I learned a couple valuable lessons from this overnighter. When your body tells you to get up and get on the road, do it. I ignored it, slept a couple of hours, and now regret it. I didnt get on the road till 1030 and had to ride in the hottest part of the day, through a canyon with no breeze and then some hills. Another thing, is to always take a new canister of butane or have a spare. I ran out in the middle of boiling water to drink. I have a Katedyn water filter, but the taste of lake water is not too pleasant. Third thing, do not visit a lakeside campground on the weekend during the summer. Tons of people still, and they will play music all through the night.

On the plus side, I did learn riding and not knowing what to expect is kinda fun. This trip was an nothing like I had imagined it was going to be. Also, I know that I am self efficient enough to handle what touring can throw at me, if I do run out of water I am prepared to filter it so I can drink and not be worried about what might happen. Also, a empty CamelBak 100oz Unbottle makes a wonderful pillow. Take and blow up the bladder through the drink tube to your liking.

The overnighter was 40 miles away from the town I host a ride on Saturday mornings at. I ended up using part of the ride to get me part of the way there. The group decided that they could do a loop which included part of the way I was going to ride to get to the campsite I was going to. I love having disorganized organized rides. We change the route at the last minute to accommodate a single rider.

I make camp, and thats when I experience the setbacks that I mentioned above start to happen. I made it through the night and actually slept really good. I needed it.

The worst part of riding was on the way home. I started to bonk at mile 18. I could only ride 3 miles at a time and then would have to take a break. I drank some gatorade the first break, rode 3 more miles stopped. Rested for 15 minutes ate some clif bloks. rode 3 more miles, ate some more clif bloks. I started to feel better and it was good I did. I approached a monster of a hill. I ended up riding the hill going 2-3 mph all the way up. I dont know why but I felt great after that hill. Rode the next 13 miles with no problem. I did miss a cut off road that I needed to take. I ended up riding an extra 10 miles because of it.

So it was 40 miles to get there, and 50 miles to get back. I had a wonderful time, saw some beautiful scenery, rode some hellacious hills. It was really what I needed.