Day 40

Legit train
There were a few other trains that came last night. Every time one did, I felt like I was going to be run over. I was tired in the morning, but I got up anyways because it was really hot. I was sweating when I emerged from my tent, only to freeze because of the wind. I had a slight stomach ache. I figured it was from eating trail mix all day, but now I'm pretty sure it was the water I had- the protein shake I made had solidified. I've had problems with protein shakes for a while now because I can't drink them fast enough. The hot air combined with bumps in the road can cause it to slowly spill out over the course of a day. It's also hard to keep clean. But protein is important and expensive. However, protein powder that turns into cottage cheese is really discusting. I dumped it out in a gas station sink and had to scoop it into the trash because it wouldn't go down the drain. It's going to be a while before I make another one of those. Since I had already turned in a bit and the highway on the path I was supposed to take turned out a bit, I decided to head through the town instead in order to shave off a half mile or so. I ended up overshooting the next turn though, and there wasn't a bike lane, so it really just ended up working against me. The rest of the day flew by. Google pretty much said to go like 30 miles, then turn right and go another 40 miles. I passed through a town that had what they called a "carhedge." It was basically Stonehenge made of cars, but there was also a dinosaur. A few miles down was a fantastic rest stop. It was an armchair and a toilet on stacks of hay. It also advertised free wifi, but I didn't check to see if that was true. The wind was at my back for most of the day, so I made fantastic time- a had gone more than 50 miles halfway through the day. I thought I was finally going to have my first 100 mile day, but the wind changed later in the day. It was going directly against me. I tried to get as far as possible anyways. I passed through the last city without stopping- I had enough food and water for tomorrow. The clouds had rolled in, so it was dark immediately after sunset. I started to panic as I realized that I would probably have to ride in the dark for a while to get past all the farmland. Then it started to rain. It was pathetic at first, but then it became more consistent. I noticed that there wasn't a fence on the right side of the road and it didn't look like crops were growing there. I somehow managed to push my bike through the tall plants. Perfect- they were tall enough to conceal most of my tent. I quickly set up my tent in the nearest patch of ground that wasn't overgrown as the rain got more serious. I saw some fantastic displays of lightning. It ended up being perfect timing. If I had found camp just a few minutes after, I would have been soaked. As I laid in my tent, the walls would occasionally light up from the lightning. One time it was particularly bright and the thunder afterwards seemed to go on forever- or about 25 seconds. The wind picked up. This should be another fun night. Before I slept, I found out that I had been laying on the straw of my water, so there was a considerable amount under my sleeping pad. I was using my rolled up sleeping bag as a pillow, and it was soaked. I'm pretty sure I'm never going to make that mistake again.