Let the butt curing begin

I've really been working on getting in those long back-to-back rides to begin to callus my rump up for the long, day after day bouts of cycling that lay ahead. Go in three 3-hour rides, a 6-hour ride and a 4.5-hour ride in a row. Legs feel really strong...my ass feels like raw meat. Got to toughen that rump up in the next month so that it's as callused as the palm of my hand! Got "whimp-ass" over the winter and spring.

On yesterday's 6-hour ride I ventured into eastern Portage County and discovered the Headwaters Trail, a Rails To Trails trail that's about 9 miles in length. Stumbled on the thing when I was cruising through Mantua on Limeridge Rd. It's definitely not for road bikes due to the cinder, gravel and dirt, but perfect for a mt bike. Really impressed on how this trail just takes you through the middle of nowhere in the woods. Loved it! I took it east to it's end point in Garretsville, and then road west to it's end point in Mantua.

All in all I'm feeling like I'm twice as strong as when Ryan and I began our TransCan trip. That's good, because with Bill Ross and Judy with me for the first week on the TransUSA trip, I'm going to take advantage of the support and try to knock off consecutive 100-mile days across Maine and New Hampshire - hopefully a lot of it in the gravel. I'd like to recon these states for non-pavement routes to use on the American Dirt Project.