July 2, 2019
By: Erin Leydon
Wake up just a bit earlier than usual. It'll be a bit annoying, but theoretically, it'll pay off in the end because at least the first 30 miles won't be in the heat of the day. Get dressed, eat breakfast, put on sunscreen, and fill up your water bottles. Go outside so that you're ready to start biking. Realize that you have a flat tire as well as issues with your brake, and spend a good bit of time on bike maintenance.
Actually leave the house and start biking. And then keep biking. Soon, you'll be on a nice gravel trail, which will slow you down a little bit, but at least won't have cars. You'll bike 65 miles before lunch, which is 23 miles more than you biked the entire first day. You'll be tired, but you'll make it. Stop about fifteen miles out to fix a flat tire, waiting for Caralyn to bring a bike pump, as none of you will have one on your bike. Then, stop about 8 miles out to fix the same tire again after hitting another ditch. Keep biking the rest of the way until you meet the rest of the group. Stop for lunch and rest up a little bit.
Then, keep biking some more. You've still got 35 miles left to go. This is the point at which just listening to music doesn't cut it. After that many hours listening to music, you might want to hear something else. I'd recommend either podcasts or audiobooks, because then there's at least a plot line to follow. This will make the rest of the mileage go by much faster. Then, when Strava shows that you've made it 100 miles, stop and celebrate. We took this picture about a half mile away from the motel we stayed at.
Then, quickly shower and go get dinner! You'll be absolutely starving, so you'll eat a ton. Anyways, you've earned it.
Then, get to bed. You're going to be exhausted, because you had to teach yesterday, and you'll have to teach again tomorrow. There's always something that will need doing, and you'll need to have the energy for it.
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