I needed a little bit of rest today. 53 miles might sound like a lot but, after the past 2 weeks, it really wasn’t.

A short day was decided upon last night. I didn’t start pedaling until 10:30. Basically a lazy morning watching ESPN.

If you, like I, thought the plains would be relatively flat…wrong!

Those rumble strips along the shoulder suck. There’s not much traffic on the roads I’m traveling so most of the time I’m on the left side of the white stripe. Especially when going fast. When I hear traffic coming, I get over and am radically vibrated by those strips.

If the rumble strip is in the middle of the road, it’s awesome. I can hear vehicles behind me move over for me which is quite comforting.

I don’t think I’m paranoid but those mountains seem to be stalking me. I can’t get away from them.

Gerty likes to hum. The faster we go, the louder she hums. She hummed a lot today.

We finished the 53 miles in 4.5 hours with an hour stop for lunch. That’s basically 15mph for a long time. In my FL training rides, I couldn’t go that fast for an hour. I may actually be becoming a cyclist. Who’d a thunk it?!!

Conrad, MT is a typical small farming community. Population of 2500. High School classes of 30. Lots of retirees and struggling to have jobs for young people. Agriculture just takes far fewer people/acre than it used to. Kind of sad.

I’m considering this a “Nero” day. Somewhere in between a zero day and a “real” day. Expecting to be well rested tomorrow.

Just a friendly reminder, we are riding for charity. If you’ve already pledged or donated, thanks so much. If you’re a procrastinator like me, get on it. If you can’t donate, that’s cool too. I just appreciate the support each of you give me every day.

Couldn’t do this without each of you. Thanks so much.

Ride on.

Just Pete