Day 1

This is the before picture. Don't worry I wear shoes when I'm biking.

I am writing this on day 5, so I can say with some sort of perspective that day 1 was a big ol' downer. Left my friend's apartment in the morning, had 40 nice miles on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, and then stopped for lunch in Purcelville, where I met a guy whose son goes to UC Boulder (Boulder is my destination). He called up his son, insisted that he buy me a beer when I get there, and then I was off. So far so good.

With 12 miles to go until my campground, I took the most direct route I could find. This was dumb. The route was a 4 lane highway with narrow lanes and no shoulders. Aww snap. Also it was pouring. And the 12 miles were almost all uphill.

After nearly getting run over twice by eighteen wheelers, I decided to push my 70 pound bike through the grass. This is where I got the poison ivy. Anyways, I eventually made it to the campground, where I took a shower, cooked some dinner, and then consumed vegetables in my tent and listened to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots as I went to sleep. The line "Because I'm a man, not a boy And there are things you can't avoid You have to face them when you're not prepared to face them" seemed relevant.