Retrospectively, I was woefully unprepared for that trip, not physically, but gearwise (food, drink, spares). I had planned to stay over in Friesland somewhere and then figured I would rather sleep in my own bed. That was probably a miscalculation, but that first half went pretty smoothly so I totally underestimated how bad the second half would be. Going onto Afsluitdijk that was pretty clear but by then the way back was long enough that I decided to go on.
The lack of spares in the end was probably and advantage because the bike held up perfectly (an old Peugeot 10 speed) and it would have just added more weight. But the lack of food & drink was really bad. I Ended up in an all-night gas station at some point to get some water, they were quite surprised to get a customer on a bicylce.
The funniest memory I have of the whole experience was how delicious the dinner was that I had at a little greasy spoon in Westport, about 2/3rds of the way there. Similar to camping or being on a canoe trip, it's just nuts how good food tastes when you're physically exhausted and starving. I went back to that diner later with my then-fiancee, and the food was considerably less appealing without the benefit of having cycled 100km to get to it.
It was the best meal of his life.
After returning home from the war, he determined to raise horses for meat. The first taste-testing, as the story goes, was underwhelming.
(Dutch): https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/twintig-maanden-cel-voor-paarde...
In wartime in NL anything that had protein was fair game, including dogs and other pets, I don't expect that it would be different anywhere else and I'm pretty sure that after a diet of flower bulbs and such those would have tasted just fine. There are some pretty harsh jokes around that theme.
Fraud is fraud.
No matter if chicken, beef, or pigs.
So they got added value with their Gammelfleisch! What's not to like? :-)
The onward ride of 50KM or so was very pleasant. I later realized it was because of a gentle down gradient. As a consequence, the return leg was a terrible misery. So much so that I hauled myself and my bike in a tuk-tuk for the last 10KM or so.
For me the sweet spot was 80KM. To be able to fully enjoy the ride and not feel miserable for next few days.
Time on earth kind of quote right there, my friend.
Reminds me of my own "contemplation" on the way back out of the Grand Canyon. Getting down there is hard. Getting back up is way harder. And the only "food" I took with me was a six pack of beer, so somewhere halfway back up my body ran out of glycogen and I couldn't even maintain my body temperature. Thought I was gonna die, and realistically I could have died, actually. I was there alone, and had I sat down to "rest" that could have been it. Moral of the story: if you're going to attempt something physically demanding like this, at a minimum have plenty of energy dense food, water, and a thermal blanket with you. That's how I pack for longer hikes nowadays.
Unfortunately, as you suggest, your story is commonplace and doesn’t always end well :/.
The takeaways I remember: (1) never hike the Grand Canyon, or any place with high exposure, in the summer, unless you’re extremely prepared for extreme weather (2) always pack the ten essentials [2] (3) when attempting a long or arduous hike, always inform an accountable third party of when and where you’re going.
Hopefully this helps somebody avoid a similar situation in the future!
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Death-Grand-Canyon/dp/09700...
[2]: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html
Time management: think about how long you want to be out. Divide by 3. Once you hit that first third, turn around. I follow this rule on my bike as well when riding downriver if the train situation is uncertain. I do not appear to be nearly as well-trained as the rest of you commenting on this.