We were in Washington DC in time for the Mother's Day Million Mom March. The March's aim was to promote gun safety legislation to save kids. An estimated 500,000 marched and listen to speeches and entertainment hosted by Rosie O'Donnell. Celebrity speakers included the President and First Lady, Emmylou Harris, and Courtney Love.
I noticed a crowd along the street on the north side of the Mall and saw the First Lady Hilary Clinton working the crowd. I moved 20 yards down the road to the end of a Ryder truck. As the First Lady approached, the police moved everyone standing beyond the Ryder truck back to the sidewalk. Thus, I was the last one to shake hands and speak to the wife of the President of the United States.
The day after my painful physical therapy, I rode 35 miles around DC. I rode the next two days of Odyssey. After the second day I was tired like I was back in Baja - eat dinner, go to bed 7pm. The next day was cold. My shoulder hurt from the start. After only 12 miles I had to give up and give my weak cold shoulder a rest. I sagged the rest of the way out of Amish country and all of the next day to Cheesequake State Park in Joysey (NJ).
I'm doing my 15 minute torture exercises almost as often as I should. Yesterday, I rode into the Big Apple via the Staten Island Ferry. I could feel the bad pavement in my shoulder. The range of motion is ok, but it's sooo weak. In addition, the x-rays in DC showed my thumb (from Athens) to be permanently dislocated (it's too late to do anything now) plus there's some ligament damage and a little arthritis. It would heal nicely if I could refrain from using it but that's not possible. It had gotten better in Italy. I don't know what made it worse. My shoulder will recover with some work. My thumb needs rest. My body has atrophied in seven weeks of inactivity. But, I should be back in the same physical condition I was when I rode into Pompeii by say, Berlin, in early August. In the meantime, I'm off to see the Brooklyn Bridge.
Tim Kneeland will be putting future mail stops on the TK&A website, www.odyssey2000.com. Please allow plenty of time for snail mail to get to foreign addresses.
Some of the riders are planning to wear their Rose Parade jerseys and be in the window behind the Today show Wednesday. I won't be up that early.
Happy Trails,
Bruce