stage 1 of this morning's tour de MAMA (Milan-Anson Road-Mayfield-Argonia) started off on the "cobbles" of pine street. my body was jolted multiple times on the cracked and rutted chip-n-seal surface making the first 0.30 miles a pain in the seat.

turning east onto u.s. 160, i accelerated up to speed and rolled past argonia's city limits headed for the finish line at the railroad tracks in milan. (it's pronounced my-lun in these parts.) i cruised up and over bruce hill at near 20mph. i sliced through the corner and crushed the run into the finish. my average for the stage was 18.39mph.

stage 2 of the tour de MAMA left milan headed north. because law enforcement failed to stop traffic and an oncoming vehicle forgot to turn on its turn signal, i was forced to slow at the intersection of milan road and u.s. 160. irritated at the hold up, i hammered the pedals as i turned east once more. the wind was from the south southeast, giving me just a bit of resistance, but i plowed through it.

at the bottom of nine-mile hill, i stood and danced up the hill that durning yesterday's scouting ride i had crept up. my speed today was nearly 8mph higher than it was yesterday.

as i approached chicaskia road, the deep orange orb of the sun rose above the tree lined horizon. it was beautiful. the whole sky glowed with warmth. i smiled and pressed on.

from chickaskia road on, the stage was mostly an uphill slog. i engaged my will and powered over the rises that came one after the other. i ended the stage with a combined average over the first two stages of 18.9mph. my average for stage 2...19.5mph!

stage 3 of the tour de MAMA was a short, but painful 1.59-mile time trail. i could practically see the finish line from the start.

this stage began and ended with climbs. the first rose to a mesa then dropped down to mayfield road. at mayfiled road, i dove through the turn south and met the wind head on just as the second climb began. it was awful. my speed dropped down to under 17mph against the combined resistance. my average for this stage a paltry 18.23mph.

stage 4, the final stage, was by far my best stage. it began with a steep downhill past mayfield's waste water lagoon. the wind was at my back, so i flew past the stinky cesspool and sped out onto u.s. 160 headed west.

i rode hard, wanting to raise my combined average speed. i pushed up every hill. at chicaskia road i realized i had a good chance of reaching the finish line before 7:30. it would take some effort, but it could be done. so i rode all the harder. i danced up black dog hill. i rode up mock hill at 20mph. i rocketed over the last two miles and bombed across the "cobbles" to the finish. my average for this final stage was an incredible (for me) 20.49mph!

my overall time was a respectable 1:27'56". my average 19.6mph!