54 down, 400 miles to go

The first day of BRAN is over and there were enough memorable moments to fill a small notebook or at least a few pages, but we'll just hit the highlights.

I should note that the 800-plus miles of training that Candy Crosby and I put in seemed to have paid off. I'm completely exhausted, but not sore.

During those 800 miles, neither of us ever had a flat tire or any other major bike malfunction. I was just 20 miles into the first day of riding and found myself with a nail through my back tire. But with great mechanical support provided by BRAN, I didn't have to change the tire myself. As a bonus, I got to ride across the Wal-Mart parking lot in the back of moving van as they transported me to the bike repair trailer.

Our next stop was at Fuller's Restaurant to see if my in-laws were eating brunch, who can in turn notify my husband that our home phone had been off the hook for the past two hours. (Since he was our ride home from Cambridge on the first day, it had turned into a necessity.)

While I was not able to locate them, two McCookites were getting their nicote fix outside the front door. When they asked where I was from since I just hopped of my bike, I noted that was in fact from McCook. At this point, I was informed that I was too pretty to be from McCook. Since I hadn't showered yet that day, applied an ounce of make-up and had been peddling through mist for 10 miles, I questioned their sincerity and bid adieu as I peddled away.

Today seemed like an easy ride since we were operating in our comfort zone...we had ridden these same roads for the past three months. We knew the hills, the straight-aways, the rumble bars. There was only one thing missing: the road-kill. I wondered if they cleaned up all the flattened possums, puffy raccoons and scattered deer just for us or if the vultures had been busy.

Aside from riding into the wind most of the morning and a slight mist off-and-on, the first day was very promising. Especially since we decided to sleep in our own beds the first two nights. Of course, I have a feeling my tune will change somewhere over the next couple hundred of miles and five nights in a camper. But we'll keep on peddling.