Travel to Parkersburg, WV
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Travel to Parkersburg, WV
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Today's traveling circus heads to Parkersburg, WV on Highway 50. This is Jim Delong's first day riding with us and Joe promises to take it easy on Jim. There was only one small problem. It was hot. It was humid. And the uphills seemed to far outnumber the downhills.
Trisha V, now a veteran cyclist, encourages Joe by telling him it's all downhill from this point on. Our support truck, looking to save fuel, drafts up the hill behind Bill and Jim. Jim impresses us all as he cranks out the miles only weeks out of rehab himself.
The fearsome foursome continues along, while Joe tries his luck at singing to pass the time away. Jim has the last laugh as he is able to turn off his hearing aide to block out the disturbance. Also as a direct result, Bill lags further behind and Trisha lunges way ahead in order to keep their ears pure.
Joe catches Trisha on the downhill and continues to serenade her with a twisted version of "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves". He swears there's a verse in there that includes Bill's name in it.
Trish D takes 30 seconds of video with the lens cap on before she realizes her error and has to settle for a snapshot of Bill blowing kisses to all his buddies back at El Paso. Jim tells Bill to keep his nasty kisses to himself and smiles the whole way.
The gang stops for a few minutes to liquidate and hydrate themselves by drinking and wearing lots of good old H2O before heading back out again. The sky is clouding up and they are anticipating a nice rain to cool themselves down. Unfortunately, it just got muggier and muggier and the only water we felt was residue from Joe's mouth as he continued to sing.
One hill later and we drop a rider. The trio of Limpy, Wimpy and Gimpy continue. Joe, one day removed from running Bill into the bushes while being taped by the local television crew, takes this opportunity to run Bill onto the rumble strips. Bill mumbles something about Joe getting all up in his Koolaid again. Jim is as steady as the day is long.
Back in the truck, Joe begins doing the jello neck head bobbing trick again and he's ordered back out on the bike in order to stay awake. In this photo, Jim admires Bill's ingenuity and resourcefulness. Knowing that Joe's bike tends to go faster downhill due to the weight overhang towards the front of the bike, Bill grabs hold of Joe and coasts downhill effortlessly.
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