Illini 4000

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10 miles of rest. Pittsburgh, PA 6/1/2010

My rest day in Pittsburgh started off with me lying awake at 8am trying to fall back asleep.  I was so bored lying in the dark that I texted Sean Laude if he wanted help preparing breakfast.  I headed upstairs with this gourmet breakfast in mind.  I was put on hash brown duty.  My experience with has browns is extremely limited and as a result, they turned out really ugly.  At least they still tasted like potatoes.  My turkey bacon turned out a little better.I hit the town with a list of things to do.  Go to the post office, buy a new towel, get some laundry done and buy some cheap pants. Lauren was able to schedule an MRI today.  She wanted to see if her knee was in riding shape, so we planned to bike to the hospital and then to REI, a camping store.  During her MRI, I went to the post office to pick up mail, only to find out that the mail I expected was sent to the return address already.  I headed back to the hospital to meet up with Lauren after her MRI.  This plan would have worked perfectly if I hadn't lost her bike lock key.  Luckily, as my seat bag was spread out on the parking lot floor, Lauren called to tell me that she had been waiting a long time to get called.  I stopped looking for her key and headed to REI.  There, I finally got a camp towel and a food donation of cliff bars. I had some more time and headed to Goodwill to shop for cheap cheap packable pants.  In the middle of my shopping spree, I got a call from Lauren that said she was finished with her MRI.  There I broke the news that I lost her key.  Apparently there was an important key chain on it.  However, she wasn't very unhappy because she had a spare key.  Unfortunately, I was 3 miles away!  I sprinted (on my bike) back from across town, across the bridge and uphill to our stayover location.  I ran downstairs and failed at finding Lauren's key for about ten minutes.  As soon as I found it, I sprinted back to the hospital.  I raced a bus on my way to the hospital and won.  The hospital was built on a steep uphill.  Max and Lauren stared as I chugged, dripping sweat in Lauren's youth large t-shirt (mine were in the laundry) up that hill.  We unlocked her bike and headed to Jimmy John's.  We got talking to the sandwich making guy at Jimmy John's and found that he too was a cyclist.  This was my opportunity to sneak another food donation!  My PB&J will taste so good tomorrow. We went to the post office again to look for Lauren's misplaced key.  The post office was closed.  Fortunately, I found the clerk I talked to earlier and knew exactly of what we were asking for. Time for the Cubs game!  We quickly headed to the stayover to get ready for the game.  Lauren and I were in a rush not to miss the bus; so much so that I piggy backed her halfway to the stop.  she carried my wallet and phone.  The bus came and I fished for my wallet in her purse.  Not there.  Problem.I immediately retrace my steps back to the stayover.  Thought cross my head like, "Oh, this is so much worse that losing a bike lock key" and "food on Lauren next week!"  A young man was walking down the sidewalk mispronouncing my name.  He had my wallet!  Thank goodness. He told me not to carry fifty dollars in my wallet.  Little did he know that it was the only cash I had.Cubs game.  Cubs lose.  Typical.  It was really neat to be an away fan.  I cannot thank Jamie's parents for organizing that.As you see, I ran around a lot today.  I managed to put 10 miles on my bike- so much for a rest day.  Pittsburgh is a neat place but the residents that I met didn't think so.  They like Chicago better!  We told the bus driver back from the Cubs game that the buses in Chicago have karaoke.  He might have belived it by the way we were singing on the bus.90 miles tomorrow out of Pittsburgh.  Should be challenging!