Smokers Help Prevent Fires

After shivering through a long night in our tents, we briefly considered trying to rent a heated cabin at our next campground, but since the weather was fine otherwise, we decided to wait for an emergency that involved precipitation before caving in to pamper ourselves.

At the campground we departed this morning, a sign which read, "Smokers Help Prevent Fires" was painted at the top of a receptical for discarded cigarettes, proving once again that commas are kind of important. I would think about this message later in the day as we road past miles of skeleton trees charred black and gray from forest fire. Apparently the smokers failed to do their job.

Another sign at that campground read,  "No Animals in Bathroom." I'm not sure if this was intended to ease my mind before entering, or if it could be taken as a reason for the absence of goats.

There wasn't much of note along our 52.5 mile ride today. Some days are like that. You just keep pushing the pedals through landscape reminiscent of one of those old Very Brady Vacation shows. That's not to say it was an easy ride.

After obsessing over the weather reports last night, I was convinced that we wouldn't be dealing with any wind today, but a strong, cold headwind and hills slowed our progress all day.  We also changed our route after discovering one of our roads was a dirt road (our history with dirt roads is bad, but Alex suggested we try it anyway). Once we realized it was a mistake and turned around, Alex pointed out, rather eloquently, that the problem with optimism is that sometimes it screws you over. This was definitely true when it came to my belief that there would be no wind today.

16 mikes into the ride:
Me: Hey, David, how long before we turn and head east? (I was frustrated with the headwinds coming out of the north. Once we turned, I figured the wind would no longer be a problem.)
David: Roscommon is 22 miles in. We'll get sandwiches there.
Me: Yeah, but... Okay.

Communication can be challenging on a ride.

The winds were worse after we turned east, so nevermind.

Also, my tire went flat at some point, but David filled it with air at a place we stopped, and it seemed to hold for the last 7 miles of the ride.

Now Alex is icing an aching knee, and I am trying to rehydrate. It's ironic that the guy who gets the least exercise throughout the year is the one who currently has the most energy. Perhaps we should all follow his example and quit exercising so we can save all of that energy to put into a single bike tour.

Tonight we camp in Mio, a town which I can only assume was named after its founder's favorite cat.