too fast...too furious

Today I rode my bike a lot. I only took this one picture. It's during a bathroom break, and states that we peed here. I rode my bike really fast, and Nolan and I crowned ourselves Dream Team #2.

I had all these moments today where I thought about a lot of funny things to write down, but I was just going too fast. Also, I got laughed at today. That's not as funny when you're by yourself as it is when you're surrounded by other spandex-clad bikers. It made me sad.

Don't worry I'm over it.

Marshmallow fluff

For some reason, people I don't know feel compelled to tell me things I don't need or want to know. This is true in my every day life, and has apparently followed me this summer. Am I too nice? Do I listen too long?

I am working on my walking away skills, while mastering not being rude at the same time. This is not working for me. I spend a lot of time having weird, somewhat uncomfortable conversations. I am just learning to be patient.

In other news, today was Nolan's birthday. We sang to him publicly twice. At first we didn't believe it was his birthday because he tends to tell tall tales. So I looked it up in his med form, and it was indeed the celebration of his birth.

Today I had Jess and Beth in the van with me. They got into a wreck yesterday (they are ok). It was nice to have the company. We had a dance party stop after the lunch stop which turned into a lot of palancing. Today was probs the hardest day of riding for everyone. Everyone is soooo tired. I hope tomorrow is better!

We are staying in Indian Lake, which is one of the last wilderness counties in the US. Here's what I learned about wilderness counties. They have more bears than people. Their ambulance response time is about an hour (compared to most places where it's 10 minutes). That's about all I know.

this is the life

Today was another hard day. Obviously. I mean Vermont/the Northeast is going to be hilly. But today was ridiculous. We were unsure of what the T-storm situation would be when we went to bed last night. Luckily it died down a bit before we took off this AM. Then we hit another climb, and the rain came. And it came. And then it came really hard. And then it came harder if you can actually believe it. We climbed, and our bodies demanded to know why the F*&% we would be doing this to them again today after yesterday, but we continued without listening. And when we got to the top of that hill, we did a little ditty. And by ditty I mean rain dance. And the rain stopped after awhile, and the weather became INCREDIBLE. Sunny, warm, blue, cloud-filled skies. We took the ferry from VT to NY as a team (after a country dance party on the VT side), and I rode with the fast kids the rest of the way, which almost killed me. And tonight we are staying at the YMCA in Silver Bay on Lake George, and it is what we like to call DELUXE. It's basically a replica-ish of the place they stay at in Dirty Dancing (minus the dancer drama), only we didn't carry a watermelon. It's amazing, and I'm hoping to finally sleep a whole night through. I think it has lifted spirits after 2 pretty hard days. We have 3 more in a row this week, so it's a long one. In the past few weeks, my definition of luxury has changed...

Luxury is:

-Sleeping in beds.

-Buffet-style dinner that's not just pasta.

-Saying this while sitting in a rocking chair overlooking Lake George at this serious summer resort, "I'm so tired I'm going cross-eyed". The atmosphere makes it that much more acceptable.

-Eating so much dinner and cake/pie desserts that you literally have to go sleep in the shower because not only are you in a food coma, but you also have the sweats and seem drunk.

-Yelling out continuously at said dinner, "WHO MADE THIS CAKE!?"

-Shuffleboard (like the full size version, not the kind at the bar)

-Ice cream parlours

-Sleeping in beds

-Not having to be shuttled to showers, but having them in the same building you are already sleeping in.

-There is more, but I am seriously going cross eyed.

Also - one of our riders had ants in her pants this morning. Seriously. She is fine, and when I realized that, I laughed pretty heartily.

our rain glasses, which i hate after using them

arial group photo

rain dance at the top of the mountain

we made it!

coming down the hill

sunshine on my shoulders...

lunch massage line

krafts waiting for the ferry

ferry time

naptime

i'm on a boat...

Empire State Line

Silver Bay

me and ang....so happy for beds

nolan's pukey stance

food coma

cactus legs and 12% climbs

My back almost went out on me this afternoon. Today was the hardest mental and physical challenge I have ever put my body and mind through. I am badass, but could never have made it without the encouragement of my teammates.

Today we crossed into Vermont, and simultaneously into serious hill country. Our last climb was an 8-mile gradual climb with a 2 mile super steep incline in the middle. It was absolutely brutal. Of course, knowing we had the hardest climb of the trip coming up, Ton, Denis and I decided to take the 2-mile uphill detour to see the Joseph Smith monument (which is essentially one big shaft...literally, and it's not even that big). Anyway...we kicked ass and took names all the way up the hill, and eventually reached the top. The downhill was indescribable. Seriously, no words. But it was amazing. I had my first fall in town trying to turn around (it was a soft fall, and very funny) and my bro was there to document it.

We stayed at a huge house that used to be a hostel in Rochester, VT with Ginny Bowman and her family. She and her son biked across the country a few years back, and their family is super interesting. Showers were in the river, which was literally the coldest water I have ever felt in my life. My girl parts went from cold to numb to burning it was that cold. Lots of screaming and overdramatics in the river.

While walking back to the hostel, through town half-naked, we were lamenting how hard it is to explain this experience to people who are outside of it. It is so hard to convey to the outside world how amazing it is, and we're only 8 days in. I can only imagine the impact it will have on each of us when it's all over (not that we're thinking about that now).

VERMONT STATE LINE

boys and the shaft

i have always loved peanut butter, and this is the master pb sandwich

nolan's lap dance/feeding me coffee/me resisting since i don't want to choke

alt angle

me and d at the top...couldn't have made it without him and Abbs

my Bethel Mountain posse

river showers

cactus legs are what nolan has named unshaven legs

me and sarah and our cactus legs

Pancakes and Angels

Kyle woke up from a nap dream today giggling hysterically. Denis and I were confused, but were in fits of laughter because it was funny even though we didn't know what was funny. When he calmed down he explained that he dreamt that I was shooting our Lebanon host with B&B t-shirts out of a t-shirt gun. This is hilarious.

To say today was a roller coaster would be an understatement. Our host is really something, and my patience has worn sort of thin. We had a great team meeting this morning though, and the builds turned out to be successful. Earlier, Steve asked if he could teach us a call and response song tonight. Thinking this would be hilarious and entertaining, I obliged. So after the B&B presentation (which the riders rocked) we headed to the ladies parlor to get our song on. He led us in a song about angels.

I was really proud that we were all able to keep it together and be somewhat serious. What happened next was beyond my wildest dreams. It turned into the biggest singalong love fest ever and continued on for 3 hours. I now love this host, and we made them so happy (and they us). Words cannot describe these moments or the way our team has bonded tonight. Another life moment I won't be able to put into words.

the ever-patient breakfast/pancake crew - kira and chris

badass american zebras on a bun

denis at our team meeting. mustaches for miles.

The Situation does the B&B presentation right

beginning of the singalong...not sure what to expect

Steve and Nolan searching for the next song

singing at the top of our lungs

choir?

getting down by the end of it