Solo 120

Sunrise



Random pillars that were cool



"And theres always something there to remind me...."



Pana, mile 60



Gross gnats all over my body



Beard



Enlarge this photo. These are swarms of gnats all down the road....GROSS. I got covered.



Road grit, gnats, dirt....worse then when i was mountain biking.



Cool lilly along the trail

Went out early for the long one. Conditions were ideal for this long ride I have been planning for about three weeks. Good temperature, wind from the right direction, day off of work. I had to wrestle with some demons to get out of bed this morning instead of sleeping in. Many deer again questioned my motives at 6 a.m. and just stared at me. I headed straight east through Rochester to Decatur then south to Pana. Along the country roads I road through swarm after swarm of these gnasty ass gnats. Got covered head to toe with them and felt like my whole body was crawling...it was seriously an off-putting feeling. Refueled in Pana and took the Pana trail to Taylorville (which I had heard a lot about but never ridden). It was extremely exciting and took me in a complete straight line. The only thing keeping me sane was that I had a tail wind. I headed north to Edinburg and refueled and headed west through lake Sangchris to complete 100 miles. Then road the 20 mile wednesday night loop through Chatham. At mile 110 my tire blew and sounded like a gunshot went off. I pulled over in the shade and examined what happened. The complete sidewall of the tire had blown out and there was no saving or patching it. Literally, three minutes later my new best friend Gary pulled up and asked if I was ok and needed a ride. He was an old man heading into Chatham and hey guess what....so was I. So, we chatted, I thanked him and told him he was a godsend. Spent 90% of my remaining energy putting on the tightest GP4000 S tire I have ever installed and chatted with the boss for a few. Ten miles later I was back home with 120 miles for the day and the longest distance I have ever ridden, even though it was on the "cheater" bikes as Ari would say. Plenty of food and electrolytes meant no cramping and I feel fine this evening after eating the Clif Shot Roks containing 20 g of protein. Long day on the bike and I road with my Ipod which I dont normally do. I feel like this made the ride feel longer than it normally would because I was conscious to the lengths of some of the songs instead of putting my head down and going like I normally do. Really would love some company on the longer rides just to help pass the time, but for now I'll keep doing what I gotta do. Hope to keep pushing the distance up, up, and away. Cheers.

- JB