Had a nice gentle start with coffee and breakfast before hitting the road. The first off-road section was pretty tough going and I was beginning to question my intended distance for the day. Even had a small crash but no harm done. 

 

Met an older guy out on his mountain bike. Stopped to chat and then we rode together for a bit. At which point he casually mentioned his son had ridden the Tour de France nine times. Turned out to be the father of Bobby Julich. He asked what Europe’s view of Trump was and agreed when I said we found it all rather confusing and terrifying. 

 

The rough stuff turned into nice gravel roads for a fast descent to a cafe for a drink and muffin before pressing onto the first big climb of the day. It was about 20 miles all the way up, although the first section was relatively shallow. Once on the steeper section I thought I’d put in a bit of an effort to the top. After three weeks of riding low zone 2 I was interested to see if I could do anything more intense. Legs actually felt pretty good but we’ll see if I pay for that tomorrow. 

 

Passed Zach and Kara and Steve who were all heading to the same camp spot. The final climb was a bit of a drag into a headwind but arrived at the campsite to find a nice spring with ice cold water. Thought about pushing on to the next camp spot but a local couple staying here said this was nicer, so that was decision made. 

It was a really nice day and after the first slow section I was able to make good progress. It makes such a difference being able to do the downhill at more than crawling speed as was the case with some of the rough and rocky stuff previously.

 

Compared notes with Zach on plans for the next few days and looks like we’ll be on a similar trajectory.