A @#$%^&*!!! day.

Chuck and Leah were staying at a park in North Platte Nebraska sacking out after putting in 55 miles on the road. At 2AM, the sprinklers came on and squirted through the open windows of Chucks tent. "#@$%^&*!!!!  and a fusillade of other obscenities, we can hear him shouting into the night as the sprinkler makes another pass. He managed to close the window but he's a bit damp anyway and the sprinkler's sound kept them both awake for a while, so they ended up oversleeping and didn't rise until 9AM. Drowsy eyed from fitful sleep, Leah looked at her bike and realized that she had yet another flat caused by a ^&% $%#@ thistle so it wasn't until 10:30 that they changed the tube, oiled their chains and got on the road. They stopped at a local dive for breakfast which consumed another @#$^%& hour and a half. 

10 miles down Route 30, pedaling furiously Chuck takes a $%^(*@ spill. Fortunately he walks away uninjured if not a little humiliated and covered with #$%^&**& thistles. Apparently the front fender broke loose and jammed his wheel. A few makeshift repairs with bubble gum and rubber bands and they're back in business. 25 miles down the road in a heavy head-wind they take a break at a roadside cafe. They notice that Chuck's rack has lost a bolt and needs to be reattached. More % @$%^& time wasted. In another few miles Chuck spills again *(&^%&$#@!!!!!!!  This time his handle bars were too loose and dropped. Will this #$^&%$@ day ever end?   Well it does actually, in Gothenberg Nebraska 40, miles from the starting point. Chuck pitches his tent and realizes that he's lost a X*&%())&% tent peg. He manages to replace it somehow and they head to the Rundazzle Cafe to drown their frustrations in pie. Leah surmised when we spoke tonight that they got through this $%^&$@ day by laughing throughout it all. Tomorrow they're heading on a 6% downhill 100 mile run to Karney, Nebraska with blue skys, a tail wind and two solid bikes, - in our dreams -SR