This was a good learning day for me. I rode 57.3 miles in 4h50m of riding which is a little better than I was expecting. I was not planning for the hot weather. The weather had been nice the last month and I forgot to bring sunscreen. From what my temperature gauge said, it was 104 degrees around noon. I don't know if it was that hot, but it was at least 95 and the sun was killing me. My arms and legs got horribly burned but I made it to the campsite in Siloam Springs by 4pm. I can probably pace myself better, I didn't really know what to expect though.
On the way, I passed through a lot of small towns which was nice. I stopped off at a farmer's market in Plymouth and talked to a few people. Someone from the local newspaper stopped by and interviewed me for a story. It didn't seem like a very interesting story to me seeing as I was only 20 miles outside of my starting point of Macomb, but it's nice that people take interest.
In all of planning, the most important thing I forgot to pack was food. It was fine that I didn't have any at the time because I picked up food along the way, I just need to make room so I can carry food in the future.
It was a very stressful day and when I got to camp, it finally hit me... what the fuck am I doing? I have been planning this trip for a long time and I know I want to do it, but from the physical stress, I wasn't or couldn't think rationally. My brother came from Quincy to visit and bring me sunscreen and I felt better about doing this. I figure if I can ride that far on my second day in 100 degree humid weather with no sunscreen and then a thunderstorm at night, I think I'll be alright for the rest of the trip.
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