It was back to headwind biking. We should have stayed in Bowdon. The headwind reduced us to gaining just 25 miles in five hours. We tried to maintain a pace line to benefit from drafting each other. Being the head of the line meant pain.
Nothing better describes the feeling than pain.
You pedaled until you ached all over and were physically and mentally spent. Dropping back to the end of the line provided the mental relief necessary to continue. You could relax knowing there were three people ahead giving their all. The physical advantage of drafting can be as much as 25 percent, but the mental advantage can be even greater. Later in the trip, while biking alone, I would long for a partner to draft.