We rode the whole way from St. Louis to Memphis together in a group of six, with one person falling about six times I think, one time for each of us it seems. scraping her elbow and arm on one of those falls, through the rain next to semis splattering polluted gritty spray in our faces and to the national civil rights museum on Monday by 3:00 to get in without paying, because only on Mondays between 3-5 p.m. do they offer it up for free. The museum was interesting, but left out some of the more radical/militant aspects of civil rights organizing efforts and was located in a very gentrified area of Memphis.

It was awesome to talk and play for college students in classrooms in Cape Girardeau.

Death is a big theme for us on this tour, both because of the nature of what we are doing, and because of the time of year it is and the cycles of nature--- autumn being the time many cultures dive deep into the collective mind to ponder worlds beyond this life. I envisioned a piece of road kill and it almost immediately appeared on the side of highway 51 where we were seeing dead foxes, cats, dogs, snakes, armadillos and probably other creatures I cannot recall right now. One of the members of our group has a washboard that she plays during performances and I envisioned an armadillo's back, something hard and ridged like that, so I could play along and whoom!! there it was, all meaty and a little smelly. It was the first time ever that I have picked up road-kill on a trip like this. Does anyone out there know how to prepare it so the meat part comes off and I am left just with the shell?

Group dynamics have been fun, interesting and sometimes tiring and frustrating as we continue to push the pedal to the people together in our group. I am gaining many insights about how people work and function, how the unconscious mind works and how collective consciousness works, group norms, the politics of exclusion/inclusion, gender, race and that sort of thing. I am soaking it in, like the wet earth soaked in the rain the other day when we made our final pedal into Memphis. Knowing when to talk, when to hold back, when to give a hug, when to ask for a hug...we are doing an amazing job managing ourselves in the context of riding 40-50 miles a day and taking care of all our needs, like camping, food, booking shows, etc. I feel really optimistic about the possibilities of more bike trips in the future with groups of unique, yet affinitized groups of folks. Becoming a collective is enjoyable and not just an idealized notion. It is something that we can really do for each other.

Would love to hear from you as I stop every five to six days and check my email. Thank you to those who have sent me messages. It is great to know you are thinking about me and our group.

love, thistle