3 x 3rd May
Day three: hills, heavy rain, and bike mishaps.
My day started strong! A great double breakfast (curtesy of Linda), a hug before I set off, and a nice early start. I reached a bike shop a little early, but the owner happily let me in anyway and offered to check over my bike while switching my pedals out (goodbye clipless, hello flats and no knee pain or blisters!). A downpour hit while I was in the store, but the forecast looked okay for the rest of the day.
The forecast was wrong. The discomfort of wind and rain was only worsened by the feeling that something wasn’t right with my bike, the gears weren’t switching right, the housing for the switchers out of place, and there was a new rubbing sound. I stopped, checked everything, rode off, stopped again, rearranged things, set off again. At least my feet were comfier though, in my soggy socks and shoes. The route was less scenic too - while many miles weaves through backroads and nipped under busy highways, 10s of miles of climbs were on dual carriage way. The bellowing engines of lorries and destabilising winds from cars narrowly overtaking aren’t the best for an optimistic mindset.
Despite this though, I climbed every hill without walking, met my first Brits since landing (we had a lovely chat about the US and our respective itineraries), and over took my first fellow TransAm cyclists! So despite feeling like today was super hard, it had some positives thrown in too!
A high point was having my dad text me, letting me know I’d reached the highest point of the route until the Rockies. It reminded me that even if I’m on my own out here, I’ve got friends and family keeping me in mind, and that I’d got past the hardest part (for a while). So if I can take a deep breath right now, dance a little in my seat, and smile, then I’ve got enough left in me to keep going. And so I did! An extra 8 miles today, ready for a strong start tomorrow after the first night in my tent.
Lessons learnt - Not feeling confident in my bike is hard. Rainy days are tough, but I’ve got a waterproof jacket so keep riding and be glad I won’t get heatstroke. Keep in mind the people I’ve met, and folks back home - they make the world feel less big and add something to be grateful for even when I’m tired. Don’t judge a day by it’s beginning.
