Day 60

Just off trail
In the morning, every once in a while I could hear a bike go by or people walking. I wanted to wake up earlier, and I thought waking up earlier the day before would have helped, but it didn't. It has been so hot lately that I don't need my sleeping bag until maybe an hour or so before sunrise. I woke up a few times because I was cold, so maybe that's part of the reason why I slept in. When I got out my tent, one person went by and I felt pretty awkward. My tent was easily viable from the path if you were going a particular direction. No one bugged me though, and I was packed and on the path before anyone else came by. The rest of the day was pretty plain. The bike trail ended. There was a closed road, so I had to find my own way around it. There was another bike trail. Along this, I ran out of water again. This keeps happening because I'm going through so many cities, I know I'll never be far from water. When the bike trail ended, there was thankfully a water fountain. Then I had to pedal through some rough sidewalks. I finally found my way to a bike path that was the packed dirt stuff. It boardered a canal. The rest of the day was spent on it. Well, except for one point where I got on the road that paralleled the trail, and then had to imediately get back on the trail because the road curved away. By now, my arms were covered in tiny bugs. It was a pretty hot and humid day. The tree cover helped, but not enough. My arms and my speed must have been just enough to trap them. I went over two dams. The second one had a great view of the sun- I bet if I waited an hour that it would have been a great show. I found another water fountain, so I topped off. It was getting kinda dark. I hate stopping so early, but when you set up a tent under tree cover, it is much darker than I am used to. Luckily I found a place under gigantic power lines that was nice and open to the still lit sky. The plants around are really tall- they easily hide my tent. I set up my tent and was surprised that I didn't have to fight off many mosquitoes. I got in my tent, got on my phone for a bit, then checked the inside for mosquitoes. You don't have to worry about getting bit much once you are inside. I think they all follow your breath up to where it gets trapped. There was a small swarm inside. These ones must be smart- they don't buzz as much as the other ones. It took a while to kill them all. All I hear now is the crickets and the buzz of electrisity.