March 21: Rest Day in Orange Beach, Alabama

We’ve been very lucky so far with the weather.  Yesterday we had a bit of headwind, but no rain (knock on wood), no harsh wind (knock on more wood), and no hurricanes (knock on very large rafters of wood).  Today we’re resting in Orange Beach, Alabama and it’s a little rainy and quite windy.  The locals say it’s been the coldest winter on record – for example, today it’s only 57 degrees!

Today has been like a lot of rest days on the Ride Across America: eating, laundry, massage, more eating, a little dip in the hot tub, cards for some people, the evening meeting, and one final dip in the food trough before bed.

No one seems to have any photos of the day, so here are some more photos of the group from the past several days showing us consuming in the way we’ve all been training for all year.

Katrina, Bob, Stu, Polly, Mark, Charlotte, the other Mark, Andy, Bill, Jane, Carol, Kathleen, Gary, and Rachel training for lunch at the morning sag stop.

David, Claire, Jerry, Stu, Steve, and Katrina packing it in.

Later that day, after resting on our bikes for 25 miles, we stop for another round of competition eating.

Later that evening, Mark races towards the front while Patty assists Ron, a close contender, in the sub-category of eating dinner.

Ruth explains her and David’s success in eating as David and Rich settle the dinner in by guzzling some final water.

Never outdone by a submarine man (David) and his tea-drinking wife (Ruth), Bill, Stu, and Gary look secure in their knowledge of their own eating prowess.

The chef Chris looking defeated as he prefers eating good food, while Jerry and pal from his choir boy days with his wife seem happy with their performance.

Geni the cardiologist looking delighted as she’s probably been sneaking some vegetables into her meals while Steve looks aghast at the idea and the czar and czarina Lestikows happy in the knowledge that they’ve been plying their competition with wine, beer, and cookies while themselves staying athletic and healthy.

Claire and Rob strategizing over how to take the lead as Kathleen secretly spies for the other side and Alan contemplates the ramifications of having eaten too much.

Matt and Rachel looking slyly secure in their tactics while Ron, still holding second, displays his poker face (and Gary sneaks by with a final round).

Marcella, Jane, and Emily wondering why they’ve entered this particular competition.

Leslie confident she’ll crack this baby while Bob wonders if they’ve gotten in over their heads.