Today was a killer. We bicycled 86 miles of up and down, up and down, in about 85-degree temperatures with humidity. But everything seems to be working well; my legs don’t hurt, my arms and neck are feeling good, my butt is sore, but I will use a little more Butt-Butter tomorrow, and I should be fine there. My bicycle is working great as well. A lot of churches have ministries providing a place for people biking the TransAmerica to stay, but tonight we are in Chester, Illinois, staying at a bicycle Hostel provided by the Eagles, and they call it the “Bike Shack.” It is on a first-come, first-serve basis, and we were first! The sleeping arrangement is in a little hut with three sets of triple bunks. It has air conditioning, and a short walk from the bunk hut is the bathroom and shower. It was great for us to get it because as soon as we got here it started pouring rain, and if we had been camping we would have gotten soaked. Right next door is a restaurant and I am sitting in it using their WiFi to write this blog, and to send and and receive some e-mail. They have big screen TV’s on the wall and I am going to watch the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns of the NBA play their seventh and deciding game of the playoffs. I will probably get to sleepy to finish it.

At some point in the trip I expect that I am going to get in shape so that I am not so totally exhausted when we get to camp. As it is, as soon as I try to read, memorize, write, pray, I fall asleep. I can be sitting in a chair, at a table, it doesn’t matter, out I go.