Helena, MT

Second century ride I've ever done. (Notice the lack of an exclmation point.)

It was really hard to get myself out of my sleeping bag this morning, in part because although it was 5:05 am (ie, 5 minutes after the wake up time) no one was moving ... I guess everyone was having a hard time.

Breakfast was amazing. Definitely in my top 3 breakfasts of this trip: granola, yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloup, bagels, cream cheese, etc. etc. Unforunately, it meant that I over ate, and consequently, convincing myself to get on my bike was SOOO HARD.

Ironically, a group of us averaged 19 mph for the first 35 miles of the ride. It was either or both slightly downhill with little wind to speak of. I left first lunch pretty early because I just needed to keep going on a day like today, and I wanted to go at my own pace. Little did I expect Shira to creep up on me and freak me out a few miles out. We ended up riding together for the rest of the day. We tend to ride at similar paces, and I think it helps on rides like these. It can be mentally tiring to go slower than your comfort range, because you know it means more hours on the saddle.

We were all so tired when we got here. The host lady was very sweet though. They had even posted "Welcome Bike and Builders" on the doors, and after a century ride, even little things like that can help so much. She had even set out poppyseed and blueberry muffins: AMAZING.

I thought about how great it would be to go out with people to get a beer, but I'm at the point where unless someone actually hands me an opened beer bottle, it's too much effort. I'm going to sleep RIGHT NOW.