"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~ Mark Twain~
I woke up a bit damp this morning. Nothing too serious, but enough to know my things were going to be wet and muddy for a while. I headed out quickly and started driving north and east; once again directly into the storm. Several things can make me nervous while driving. One of them is driving in heavy rain. It felt like it would never stop, but once again I finally got ahead of the storm.
Having not learned from yesterday's lesson I was following GPS coordinates that landed me right in the middle of.....yeah, you guessed it: Nowhere. I plugged in the name of the state park and found that I would be doubling back about a half hour to Brown County State Park. I finally arrived and set up my tent. Then I headed to the park's country store for ice and a tarp to over my tent. Supplies purchased, I went to the bath house to change into bike gear. By the time I set out for the trails, the sky was dropping light rain. I had no idea how hard the storm would hit here, so I raced off to find the nearest trail head. I spent about three hours riding advanced and intermediate trails, all the while thinking about how different organizations' perception of those concepts is so diverse. No matter what some reviews or maps say, you never really know what you're going to find until you get there.
The trails here travel up large hills and venture back into valleys. They're well-groomed with plenty of opportunity to work on speed and agility. By the time the rain started really pouring down, I had no idea where I was at. And I was tired, muddy, and really ready to be done. I finally found my way half an hour later. The shower I had next felt like one of the best showers I've ever experienced. Not because there was anything special about the shower house, a shower was just that long overdue!
I ate a cold can of soup for dinner and had two cups of campfire coffee before turning in for the night. I thought I would read, but after turning a couple pages in my book I realized I wasn't retaining a bit of the information. Exhausted and wired, I cursed myself for drinking that damn coffee so late. Then I settled into soggy blankets and tossed and turned until my body eventually gave in to sleep.
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