This week I went on my first practice run for my bike trip by carrying a full load and camping at the end of the day before returning home the next day. From home, I followed the Lougheed highway east with the intention of traveling slightly past hope and camping at one of two lakes along the side of the highway. But when I stopped for a rest break along the edge of the Fraser, I decided I had gone far enough and setup camp on the edge of the river.
At 110km with a full load, this had been my longest and hardest day of riding yet and was pretty sore so was happy to stop at around 3:30 and spend the rest of the afternoon reading. The camp itself was nothing out of the ordinary aside from being on a sand bar and sand getting everywhere. The river level rose slightly overnight and my sand bar was an island by morning, but I knew that was a possibility and made sure my tent was high enough up to be out of danger.
The ride home was even harder. Of course it was the same route as the day before but I was still a little tired and there were moderate headwinds all the way home. I took 2 rest stops again. I should have taken more but instead pushed on to get it over with as soon as possible because it was taking longer this time. I rode the final 50km without a rest other than the occasional stoplight.
The trip served a purpose though. Next time hopefully won’t be so hard and I’ll probably take more rest stops. And at least this summer I won’t necessarily have a fixed destination that I feel I have to get to each night like I had on my way home this trip.