Time: 4h15m12s
Distance: 108.53km
Avg Spd: 25.5km/hr
Climbing: 819m
Today, I am as tired and sore as I have ever been. I rode slow, but had to leave my group at SAG 3 to ride even slower. I am becoming ever more ready to reach our destination, and give my weary legs a rest.
Despite the fatigue, the ride was beautiful today, through lush, treed backroads and many small towns on our way into Hyde Park.
We stopped just outside of Hudson at a McDonalds along the route for some early morning refreshment. It was here that I had perhaps the most awkward conversation with another patron in the men's restroom about the tour. And he didn't make a donation.
At SAG 2, however, Julie and Doug set up at a fruit stand, and the owner gave them a box of peaches for us to enjoy. They were a touch on the hard side, but still delicious.
Not much more to report about the ride today. Brandon was on the road after his chain break yesterday. We rode with Ryan, but didn't see any awesome road-side attractions to get #elevelo shots.
Camp tonight is a bit of a rough one in terms of facilities, but it is at a nice park. We are at Hackett Hill Park. We are again short on restroom facilities, and the showers were ice cold. We actually set up the outdoor showers in the field, as it was hot enough outside to make the ice water almost pleasant. Almost. There is an outdoor pool, but they are out of chlorine, so it was closed for our use.
The good news is we only have two more nights of sleeping in tents! Tonight and tomorrow! Saturday night I'll be in a real bed in a hotel in New York, and hanging out with my good friends Rich, Clement and Luke! After 9 weeks away from home and with minimal contact with friends there, I'm very much looking forward to some holiday time exploring the Big Apple with these guys.
I was thinking today about things that I will miss about life in camp and on the tour once we're done. I'll miss:
* Asking "What time is breakfast?" when it's always posted at 6:30, but served at 5:15
* Setting up and taking down my tent every night
* Clearing all the bugs out of my tent before sleeping every night
* Putting on sunscreen every morning
* Screeching owls singing us to sleep
* Cicadas/spiders/earwigs
* Qwirkle - the best tile/boardgame ever!
* "Sleeping in" until 6:10
* Ice cold showers
* Having my biggest worry be whether I'm on sweep-duty
* Eating as much as I can and want at every sitting
* Chamois butter as part of the morning routine
* And so much more...
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