A good ride is when you empty your tank a few times over. A good ride is when you’re about to bonk; it’s so easy to stop, but you push a little further. A good ride is when you climb up a hill; you smile inside as you hurt and suffer.
It’s the ugly beautiful side of cycling… the ride is never complete until you get so tired and exhausted that you just try to pedal through the pain until the ride is over. Empty your tank, recover, repeat. Oftentimes, you get dropped… but you’re happy to be there. That’s a quick peek at the essence of cycling.