This church is prayer conditioned

Just another great quote from one of the church marquees along our
ride today. I'm also partial to "Caution: exposure to the Son will
prevent burning." That one made me laugh for a long time on my bike
today. The signs get more and more clever.

I'm in Ponca City, OK now.

This picture is of Bennet and the sky this morning after our 4:30 AM
wakeup. It was really beautiful and a nice way to start the roughly 90
mile day. It was a pretty ride with some quiet backroads and quaint
scenery. I saw some dogs in the same pen as some goats at one point.
Even though it was 96 degrees and there were 20-30 MPH winds it was
still okay. Because you know what? There are only good days and great
days.. I have yet to have a bad one. Honestly. This day was a great
day because we took a detour and went to a water park about 10 miles
from our host. We overtook "Fun N Sun" waterpark and got a bunch of
confused looks from all the 10 year olds there. Imagine a bunch of
young adults all wearing cycling shorts spandex having the time of
their lives in a kid dominated waterpark. That was us and THAT was a
lot of fun.

Today begins our 8 day strech of riding. It will be tough and it all
builds up to Colorado Springs where we have our longest ride day of
124 miles. I'm pretty used to my bike now though (it's about time,
right?). Like I said before, cycling 70 or 80 miles is no longer a big
deal for me and I really enjoy it. I've found my groove, as have most
of the other people on this trip. I understand now why everyone who
does this trip rants and raves about how great it is.

It took a couple of weeks to work the kinks out - getting used to each
other 24/7, forming a group cohesivness, moving past the soreness,
being tired all the time, the early wakeups, the constant movement,
the bike problems etc etc and so on and so forth. But now I have come
to embrace all these things and they are just a matter of fact. I'm
used to this lifestyle and I really like it. It's sounds strange to
say after a month, but I finally feel like I'm doing the bike and
build thing. I feel part of this group, an odd team, something bigger
than me and I go to sleep every night knowing that this experience
will and IS transforming every one of us. This is it. Call me an
idealist, but I will scoff because I get the feeling that the 30 other
people with me realize this also. And that just makes the experience
so much better, don't you think? We're all here to do some good, make
a small difference, and have a GREAT time. San Diego here we come. 1
month to go...

PS I did a shout out to the moms, and here is my early fathers day
shout out to the dads. I know you're out there following as well and
supporting all of us. Keep on keeping on and being proud. It means a
lot.