So today began poorly, but eventually got much better. We woke up at 5 A.M., which I thought was delightful, but then I got talked to about this blog. And then I got a flat tire. But then we got to ride 60 miles on a trail (no cars!) and it was a marvelous, marvelous experience. But I suppose it is time to make a few clarifications/apologies.
(1) I am not very good at telling stories. Partially because I zone out a bit, and partially because I usually use the wrong words for things. So here is one clarification: Lois got stitches. While the definition of facial reconstructive surgery includes, but is not limited to, stitches, I can see how some would think the term is too severe for simple stitches, so hence the clarification. Lois got stitches—no eyeballs were falling out, no ears were hanging by a string—just stitches. I apologize if I freaked anyone out with my misinformation…but it did make for a better story, didn’t it? From now on, I think I might abstain from delivering news. It’s kind of boring to talk about, and I prefer to discuss my thoughts more than my actions on this blog anyway. So cheers to random ideas that pop up while on a bike!
(2) Indiana wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t that great, but I come with a bias. Indiana’s Notre Dame waitlisted me when I was in high school, and since then I have decided to dislike anything affiliated with the school (sorry, alumni). While our routes through Indiana smelled pretty bad, and I did crack my helmet in the state, it was still a state that I biked through and I should be more appreciative of it’s width as well as it’s innards. Plus, as long as you didn’t breathe, the rides were quite enjoyable.
(3) While some construction managers aren’t the friendliest people (usually because they aren’t used to youngins like us), I think everyone on our trip recognizes that they are doing an amazing thing for people, and not being compensated very well for it. So they deserve more respect…but so do we!

So, apologies to all and I hope nobody remains offended by my libel. I will definitely continue to blog because I think this thing is pretty funny and I know that reading Nathan’s blog about his Providence to Seattle trip last year was torture because it was very dry (sorry, Nate) and I’m working on bringing you guys wit here. Also, I apologize if my vocabulary is limited (ex. “sucks”) but it’s difficult to carry a dictionary in our suitcase and 10-letter words are hard to come up with after 8 or so hours of biking. Can you believe it?