125 miles...

according to the most recent information provided by mr. guitar ted that's roughly how far we'll be riding to end transiowa without a refueling station along the route. apparently if we're willing to add a couple miles and venture off course we can find something but otherwise the last stop is approx 10 miles from the final checkpoint which is approx 115 miles from the finish. damn. 125 miles. from experience we'll be lucky to still be moving at 10mph. that means we're looking at needing to pack enough food and water to ride self-sustained for 10-14 hours. two things come to mind. 1) this sucks. 2) i like it. i've seen a lot of people very stripped down at the starting line. i've been very jealous of them as i am a notorious over-packer but i guess for me i've always felt like a self-supported 320 mile gravel race shouldn't be accomplished with two water bottles, a tube, pump, multi-tool, clif bar and 2 gus. i want to see people suffer. i want to see people survive. huge props to those possessing the physical body and mental fortitude to truly race this thing. but i'd be lying if i said i'm not a little bit excited to see how people handle 125 miles without refueling after having already ridden 200 miles while packing only minimal supplies. i wish them absolutely no ill will...maybe i just want a little company in the pain cave. something about collective suffering and all...