training for tour de kota

My first tour of the summer, the Tour de Kota, kicks off 3 weeks from tomorrow. With no rain in my immediate future, I set out to get some miles in this morning to prepare myself to ride 464 miles in 6 days.

Hoping to simulate conditions in South Dakota, I headed out the door about 8:00am. Let's see, wind? Check. Temps headed quickly for the mid-80's? Check. Rolling hills? Check.

And as a bonus, I irritated my eye before I left, and about 10 miles out it started watering for the next 20 or so miles. This made my nose run for the rest of the morning, and my glasses fog so I could barely see the road. Just like riding on a hot, rainy day. Minus the road grit in your teeth, or as my buddy, Pat, calls it "Belgian toothpaste".

So, I rode into a headwind, crosswind, uphill and down, including a few repeats on this hill. OK, the wind was at my back for part of the ride, but seriously, maybe only 10%! And I made it home with 50 miles in, less than an average day on TdK, but I was home by noon. and speaking of which, when I got home there was no pie, no brownies, no seven-layer bars. No way to run a bike tour.