July 24, 2016
Day 56: Springfield to Berea: "A bad day made better by a burrito"
DAILY STATS
Mileage: 87.42
Average Speed: 11.9 mph
Maximum Speed: 35.9 mph
Today was crap.
Phew, okay. Now that I got that out of the way, let me explain to you why.
The day started off just fine. I did my usual morning routine of oatmeal, coffee, and packing up camp. I was out by 7:45, and spent some time wandering aroundd the Abraham Lincoln Homestead State Park just outside of town. It was a beautiful morning, and all was swell and dandy.
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From the park I continued on to Harrodsburg, via lovely, uncrowded county roads. I stopped for a snack break and thoroughly enjoyed the air conditioned building. Only once I left here, though, did the real fun begin.
A few miles out of town, I accidentally tumbled slowly into the roadside ditch. It was my fault: an overreaction to a passing car that I thought was closer than it really was. Luckily, all was well, and I only bruised my ego.
After this (minor) mishap, I pressed on. Unfortunately, the dogs along this part of the route were out in full-force. I was chased for close to a quarter mile by a dumb little terrier and even had several groups of dogs chase me.
While I was preoccupied with staving off a group of three dogs, I managed to missed a necessary turn. Unknowing of this, I flew down a nice forrested hill, only to get about a mile down it before realizing my mistake. As I was turning around on the incline, I was unable to unclip my right pedal and tumbled yet again into the roadside ditch. Only this time, I bruised my right elbow and arm quite badly, and I've niw lost some sensation in my pinky finger. The best part of this all? The plants in the ditch that cushioned my fall may have been poison ivy. I guess I'll know in a bit.
So now, truly battered, I trudged back up the hill in search of the correct turn. I got on to what I thought was the correct turn, and tried to put everything bad behind me.
Well...it was the wrong turn. Again, I flew down a phenomenally steep hill, only to reach the bottom and be utterly lost. I was eventually able to get back to the main route from here without backtracking, but it tacked on an extra 8 miles to the day AND involved the steepest climb I've ever seen. The Ozarks paled in comparison.
But I made it. Once I was back on the route, I just wanted to get to Berea. I told myself that when I got there, I'd get the biggest burrito I could find. Sometimes all it takes is a little motivating factor, like a burrito, to help get you through a rough patch.
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12 miles from Berea, I ran out of water. It sucked in this heat and humidity, but I didn't really care at this point. All I wanted was my burrito.
I finally made it into town, grabbed a burrito, and headed to the fire department to set up camp. Along the way, I passed through the campus of Berea College, a tuition-free liberal arts college. I'm a big fan of their forward-thinking model of education.
I was REALLY hoping to stay inside the air conditioned fire department, but alas they only allowed cyclists to camp outside. So I begrudgingly (but thankfully) set up camp in the fire tower. The department was also kind enough to let me have a shower and top off my water.
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I was bitter for most of the ride, and I think that my bitterness was justified. But now, sitting in my fire tower, I can finally laugh at the absurdities that today threw at me. A trip of this length is inevitably going to have some rough patches. Today was one of them. But with only 16 days to go before reaching Yorktown, the potential for days like today are dwindling. I've got a place to stay for tomorrow night, all day to explore this fascinating town, and time to reflect, write, and relax.
Today's ride: 87 miles (140 km)
Total: 3,754 miles (6,041 km)
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