This was my first hard day. I felt totally broken by the end of the day, my lower back, left side of my neck, and hamstrings were screaming in pain. I started to notice some possible causes...

1. My left hood was positioned much closer than the right, causing my shoulders to twist

2. My saddle was twisted slightly left, causing my left lower back to hurt

3. My cleat position on my right foot over extended my hamstring

Thankfully, I have been able to sort out most of the issues with the bike, but the pains on my body remain. The hardest to fix is the left side of my spine , right at the base of my neck, hard to determine what causes this pain and even harder to relieve it. The others I can stretch, this one needs special attention. Is this type 3 fun?

Physically demanding tasks are repeatedly referred to as challenging not because of the requirements, but because of the mental battle needed to overcome the challenge, I think I finally understand. 

I met some other bicycle tourists and bike packers for the first time. A man from South America living in Seattle was touring all the way around the peninsula on a flat bar bicycle setup. By the looks of it, he was traveling quite heavy like I was, but kitted out for gravel and single track. It is miserably hard work going up 8% grades on dirt and gravel, especially when fully loaded with bags - I don't know how he did it, I have immense respect.

On the positive, side. I made it to the coast. I was greeted by misty rainforests and the roar of the ocean which was obscured by a thick fog. Traveling by bicycle is special because you can arrive to a full campsite and still get a spot. I am grateful that the national park service reserves hike or bike spots, otherwise I would be beaten to every campsite by car campers every single night.

I met at nice couple from the Gulf Islands of Canada, they were so sweet and asked to share my spot since the campsite was full which I was happy to share. They came down to Washington to purchase a canoe and are planning on setting up a touring company to show people bioluminescent algae off the coast. Brilliant idea - hope it goes well.