Ride Day 33

I started my day out with a healthy breakfast of two corn dogs and a medium cup of coffee. It was still dark out so I waited until it was light enough to go. Of course while I waited I ate more junk. My plan today was to just see how far I could get in the desolate rollercoaster hill country I needed to go through. The temperature was predicted to be near 100. The ride started off well. The road was good the temperature cool and there was no wind. I cruised at close to 17 mph for three hours and made it 40 miles without much problem so I continued on. A light breeze started and of course it was in my face yet again. It did not take long before it was blowing hard again just like the last three days. I struggled to make the miles slip by. The roller coaster road was frustrating to ride on. It was one hill after another and some of them were high and long which with the wind in my face was very tiring and mentally draining. There were no breaks of easy riding for even a short distance. I was spinning my legs in low gears again and doing only 6-9 mph. I rested often. As my miles started to build up, 50, then 60 and so on the next miles just got tougher and tougher to keep going at it. But I was in a desolate place and I kept telling myself to just take my time and I will make it to at least the State Park which was 70 miles. After many hours of sitting in the saddle my bottom was starting to get sore. I stopped at a picnic table and considered stopping for the night but there were lots of hours of sunshine left so I pressed on. The wind was swirling and blowing over 25 mph by now. It was blowing my bike every which way but forward. I started to get angry but did not know what to focus my anger on. I made it to 80 miles, the park was just a few more miles but there were so many rolling hills in those few miles it was breaking my determination. I had to stop and walk my bike up the last few hills. At the turn off for the Park I hesitated. The campsite was 2 miles down the side road and the City of Comstock was “only” 10 more miles. I opted for Comstock. When I crested the first hill and saw the waves of hills ahead of me I almost turned around and went back to the Park. I pulled over and sat down for almost a half hour to see if resting would get me some leg strength back. When I took off again I felt better but the hill after hill after hill quickly drained me again. Finally it was down to only one more mile to get to the RV Park where I wanted to camp. It must have taken me thirty minutes to do that last mile. I made it finally. I was kind of happy that I was able to overcome the mental and physical problems getting here today. I checked into the camp site and immediately rested for a few hours. Then I got up and showered which felt great. I ended the shower with cold water and started to shiver. I was not shivering because I was cold but because I was totally exhausted I think. Then I ate a ton of food and drank more water and gatorade. Now I am writing this and next will be straight to sleep.