Day Two - Dan Henry told me so
Last year I spent a lot of my time with Mark, Jenny, and Kelly. Every night we’d roll out our sleeping bags next to each other and crash. I could always count on Mark to whack me with a pillow or roll me over when I started snoring.
On the second night, I couldn’t quite fall asleep. I laid awake, staring at the ceiling, when one of the girls started snoring. “WHACK!!!” Mark hit me with a pillow. Once I convinced him it wasn’t me, he rolled over the girl next to him.
They’re not on the ride this year, I found myself sleeping next to two people I had just met. I was surprised to feel lonely without them there, but I survived non the less. The guy next to me, Jeremy, moved in the middle of the night to avoid my snoring.
This morning’s weather wasn’t as brutal as anticipated. There was no rain, and the sun came out intermittently. The hills and forest shielded us from the brunt of the headwind.
In the afternoon, we rode into flat farm country. Here we experienced the full force of the head wind. I spent a lot of time in my lowest three gears, which I normally reserve for hill climbing. We all trudged forward at a snail pace. The experienced cyclists estimate the wind made it the equivalent of over 100 miles on a normal day.
Add to that, I missed my turn at mile 50, and added an estimated 5+ extra miles to my ride. Each day we’re given 3 tools to help us navigate; a hand drawn map, turn by turn directions, and Dan Henry’s.
Dan Henry’s are marks spray painted on the road to help us find our way, we primarily use these. I had my head buried in my handle bars about the time I missed it (trying to be aerodynamic due to the wind), must not have been looking at the road.
All in all, I was on the bike for over 6.5 hours. My legs aren’t happy with me, I think I’ll take it easy tomorrow.
