Somehow this morning I lost an hour. I must have time traveled. Alarm went off at 4:30, I got up and it was 6am. Late start at 7 with chili from yesterday for breakfast. Somehow I lost the spoon ... chili is not good finger food.
The route now starts to use country roads instead of main roads. They are quieter but also rougher. Eastbound I was getting a bit of a headwind and today's speed was going to be the lowest in the last few days. My first stop at 60km was the only store until 110km. I eagerly pulled in and looked at the door. No "open" sign ... back at 8am ... is is not 8? Crap! Closed on Sundays! Is it Sunday? Crap! It's Sunday.
Fluids were OK but I would need food before then. The lower your fuel levels get the more everything hurts and the harder it is to generate power. This would become and issue before I got to Eureka.
Today I had my first rain of the trip. It wasn't heavy and was really only enough to keep me wet all day. It did keep the temperture down and this was also the coolest afternoon of the trip.
I encountered Zach, a teacher from San Jose. We had a good chat. He told me what was ahead and I told him.
Finally in Eureka I selected the Sonic ... I needed fuel and fluids. I hate eating like this but the mom and pop places almost don't exist any more. I did see a local drive in burger joint at the far end of town I would have selected. It was empty.
During the day the route joined some busy main roads with the narrow 2 foot shoulders. These were not much fun. Along one of these stretches I met a guy from Oregon/Michigan. He warned me of some flooding ahead. He had to ride through one and a half foot deep water across the road.
The main roads ended at a cycling famous stop, Lizard Lips. They make you sign a book and give you a lizard to attach to your bike. Like I say ... cycling famous.
Just a few miles further I made my final destination: Toronto. Wrong one. Cute little town that really caters to the cycling visitors. I just took some selfies for my Toronto friends. It seemed they were really trying to copy the Ontario signage.
Chugging along I met Chet. He had started with his wife but it was too much for her. His wife did 1000 miles, though ... mine did 0. He told me the flooding ahead was no longer an issue.
In the last 40km the Sonic started to wear off and I started to fade a bit. Fortunately, that little reserve you have for the end kicked in - with the help of some Fritos - and I made it to the motel. I was a little soggy but feeling OK. No restaurant near by and it was much later than usual so I ordered Pizza Hut. Today was not the best for nutrition. I will buy some real fruit tomorrow ... I promise.
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