My last post was about all the wonderful things about this bike trip so far. To be fair and balanced, here are the challenges:
7.) Wind: It’s tough when it blows right in our faces coming off the ocean and downright scary when we have a crosswind when we’re flying downhill.
6.) Fog: The coast has been amazing but cold and foggy on many occasions leading to cold starts in the morning.
5.) Traffic: Overall it hasn’t been too bad but there are some sections, especially crossing bridges and dealing with construction where our shoulder is nearly non-existent and we are left scurrying in order to avoid the RVs and big trucks.
4.) Hills: I’ve written about them before but that doesn’t mean they’re getting any easier. My quads are sore every night and while I think I am getting stronger, the hills seem to keep getting bigger.
3.) Pop music: whether it’s the pop music of today or blasts from the past, songs get stuck in my head way too easily and roll through on repeat all day long.
2.) Worry: We worry about our bikes whenever we have to leave them. Going into grocery stores and restaurants is always a challenge because it would be heartbreaking and very challenging if they were stolen.
1.) Notre Dame: We even got a hotel room tonight so we could watch the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game and for the second week in a row, we have been seriously let down. I won’t change teams but this type of heartbreak is tough to get over.
While these are some serious downsides, I know they could be much worse. Our bikes have held up fabulously, they haven’t been stolen, we haven’t gotten injured, and our rear ends haven’t required any chamois cream, even though I am still not sure what exactly that stuff does.
We’re now in California and still going strong, despite all the tough challenges.