Week 4, May 12 - May 18

For the week
Distance ridden: 434 miles
Time riding: 39:38:36
Ascent:  12,096 feet

For the tour
Distance ridden: 1,563 miles
Time riding: 140:13:37
Ascent: 42,783 feet


This was a week with some big milestones. We crossed the Mississippi, putting Illinois, our sixth state, behind us. We passed the one third point on our route, 1178 miles, somewhere on the Katy Trail on day 25. We surpassed 1500 miles ridden on Day 28.

I also had some breakthroughs in my mentality. It is difficult to describe the grind of this endeavor, though I will try in a future post. But I am coming to accept that grind as the condition of being. There are many good moments on this tour, and there are many more moments when we are facing adversity, bad luck, boredom, pain, and even danger, from traffic and dogs. That is the way of touring. All I can do is enjoy the former and accept the latter.

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