30 miles to nirvana

After almost 3 days of constant rain, it's hard to remember back how we spent our final Sunday of the Winter of '08 last weekend...following S on her first long-distance (for her) bike ride.

We we're expected at her folks house 38 miles away at 5:30 p.m. for some smoked ribs and Okie caviar (bean and slaw salad...yum), so we left our place around 2 p.m.

That's about a 10.85 mph average rate of speed, which is more than reasonable for S in her current state of condition toward her struggle to make the cut for the Oklahoma FreeWheel a mere 12+ weeks away.

What we didn't anticipate was the south/westerly wind that came up that afternoon, 10-15 miles per hour -- right into our faces.

Not an issue for the girls and I in my 125 horse powered ricer as we drove ahead a couple miles then pulled over to wait for S to catch up.

But no matter how many times the girls and I cheered and yelled, "Go Mommy, go Mommy!" as we passed by her on her constant "into-the-wind" trek, the wind allowed for no coasting on her part and nagged at her pace with every pedal stroke.

Long story short, anyone who believes Oklahoma roads are flat and void of inclines of any substance then you probably still believe that you should always get involved in a land war in Asia.

Around 5:15 p.m. we stopped 8 miles short of her parent's house, packed up the bike and drove our intrepid biker the final distance. Had we not run short of time, it was still doubtful whether or not S would have had enough wind to make the final 42,240 foot sprint to the waiting plate of ribs and comfort of her Dad's recliner.

In S's own words, she was done.

Chalk one victory to Oklahoma's wind.

Round two yet to happen.