I am now acquiring a new skill. I can actually fold up my tent into a packet that easily fits back into the sack the tent came in. Looks just like it did when it came from the factory. This is harder than re-folding maps.

I’ve lost a skill or too also. I don’t think that I know how to flush a toilet anymore. I’ve been using a porta-potty for so long. It used to bother me as I always left the "john" with the feeling that I didn’t do everything that I was supposed to.

About three weeks into the trip, a few cases of dysentery started showing up in camp. We now have a waterless anti-bacterial soap in each of the porta-potty’s and everyone is much more religious about washing one’s hands. (check out "dysentery" in Word’s Thesaurus. Ever heard of the "collywobbles"? That’s a new one for me.)

Our strategy is starting to change. We began with the goal to conquer the challenges of the ride. We are now two-thirds of the way don, we have mad it through the rockies, we have survived wind, rain, snow, thunder showers and the heat. Our strategy is now to survive long enough to make it. We have moved from the offensive strategy to the defensive strategy. Don’t get sick, Don’t have an accident. We know we can make it, just don’t let anything happen that will keep you from reaching the end of the journey.

There was another accident today, Thursday, July 16. A guy rode to the side of the road and onto the gravel too fast. He hurt his shoulder. I don’t know how bad it was, but they called the ambulance. There have only been three significant accidents so far and none have involved motor vehicles. I’m surprised, with all the maniacs on the road, both cars and bikes, 700 riders and over 2,000 miles so far, I’d have bet there would have been something more serious. I hope our luck holds.

My duffel bag is taking a real beating. One of the zippers is broken in two places and I have a hole in the cloth. I keep thinking that since this is the first time that I’ve used the bag, it just isn’t holding up, but when I consider that I unpack and pack it daily, load it on a truck, and that baggage handlers "throw" it off the truck daily, it’s really the equivalent of 32 trips so far. In that perspective, I guess that it is holding up rather well.

I’m in Madison today, staying at the University of Wisconsin. The dining hall has a TV tuned to CNN. Watching the news, it is apparent that nothing is different than it was a month ago when I last saw the news. Something about President Clinton and Lewinsky, haven’t I heard this before, again and again, and again . . .?