Day 15

Day total 80

Trip total 941

There has been a palpable shift.  From Connecticut to Washington D.C. this trip mainly felt like a vacation, our days consisted of sleeping in having a leisurely breakfast, puttering around on our bikes in the cool northeast air followed by crashing with more friends, and drinking the local IPA all night by the growler (of which Nik now has two of, thanks to a recent generous donation from a guy at Klean Kanteen).

After D.C. we increased our mileage pretty drastically, to cover the sheer distances inherent to the geography of the south. We now have to bike more miles to get to even minor towns where we can find a campsite, a warm shower or, as had been the more common option,  a friend of a friend's generous parents.

After yesterday's long day we were feeling fatigued and sore today. We have literally been laughing out loud at the prior plans we had made to bike 100 mile days for 5 days in a row. What were we thinking?

We were thinking about our easy (100 mile) coastal rides from Boston  to Ogunquit, which we have done with ease for the past few Memorial Days. These rides however lacked some key variables such as: hills, sun, wind and an unknown route, all of which plague us now (especially since our phones lack service in most places which is tricky since we are depending solely on Google maps for navigation).

But we are pushing through regardless, still sunburns and smiles. There are still small (and large) joys everyday. For example, today the $56 Days Inn where we are staying in Hickory NC has a jacuzzi in our room (sorry, no pictures or details on that I am trying to keep this blog appropriate).