Epic Bike Ride Day 49 July 16

Thoughts from Mark:  We are getting closer to the end!  Today the majority of the ride was on a gravel road, but it was a ton smoother, wider, and just overall “better” than the majority of the roads in the U.S.  It wound through some mountain passes, and I felt pretty good on the bike.  A couple of days ago, we talked about ending on 7-17, which is Tay’s birthday, and also the same date that we ended the Route 66 bike ride in 2018.  To accomplish this, we needed to put some extra miles in, so today was just about trying to ride as many as my back could handle.  It’s crazy to think this journey might actually have an end.  There were so many hours, and days, when the end seemed so far away.

I rode for as long as I could, and then we tried to find a place to camp.  There were several campgrounds indicated on our maps, but a few of them were closed.  We ended up driving around for 30 minutes, or possibly even longer, and eventually found a spot in a “Provincial Park.”  Our spot, which was one of only 2 or 3 in the entire 50 spot campground, was near the bathrooms, and “next door” to a family that had two 10-ish year old kids that didn’t understand how far their voices carried.  They were yelling, screaming, and just being very, very loud.  Luckily, they seemed to calm down around 11pm, and we were able to sleep well.

Miles for the day: 72.03         Feet climbed today: 5,045

Total miles ridden: 2,382.16    Total feet climbed:141,310