Miles to date: 26
 |
| From Krissy's Big Adventure |
This was a rough day. It was quite the caper trying to get out of the city, but only because we insisted on taking the Roosevelt Bridge out of town -- the bike entrance to which was nearly impossible to locate. If you're looking for description of sights, this is not going to be that sort of post (partially because I'm having a little trouble uploading photos at the moment, but mostly because this day was notable for its toll on my body and spirit).
Still, we were able to stay mostly on bike trails the entire day. The hills were steep and frequent. Since I chose to come on this trip at the last minute and did not get to do any training, I knew I would be lagging and I knew I'd be hurting. Even though I knew better, I still let my nutrition and hydration get away from me so that by the time we decided to stop for the night, I was so run down that I started to cry from exhaustion and the dread of how hard the next day would be. I've been riding carbon fiber for the last four years, and I've never hauled a load. All told, my bike and gear (before adding my body weight) is 87 pounds. This day put me through the ringer, but I'm proud to say I was still able to laugh and make a few half-hearted jokes after the ride.
We ended the day watching rec league softball before setting up camp behind a pile of rocks by the park's maintenance shed like real live vagabonds. Or hobos. Apart from how destroyed I felt, it was actually a lovely way to end the day, complete with a line of trees sparkling with fireflies.
Sometime around 2am, I heard what I think was probably a raccoon getting eaten by something slightly larger. It was just a few feet from my tent, screaming its head off and putting up a fight. Shortly after, I heard the sounds of flesh being ripped from a carcass and all I could think was, "Oh my God, we're still in the suburbs. What am I going to do when we hit Yellowstone?"
No comments:
Post a Comment