The salient point of today's discussion is the significance of incorporating reset days into long-distance biking journeys, particularly exemplified by our recent experience on day five of Wrightbride 52. Following a challenging previous day characterized by inclement weather and insufficient rest, we embarked on a rejuvenating ride through Iowa Falls to Cedar Falls, covering just over 50 miles under cool, gray skies. This lighter day provided a much-needed opportunity for both physical recuperation and mental clarity, allowing us to embrace a more leisurely pace while enjoying the camaraderie of our fellow riders. In our dialogue, I share valuable insights on the importance of honoring these reset days and the necessity of checking in with oneself during mid-ride reflections. Ultimately, this episode serves to emphasize that the journey is not merely about achieving distance but rather about cultivating a mindful and intentional riding experience.

Takeaways:

• The fifth day of the Wrightbride 52 journey provided a much-needed mental and physical reset after a challenging previous day.
• We traversed a distance of slightly over fifty miles, experiencing a smooth and tranquil ride through gray skies.
• I learned the importance of having emergency gear on hand, especially during adverse weather conditions.
• A day of lighter activity allowed us to recharge, emphasizing the necessity of midweek reset days during long rides.
• Enjoying simple pleasures, such as a cinnamon roll, can enhance one's experience and provide joy during physically demanding activities.
• Finding peace in the journey is more important than merely focusing on the distance, allowing for a more fulfilling ride.

Foreign.

Hey, hey, funky fam.

It's Nicholas Cleave, and it is the outdoor funky podcast where we ride, explore, and keep it funky.

Today's episode is about day five of Wrightbride 52.

It was a short, cool ride through gray skies that gave us a breather and a mental reset after one long, rainy night.

Now, today we did Iowa Falls to Ackley, and Ackley to Applington, then Parkersburg, New Hatford, and then we ended up in Cedar Falls.

It's just a little bit over 50 miles.

The vibe really was a smooth, quiet ride, restful, which I think we needed especially after.

After yesterday.

Yesterday was a tough, tough day, and I have to say, it was a really tough night, too.

And so after a rough night, it was a fresh start.

Here we had a brutal, hard rains and barely slept any.

You know, I was up late trying to keep the tent from flooding, shuffling gear, moving stuff around there.

There wasn't much rest at all.

It.

I think finally I figured I had to sleep.

It was kind of crazy because I had not only.

I had one inflatable mattress that I put away because it was too thin, and I got a thicker inflatable mattress out that I brought as an emergency.

They kind of get me up off of the base of the tent, you know, and that can be a lesson, too, is, you know, it doesn't hurt to have emergency things on hand.

We had to have.

I had my emergency tent this week that I had to switch to, and that turned out to be a better tent, actually, and dumped the other tent.

It's an older tent.

Bought this tent I have right now on clearance that we're using.

But I also brought in a.

A backup inflatable for each of.

For Maya and for me.

But I had to get up off the ground a little bit because we were taking on some water through the night.

And I tried to.

I tried to waterfi our tent as much as I could.

There were some tents that woke up in standing water an inch to 2 inches deep in their tent.

We didn't have that.

We had it coming through.

It was coming down hard.

So there.

There are very few tents that could have held up against it, I think.

So for my Coleman tent, not.

Not a bad.

It held up pretty darn good.

But I did have to sacrifice some sleep to make sure that our tent withstood kind of holding it during the winds.

And then just with some of the rain, just kind of putting some extra towels down in the corner.

Some of the squeegee type of towels in the Corner.

Now we did wake up with.

And I had to shuffle gear and move around and stuff.

Woke up tired.

That's all right.

We had cool temperatures and gray skies.

It was really a complete shift from the heat and wind earlier the day prior.

Specifically.

Now, I don't know about you, but I consider a breakfast of champions when you're, when you have to bike, do it.

Do a long ride.

A smoothie and a cinnamon roll.

That's right.

I, I had a delicious smoothie.

I think it was a strawberry smoothie.

I had.

Maya had a smoothie.

