The Day After

I feel good. I knew that I would. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Well, it’s true that I feel good. But based on my 2014 dehydration experience in Halifax, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit concerned as to how I would feel today. Adding to the concern was that I was a bit (maybe even a lot) chilled as I walked over to get some groceries yesterday evening – although, it was chilly evening … by my standards, anyway. Either way, I know chills generally aren’t a good thing.

Fortunately, I woke this morning feeling pretty great. I was more aware of my legs than usual as they were definitely feeling a bit different. But not tired. I actually think they felt stronger. I think it’s safe to say that I truly learned from my Halifax experience. I was drinking water a lot as I rode yesterday. And while my food stops were generally very short, I was actually stopping to eat. Even if just a CLIF bar. All of that combined to not only lead me to my longest ride ever but also to not leaving me physically incapacitated the next day. Or two.

From a reality check standpoint, I’m also under no illusion as to how many factors had to align to make yesterday’s ride possible. Not the least of which was the wind. Case in point, I just went outside for a brief walk and to get some air and the first thing I noticed was the wind direction. And it was from the north. There’s no way I would’ve even considered yesterday’s ride if the wind had been like it is today. There wouldn’t have been enough time (or energy) to even come close to Moorhead. Fergus Falls would’ve been tough enough.

As for today, it has been a polar opposite of yesterday. There has been no cycling and very little time outside. On the flip side, I’ve been working on my computer pretty much non-stop. I’ve been reasonably productive … I mean, I’m writing today’s update before the day is even over so I’m caught up in that regard. For fun, I took some time to compare some stats from previous rides to yesterday’s ride (yes, I know … sometimes my idea of fun doesn’t sound in any way fun). That said, I discovered that my 263.65 km day surpassed my previous personal best by 90.36 km (56 miles). That’s almost as much as what my daily average has been on this tour (i.e. about 92 km). That average has now jumped to a little over 100 km. As for the riding time, it was 1:32:14 longer than the previous long. As it happens, the previous long was August 27, 2014 – the day of the often remembered Halifax hydration mishap. See, stats are fun!

Admittedly, I haven’t accomplished everything I wanted to with some work related stuff which has me contemplating spending one more night in Moorhead. I’ll have to make that decision very soon.

As is probably pretty obvious, I was more than a little pumped and proud after yesterday’s accomplishment. And given how I feel the day after, I’m super happy today. Which is weird in its own way. But soon I’ll be back on the road and, as yesterday clearly illustrated, the kilometres behind me don’t really matter that much. Many more lie ahead.

Today’s totals:
None.