The first half of this day had easily the worst conditions of the trip. Having left beautiful Corvallis, there was a lengthy stretch through the Willamette Valley before I would come to another town with any services. And there was a gnarly headwind, making things tough.

The thing about headwinds is that they sap your energy, both physical and mental. And there is no reward for the difficulty. At least when struggling to go uphill, there might be a nice view and breezy downhill descent. With a headwind, there's no reward for the suffering. You just get to work extra hard to go extra slow.

So if that wasn't enough, my allergies kicked in with full force and no warning. Suddenly I'm pushing against this headwind and

My eyes were so dry and also shedding endless tears. My nose was unbearably stuffed and also running. And of course I didn't have kleenex or anything, so I had to [redacted due to graphic and unpleasant description].

I would have died for some antihistamines. My nose has never been so raw and sore. But the next pharmacy wasn't going to be for another 20 miles--20 miles of futile pedaling against stiff and unrelenting winds. I stopped at several houses (really more like farm houses out here) asking for something ... anything! but no luck.

The worst part was the sneezing fits. I was sneezing uncontrollably over and over and over while trying to ride a bicycle. I would sneeze, the bike would swerve and just as I'd correct course, another sneeze was throwing me askew again. This was one of a handful of situations that I'd like to be able to watch on a video. It was so silly! Panting and mouth breathing through the Oregon countryside, sneezing so hard I almost fell off my bike!

But it did nothing to diminish my spirits. I did eventually find a pharmacy, stumbling in looking like I've got the consumption. From my journal:

Looking back, it wasn't that bad. That's been a pattern. I'll be miserable and suffering, but in hindsight, the experience mellows out.