Last weekend, a friend of mine and I attempted to bike from Minneapolis to Duluth. It’s a distance of 163 miles and the longest bike ride I had done previously was a 20-miler, and that was four years prior. Read last week’s post for some fun details, but this week, we’ll cover what I learned from said experience.

#1 – Be prepared. It’s good to be optimistic and even a bit spontaneous, but it’s better to know what the hell you’re getting yourself into.

#2 – Sometimes, you have to muscle your way through the hard assignments and the bleak partnerships, but you’ll learn a lot and you’ll gain insight and wisdom for future projects that will benefit you far longer than the momentary discomfort lasts.

#3 – Sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter how prepared you are, no matter how determined you are, the will of the universe does not match your own and you will fail.

#4 – Failure is okay. But only if you learn from it and if you get back up and try again. (Oh, btw – I’m going to try the bike trip again next month. I’ll let you know how it goes.)

#5 – Don’t camp near a stagnant cesspool the locals call a “river” unless you’re stoked on getting your blood sucked by millions of bugs.

- Lee Kimball