This saturday we rode out to Johnson City from Austin. It was 50 miles out and 50 miles back. The weather was absolutely perfect -no wind all day and no sun for the first 40 miles.

I really couldn't tell if it was easier or harder than i thought it was going to be. I wasn't worried about the distance. I've found that no matter how hard a ride is, how exhausted you are, you can always turn your feet over. This really is about endurance. Enduring pain and discomfort is essential and unfortunately expected.

Troves and I rode the first 50 miles into Johnson City together. The team met up at the Exxon station and talked to a few people about the days ride and our ride to Alaska. It was a nice taste of what's to come this summer.

The way back Troves and I picked up Evan and Clay -or they picked us up - and we all rode back into town. We stopped at Barton Springs for some 'therapeutic' swimming then cruised on home.

Overall it was a good day. The hills weren't too bad and the weather couldn't have been better. We had a rest stop (set up by Daniel Kietzer, Shelley Vinyard and others) filled with Snickerdoodles, bagels and Accelerade. My favorite item at the stop was a giant peanut butter and jelly sandwich made out of a loaf of ciabatta bread.

A big sandwich for a big ride.