My friend still rode with us today and he had a, had a smoothie also.

And then we also had a cinnamon roll.

And now we didn't need anything fancy, just something simple to help us reset after a long night.

Sometimes the mental reset has to take place.

You know, five days in, our legs are tired, we're still settling into the rhythm, the rhythm's getting real.

This lighter day, it truly was a gift physically and mentally.

And, and so I, I want to share a few tips for how writers can lean into like a midweek reset.

So, you know, especially if you can't take a whole day off, what do you do?

What, what, what are some tips for writing through the midweek wall?

Because sometimes you, if you're, if you're new to this and you don't understand what's happening, you can hit a wall midweek and it can really mess with your mind.

I would say honor reset days.

Use the shorter days as reset days.

Not every day needs to be your hardest day.

There's.

Some days are great for recovering.

Today was one of those days.

It was great for us physically and it was great for us mentally.

And use those shorter days to recharge.

They're part of the game plan here in doing long distance biking on a ride on something like this.

And check in with yourself mid, mid ride.

Use your silence to ask yourself, hey, how am I doing?

What do I need?

I encourage you to check in with yourself.

Think about trying to scan your body and listening to your breath work.

Right?

Try to write with clarity.

Kind of try to get in tune with your body, especially when you're going through things that you can't control like headwinds and, and heat and, and sometimes the distance that you have to bike.

Well, what can you control?

Connecting with yourself, connecting with your body.

Your, your physical thoughts, your, your or your, your physical being aware of how you physically are feeling mentally, how you're thinking, you're.

That mental inner dialogue, how you're thinking is it is your inner voice talking negative or is it kind of keeping things positive?

You know, being aware with that then feeling with purpose.

Now, the cinnamon roll wasn't just tasty.

It was a choice to treat myself kindly.

It was, it was a tasty, tasty treat.

I ate that cinnamon roll because it brought me some joy.

And that's fuel too.

Some might argue, well that's not the healthiest well, but it did bring me some joy there and it bring in and it did kind of spark boy.

After that I just kind of felt like a pep in my step or a little bit more of a power in my pedal.

So I fueled with some purpose.

In terms of bringing some joy, I would argue too maybe let go of some of the metrics.

You know, if you got a Garmin or if you got some other like tracking device here, don't be so caught up in it.

Especially in a short day, you know, there's no reason that you need to, to go out and set like a pr.

First off, like, Ragbrai is not a race.

You're not getting a, you're not winning a cupcake at the end for getting first.

It's, it's more of a, it's a, it's a ride, not a race.

Now if you're doing a race, you know that, that's a different story and that's a whole different conversation.

But this, this of course was, this was, is a ride and so I'm not so worried.

I'm not.

So I, I.

Did I have my, my GPS tracking going that day?

Yes.

I really wasn't too concerned about it.

Not.

I, I didn't even look at my speed.

I just more tried to enjoy the day and checked out kind of of some of that so I could enjoy the moment.

Just, you know, I, I, I tried to just kind of do steady wheels and open roads and, and it wasn't about chasing numbers.

It was trying to be present with myself, being present with my daughter, being present with my friend.

Still, when we were out there and just kind of embracing some of the, the, the, the quietness of the road, the kind of the, the, the, the cooler day, the, the more of the, the, the, the, the cloud coverage.

We were all kind of in our zones, but we were together.

We had smiles, we had nods, we had unspoken support, and we had some good conversation too.

And that's what makes Ragbry special.

It just felt like a different day than the day prior.

That was so terribly hard where we were just trying to get through it at all costs.

It felt differently than a century day, because that day was about just doing a really big task where we really had to stay focused on pushing the miles to get done.

So today's ride, it wasn't just about crushing distance.

It was about riding with intention, finding peace in the miles, and letting the road offer what it had to give.

Five days in ten.

Still damp.

The ride was smooth.

Cinnamon roll.

Boy ate that fast.

But we're.

But still rolling.

Still funky and still grateful.

So I want to encourage you to go explore, be yourself, get outside, get funky.

Bye now.

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