Today was a shorter day, but featured more climbing on tired legs. It started right out of the park with a long, strep climb that Dave and I both walked a portion of. You just can't do that on cold legs!
We got a late start out of camp this morning a little before 11am. We were slower packing up the tent and sleeping gear, and organizing everything in the right bags. We wanted to let the tent and fly dry a little from the overnight dew. It wasn't a worry, though, because we had modified the route today based on information from a guy working on the park roads. It shaved a few miles off the total and supposedly had a little less traffic on the roads.
Because of the number and variety of hills today, we took more breaks along the side of the road. Because of this, we didn't pull into camp until about 5:30pm. Not bad considering the late start and challenging terrain.
As we rolled into Cape Fair, we saw a bait shop on the side of the road that also advertised snacks. We stopped to pick up snacks for this evening and tomorrow morning. We met Mike, shop owner of Catch 'Em All Tackle and Bait, and his wife. His wife had just finished a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream, and she insisted we have some. It was really good, and the perfect snack after a hard day of riding!
There were more steep hills today and more walking occurred. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and we know we need to pace ourselves to get through the next few days. No sense blowing up on a steep hill when there are plenty more to come. Although sometimes I think it is harder to walk and push the heavy bike than it is to ride. It's just a different kind of hard!
At the top of one long climb, we saw and old fire watch tower. That was a nice sight since those are usually built up on the top of the ridge. It looked old and no longer in service but could be seen all the way up the hill.
The only real restaurant option tonight was a restaurant that was about 2 miles down the road up and over another steep hill. We decided it just wasn't worth it. Tonight was the perfect time to eat one of the freeze-dried meals we were carrying. I had chicken fettucine alfredo and Dave had beef stroganof. They aren't quite as good as homemade but most everything tastes good when you are tired and hungry!
Some beautiful scenery from today, and my patient and adventurous hubby, Big Dave.
We are looking forward to a good night's sleep and another good day of riding.
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