Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels. -Jackson Browne Running on Empty

So I didn’t get much sleep last night and was paying for it in the morning. Someone noticed my Z-Packs backpacking tent and, for a lot of folks, this marks you as a thru hiker and prompts a conversation. We stayed up late talking about the Alps and Patagonia and the Himalaya and I didn’t get to sleep until midnight. You can’t do that and ride 100 miles a day.

The countryside has transitioned to corn and hay and rangeland and yellow canola fields to the horizon over gently rolling hills. There are little ponds everywhere as you get closer to Minnesota.

I was invited to a pig roast. I declined, offering a thin excuse. I don’t think vegetarianism is a thing out here.

So tonight, I find myself in a little private campground that someone sat up in their side yard as a side hustle. I’m the only one here. It’s actually kind of nice.