5/6 and 5/7

5/6 – To tiny little Milan, TN

I did support with Team Tango today out of Memphis. I did a good morning workout which was basically some stationary bike and then a lot of shoulder rehab. It was very encouraging to lift 10lb weights with the injured shoulder.

Pete and I left out and immediately went to the Commissary, another of so many great BBQ places in the Memphis. I had a great pulled pork sandwich that would have been perfect save for the sauce being poorly distributed (only on half the sandwich). The pork was awesome. The place had many impressive celebrity-signed pictures. Brett Favre, Randy Johnson, Phil Mickelson and others. Tebo was there just the day before us.

I drove off with Pete and we did sweep duties. It was fine chilling with Pete, who is sort of an interesting guy. I liken him to Dr. Stanley in both looks and personality. I rode the second half of the day with Jen, who is super cool.

In the little town of Milan, we had a night at a Baptist church's rec center. I played some really fun card game with Roshan and Jen. It was called "Bullshit." A guy representing the church came by with his wife. They brought us Domino's pizza, enough for each of us to have three slices. It was pretty good. I think I actually had a dream about it a night or two later.

A lot of my dreams have been extremely matter of fact and super easy to interpret. There is no mistaking them. I will dream of waking up and going to the bathroom or see someone eating cereal, just random stuff from the ride.

A little dog became our team’s mascot for the night. He was little scruffy street dog, one of many loose dogs in this part of Tennessee. He hung around our church door for much of the night and befriended many of us who were glad to have a pet for the first time in weeks. He got a lot of attention (and followed us on our bikes for a while the next day).

5/7 – Back on Bike (31 miles) – Strawberry Festival – To Hohenwald, TN

I rode out 10 miles to the Strawberry Festival. We decorated our bikes and the van in preparation for the parade we were to be a part of. As we were preparing, these little bees were all around us and one stung me; little buggers.

The parade was neat with all sorts of odd vehicles and a bunch of beauty queens. They were Miss some high school or Miss some county. We rode through and Roshan totally stole the show with dance moves. He had the king's cape on alongside Maggie. He danced and used the bike as a prop, winning over the crowd several times, bringing laughter and cheers.

I had a huge corndog (1/4lb) after the parade and then rode off on an unsupported ride with Hepker, the new guy Josh, and Heidi. I couldn't keep up after mile 10 or so and they dropped me. Hepker was pissed that I came out on this unsupported ride and Heidi brought up my lack of a phone. It got me in a bad mood for several hours and really motivated me to get back on the bike. I hope to get back in the same kind of shape I was before I crashed.

The night in Hohenwald was good for a few reasons. There was an awesome internet cafe with great food and prices. I had a bangin' smoothy (mango) and some other stuff (a fruit bar). R4 cooked a great dinner, maybe the best of the ride (chicken, noodles, southwest salad - all tasty). I finished my paper, which my school requires to give me credit for this elective (yay, I can graduate!).