes it) today after a hard 116 miles the previous day. It was relaxing. We just played little games all day - king of the hill, sprints, shuffle board. Riding sweep may sound easy but it can get frustrating because you obviously can’t go your own pace and have to stop for every flat (of which there were at least 2 today). Also rest stops are a lot shorter and more hurried. I was used to staying at rest stops for anywhere between 20 and 50 minutes but today my rests were only 5 or 10 minutes long. It’s actually kind of an incentive to go fast. There’s more better and colder food at the rest stop when you get there first. Today was a short day too, compared to the first few. It was supposed to be only 64 miles but it turned into 76 because we had directions to the wrong high school. Once again Ivan scored us some donated burgers and cherry limeades from the Sonic in Gainsville. All you donors out there will be happy to know our team has spent next to nothing on food. With the one exception of the Costco run during training camp all our food this trip has been donated by hosts and local restaurants.

Tonight we’re staying at Lindsay High School on a gym floor. So far gym floors are not our favorite places to sleep but I’m sure in a few weeks I would kill for a gym floor –rather than a cold wet tent. For now I’ll just be grateful.

Oh and I am about to post some pictures.