One week to go...

I just got back from riding and I feel terrible! I think the evil bike gnomes snuck into my house last night and filled my legs with concrete. Or maybe they just beat my legs with sticks as I slept... More likely, my soreness and exhaustion is due to helping a friend move last night, helping a friend move today, and still (almost!) riding 60 miles today.

This morning I woke up at quarter to seven, ate breakfast and biked about 10 miles over to Leah's house in NE to help her move. I go there around 9 and moved an assortment of shelves, matresses, huge suite cases (one of which I think contained her rock collection), and a variety of boxes. There were stairs involved too.

After two hours of moving "fun" I biked another 10 miles over to Arlington to her new house to help unpack. Things were just has heavy the second time and again, there were stairs to be assented.

Two hours, five pieces of pizza and two beers later, we were all done and my biking could continue. I bike back to the Mount Vernon trail and went the 15 or so miles to Mount Vernon. About 10 miles in to this leg or the ride, I hit the wall. Possibly worse, the reward of pizza and beer was quickly turning into a punishment. Sweating buckets, I knew I needed to drink more water, but my bloated belly said NO.

My legs were starting to say no too, and so a mile from Mount Vernon, dazed and exhausted, I realized that I could not go on and could not go back. Thank goodness for that park bench. I'm not sure how long I laid there, but when I came back to my senses, I felt that I could probably make it home. After 15 more gruling miles, I was back.

On the actual trip, Eric and I plan on averaging 65 miles a day and I was hoping to go at least 60 today. I broke 50, almost died, and have lived to commence in one week on this crazy trip that probably will kill me. Hey, but as long as I can avoid helping people move during the bike trip (this does seem like my part-time job) , I'll probably be okay...