Ride to Barstow, California
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Ride to Barstow, California
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 Leaving
the lush greenery of Victorville, the sun rises majestically in the east
over the mountains and our intrepid team of riders head across the desert.
In a show of solidarity to Joe, we got up pre-crack of dawn. It was a chilly
73 degrees with only one wispy cloud to provide shade for the day’s ride to
Barstow |
 Not enjoying the pre-crack of dawn commencement of today’s activities, Luke catches some shuteye on the road. Perhaps he is still dreaming about his missed opportunity with that softball team. |
 /Evidently it’s been a LONG time since AJ’s been on a bike, she can’t seem to find the kick-start to get the darn thing going. After Abel gently reminded her that she had to pedal to make it go, AJ was off to a great start. Unfortunately, that great start ended 10 seconds later when her left leg flew off and she found it was a tad difficult to pedal a bike with only one leg. Fortunately, she coasted to a graceful almost-stop before she flopped over into the dirt. As usual, she still managed to impress the locals that consisted of a gila monster, two lizards, and umpteen flies. |
 Luke still isn’t happy with the unsanitary conditions of the local facilities. He’s seen here praying over his bike that somewhere along the way he finds a bathroom that has seen more people than lizards and snakes |
 While Luke is ascending a very tiny, unimpressive hill, he is passed by a local homeless guy walking to the nearest sanitary facility. Luke is seen here seeing if the homeless guy has anything to eat and if he does if he is willing to share. After all, Luke exclaims, its not like the guy has to ride a bicycle all day. But unfortunately, the homeless fellow has nothing to share and Luke rides on, wondering where his next meal is coming from. |
 Luke is demonstrating how to take an air bath. Why he has been known to travel at least two weeks without resorting to the use of water. "The trick is to get your arm up high enough to allow the free flow of air through the hairs under my arm,: he says. Evidently, Colorado still has a ways to go to complete his education. Luke then is seen here getting ready to play “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” using his armpit. |
 Luke’s smiling only because he is wearing his earphones. He doesn’t hear Abel describe, in length, to AJ the inner workings of the Otto Bock C-Leg with its various features and the advantages of this leg over any other when it comes to doing the chicken dance. Notice the enraptured look on his face having discovered the mind altering effects of eating cactus flowers. We love you anyway oh great Lukas. After putting up with you for five years, we are beginning to really like you and don't care about the girls pointing their fingers at you and laughing |
 Since AJ had obvious problems riding upright today, Luke decided to show her how to ride a bike upside-down. Being the princess that she is, AJ stubbornly refused to get dirt on her tiara. Abel was overheard muttering about finding a good place to ditch a tiara on Route 66. Incidentally, Luke has discovered that putting fermenting sugar in his tires, after riding 10 or 20 miles, creates about a quart of alcohol. A suspicious revenue agent, however, put a stop to this when Lukas was found selling the untaxed liquor at his roadside lemonaide stand. "I was just raising funds for the trip," he exclaims. |
 Luke’s triumph of the day: riding so fast that he passed a vehicle. Of course the vehicle was Abel’s truck and it wasn’t actually moving. But hey, who are we to rain on Luke’s parade? AJ is seen sneaking around the back end of the truck, just missing her opportunity to throw a leg into Luke’s spokes |
 AJ seems to be having an extremely slight alignment problem. She blames it all on Abel who claimed that he was a pro at realigning various prosthetic equipment. She was heard muttering that Abel was obviously being jealous of royalty. He doesn’t like her tiara nor does he respect “the king.” |
 In the distance, Luke hears a train and wonders if he can pedal fast enough to hitch a ride in order to avoid the LONG, TORTUROUS hills that our resident whip-cracker, Abel, is forcing him to ride. Abel, sensing Luke’s desire to escape, tells AJ that Luke has stolen her pink hat….. |
 ….to which AJ cantankerously scowls and says, “Georgia Peaches can get really rotten after they’ve been out in the desert for a while.” Now who wouldn’t want to wake up to a sweet peach like AJ for the rest of their life? |
 Luke is shown demonstrating his ballroom dancing skills with his dance partner, a buried fiber optic cable sign. He complained that it was a little stiff. Boy, he really needs to get out more. |
 Abel and Luke, or resident twins, are together when the whole pink hat-stealing incident was concluded. Luke is now missing three fingers and is having trouble fitting his tongue back into his mouth. Abel giggles with glee as he recalls AJ saying that anyone messing with her hat would end up drawing back a nub. His master-plan of the day worked just as he imagined it would |
 Here Abel completes his on the job training as a blacksmith. Abel is either giving a
head-butt or being a butt-head. We haven’t figured it out yet |
 Abel takes a break from his duties as the chief truck driver to show off how much better his caution sign looks than Joe’s. He particularly wants to point out how he tastefully designed the banner and how his creation is so clear, concise, and easy to read. Also, he wants everyone to notice that he especially likes the letter N. He learned how to make that letter by watching Sesame Street and wanted to show off his skills. Yet, after twenty some odd years in the United States Navy, Abel is still puzzled that the sign is not spelled "CAUSHUN" |
 After missing breakfast, Abel decides to snack on a tasty pair of bungee cords. Luke, being the endless-pit of a stomach boy that he is, tries to grab one from Abel but Abel threatens to put the smack down. |
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