Saturday me and my co-worker friend Jason participated in Joplin’s big bike tour called the Tornado Alley 110. The name was fitting, as we passed areas of substantial tornado damage along the route that traveled through several counties in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. I would compare this accomplishment to summiting South Sister, enduring many of the same caliber physical and mental hardships.

After about 20 miles my knees were already aching, and averaging a dismal 10.6mph with almost 60 miles still to go, I was wondering just how far I would make it before having to call for rescue. Then I crossed a mental barrier when I turned onto hwy 76 in McDonald county… for some reason I figured if I could make it that far I could make it home. According to my bike tripometer, I pedaled just over 78 miles in about 7hrs 30min, with a few rest stops throughout the journey. Here are some things I learned along the way:

• Most All of the people who participated were more advanced than me.
• The other people were not bikers, they were cyclists.
• The cyclists snack of choice is apples, bananas, and LOTS of peanut butter.
• Drivers in Oklahoma do not slow down OR go into the other lane when passing a cyclist, even when there is no oncoming traffic. In fact, they often speed up to demonstrate how lame you are for riding a bike.
• There is a topographical black hole between Joplin and Seneca… somehow it is uphill BOTH ways. Apparently what goes up, must keep going up in this location.
• Semi-trucks think a startling blast on the horn will suffice for slowing down or getting into the other lane.
• I expected this to be a small, local thing, but it was in fact a pretty big deal, with riders coming from many far away cities and states. Over 500 total!

So why put myself through such agony doing these kinds of things? Perhaps that is best answered with a JFK quote. “…not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept”. Of course he was referring to going to the moon, but it’s still the same principle on a small personal scale… there is little reward for doing something easy. When you do something hard, you really feel like you have accomplished something.