28 June 2012

Sterling to Larned KS 54 miles (TransAm 1,905)

We run a G-rated website (okay, maybe PG, as sometimes a few choice words slip into the prose) so I am not convinced that talking about four grown women showering together is suitable material for the blog. Some of you out there, and I most definitely do not want to know who, might be thinking “Right On! Show me the pictures, Sister!” So to you I present this photo:

It’s grainy because, again, this is a G-rated website so we can’t be showing too many details. And yes, I realize there are only two women in the photo but someone had to take the picture and I am guessing that the other remaining someone was sitting in a nearby stall, trying to figure out how she could possibly shower without actually showering. Here. With everyone else. At the same time.

These are the moments in your life that send you reeling back to Physical Education class in Junior High, that terrifically awkward stage in life when, completely mystified and horrified by your own body, you had to then put this alien being on display for all of your girlfriends to see. Unless, that is, you were one of the lucky ones who had earlier announced during gym check-in that you were a “P” for the day (P = on your Period), meaning you were “shower exempt.” Yes, this was infinitely less embarrassing telling this little secret to your gym teacher’s face than stripping down in front of your 13-yr-old peers. Right.

But Gina, being filthy from a long, hot ride and not being a teenager in gym class with a P next to her name on the locker room clipboard, had no escape. Group shower or no shower. To quote from Wendy, who captured the event as perfectly as she’s been capturing the scenery of their ride, the group shower “almost sent Gina into a tailspin … but we all survived.” Ah, to be 13 again.

As for what happened earlier in the day, while Gina was unwittingly pedaling toward a trip down middle school memory lane, there was plenty more sunshine, heat and headwinds, and not a single service – outside of the ACA van – to be found. PG Note: This Kansas is proving to be one tough mother of a state to cross.