Here are some pictures:
The ride out was fantastic, perfect weather, not a cloud in sight on the first day.
I set up camp, did some reading and snacked on a few pistachios. I was cheating a little bit, because my parents were going to meet me there for a dinner of hot dogs cooked over the campfire, so I didn't need to carry anything other than snacks and water.
The next morning, I woke around eight, and peeked out from my tent because it seemed much windier than the day before. I saw some big puffy clouds in a disconcerting shade of gray off towards home, and the wind was blowing them my way. I packed up quickly because although I had a rain jacket, and it was only a 20 mile trip in the first place, I didn't really want to ride home in the rain.
Making it out of the park was great, then I dodged a few cars on about a 20 yard stretch of US-23 to get back to nice country roads. As soon as I turned west off of the highway, the aforementioned wind that was blowing the weather my way made its presence felt. I'd be heading right into it for about half of the trip, and the half that wasn't windy was only sheltered by the hills I'd be climbing.
I'm pretty out of shape, and had never ridden a loaded bike before the first day of my trip, but I just downshifted and got into the drops to avoid some of the wind for the first quarter of the trip.
I made it, pretty tired, but I beat the rain about 30 minutes or so.
Now... I'm back on the road, in a bus, and here's the obligatory PA shot:
18 in the mains, 8 J-subs, and 8 J12s on the side. The sidefills are hysterical, and I don't have to deal with them, and that's ok in my book.
