Oh they agony and triumphs of cycling. Some days you have it. Others you don’t. Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to ride #tomrv with my good friend and brother from another mother @abemill. Abe and I like to push each other to the limit in more ways than one. We also like to wake each other up at oh dark thirty for rides. When we both look at our schedules early in the season we couldn’t find a ride to do together. So we decided on tomrv. We set out Friday for Bettendorf. Tomrv Is the tour of the Mississippi River valley in eastern Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. We thought we could ride together but my legs didn’t have it. So I told him to crush it, and I would see him at stops. So that’s what we did. He finished day one about an hour ahead of me. Got our room, showered then waited for me to get in. When I rolled in I felt good. At the end of day one they have a buffet at Clarke college in Dubuque. Salad, pork, and pasta, I’m all in. Oh and chocolate milk. That’s where my downfall cane. I drank too much chocolate milk. So my supper came back up. I felt better. Day one stats were 108.45 miles in 7:40. Average speed was 14. Not my beer but with a 12 mph headwind out of the north and 4,000 feet of climb, I was happy. Day two was 89 miles with 3,000 feet of climb on the Illinois side, and a tailwind. Much better day. I averaged 15 for the day. We crushed the weekend. Fast forward to Wednesday and day off. Century. 100.2 miles in and around northern Polk county. Wind was brutal at 18mph out of the north. Perfect for a tailwind century, but since I can’t drive I had to come up with something. When I set out yesterday my goal was to enjoy the day. I did that. I rode some road and trails for my route. Did some hills. It was a good day. 100.2 miles of awesomeness. Best feeling ever. As a lot of people know I’m a glutton for the distance stuff. So yesterday when I came in 5.5 miles short. I had to go back out and get it. So that’s what I did. No quit. After all I was riding with a million Americans on my shoulders with my hydrocephalus awareness jersey. #ridingwithhydrocephalus #hightrestletrail #neilsmithtrail #specializedbikes #praypedalrepeat @endscycling (at Iowa) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByqB0XQAgSj/?igshid=191w02xuwqs2g
