This one is for Zoe

the one where I was a tiny bit grumpy

hydrating

nothing fixes a bad run like

MTBisamberg

1. Nervous - Sometimes before my big expeditions, I get a little nervous and both rational and irrational fears start creeping into my brain. What if I get lost? (kind of rational). What if a snake eats me? (irrational). What if I accidentally ride my bike onto the interstate? (Almost happened, so, rational). Plus, I had a few nerves after looking at the elevation map because one of the hills just looked like a vertical line. 

But I started the ride anyway... And it wasn't awesome. The gps directions in my ears were in French and the wind was making itself known. My legs felt like two lead logs and I was a little jittery from the 12 sips of coffee I had. Not a great beginning and very confirming of my nerves.

2. Spicy -  After about 8 miles, I decided that I didn't want to feel nervous anymore. So I convinced myself that my legs just needed to warm up, reminded myself that if you've escaped from a hospital then you can literally handle anything life throws at you, and looked right and left to see WV being it's wild and wonderful self. Turning on a very creamy playlist helped too.

Maybe spicy is homeostasis for me, but I'd say this is how I spent the majority of the ride. There were several zesty climbs in the first part of the route which I remember now as "not that bad" but during the ride I think they were pretty tough. 

I took a turn down the sexiest gravel road I've ever seen. It was incredible. A little downhill exhilaration, perfectly sized rock chunks, and that sweet, sweet surface. I also rode on Ridge Rd which was quite hilly (fitting) and passed by a road named Psycho Path (dope). I had Virginia and West Virginia mountain views, shaded forests, and farm views - all with very little traffic.

3. Grateful - Pumped doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when I crossed the bridge into Maryland. I knew I had quite a few upcoming flat miles, and I was very thankful that I had drawn the C&O Trail and WMRT into the trip. Those 20 trail miles were so needed and welcomed. I was also grateful to Rob and Abbey for taking me on some gravel rides and to previous Emma for making my tires tubeless (she's always looking out for me!) I ate a poptart for the first time in a decade which was a delicious little burst of fun.

Other honorable mentions in the gratitude section - the route maker who absolutely killed it (me), the DJ who created the fire playlist (also me), and the pilot of this adventure (surprise, it was me).

4  Toasted - When I finally exited the trails, I had a massive climb out of Maryland and into Pennsylvania. My mind and body were quite tired after 80 miles. So I did forget whether "droite" means right or left (those damn French cues), then I tried to ride my bicycle onto interstate 70 (whoops), and I also almost skipped Pennsylvania all together (wrong turn).

I knew I would get a downhill back into Berkeley Springs, but I had no fucking idea that I'd have five miles of climbing before then. I curse you, Fairview Rd. Riding a bike straight up a mountain after 92 miles is hard. It's really hard. I was pissed. A few tears did come out of my eyeballs during these last 7 very uphill miles. I also swore then that this damn ride was harder than the marathon hike (could be true). I finally rolled back into town slightly exhausted and very dead.

5. Blissed out (bonus!) - I'm literally IN the hot springs right now, so... 

Ok, but seriously, you 8 strava followers of mine keep asking for my inner monologue, so, taadaa. I'm proud of this effort and am excited for more fun all summer long. I was hoping to do this at 15 mph with a stretch goal of around 6 hours... Ha. Maybe I'll raise my expectations next time. Or maybe I'll keep them on the floor and always be pleasantly surprised.

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Emma D'Antoni

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This one is for Zoe

the one where I was a tiny bit grumpy

hydrating

nothing fixes a bad run like

MTBisamberg

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