Trip Recap

The trip started out great. I covered over 150 miles on Saturday. The weather was beautiful albeit rather hot, but I didn't get too sweaty. My nutrition level was good and I finished the day with several hours to wander around Whitewater State Park in Altura, MN. On my approach to the park, there was a VERY steep hill. I accelerated to over 40 mph while carrying my load of gear...a little unnerving. At the base of a hill there was a convenience store that had all of the necessities a weekend camper may need. I picked up some pasta, sauce, peanut butter, jelly and a loaf of bread. I asked the 15-year old clerk if there was a hill similar to the one I descended if I continued east. His comment was there are no hills in the area like the one I came in on. He may have been correct about the grade of the hill, but certainly not with respect to elevation. When I embarked on Day 2, I was absolutely frustrated with how slowly I was travelling. After about 45-minutes of slogging along at about 12 mph, I checked the altimeter log of my GPS. Sure enough, I have been climbing for over 600 feet and a distance of over 10 miles, and there was more climbing to go. The issue with this was that it was really humid, the air was still and I was soaking wet after the first 10 minutes of riding. After about 35 more miles of riding, the effects of a saturated cyclist began to take their toll. I'll put it this way, I didn't crash, but I am missing skin...from areas in contact with the bike. The agony of continuing was too much and I aborted the trip with approximately 210 miles under my belt. A little dissappointing, but I covered more distance in the first day of riding that I have ever done in my life.