Today was supposed to be 75 miles to reach our host in Mansfield but did not go as planned - the weather was out to get us! It was a cold morning already and then the pouring rain started on us 10 miles into our ride. We were freezing and wet but kept pushing through because we had lots of miles to get through. At one point while on a bike trail, we came across a bridge that had been partly collapsed, so we had to cross individually over a small plank and pass our bikes across. Then to add to the madness it started thunder-storming on us about 20 miles in while we were still on the trail. We huddled under the trees for a while but because it was so cold we decided to keep riding on to get to the water stop and hopefully find some real shelter/ our support van. We were so relieved when we spotted Peter and Jamie standing in the pouring rain waving us down by the van. They had set up a water stop near a baseball field so we huddled under the dugout to escape the monsoon around us. After some team consideration, we decided to call it a day and shuttle all of the riders to the host because we were all cold, wet, only 25/75 miles in, and the weather forecast was showing a 60% chance of thunderstorms for the rest of the day. It was a bummer to know we weren't going to be able to finish our ride but we were shivering and knew we needed some dry clothes and warmth! We loaded our bikes onto the top of the van in the pouring rain and squished in along with all of our supplies. Thankfully our awesome host, the Berean Baptist Church, welcomed us in even though we were much earlier than expected, and let us get some warm showers and bring all of our bags and food in!
I actually then passed out for a long nap because I had had to take a Benadryl after getting a huge, nasty bug bite while we were riding on the trail. Shoutout to my teammate and nurse, Caitlyn, who checked out my gigantic bug bite, reassured me that it was not life threatening, and got me the Benadryl to take (she's awesome). When I woke up it was already 6 pm! (Biking across the country makes you really good at napping!). We had a really great dinner and got to meet and talk with our hosts who made it for us. The pastor and his wife of the church hosting us shared the story of how they lost their 21 year-old son to cancer just 3 years ago. We were so touched and thankful that they would be willing to share their story with us and it put some more perspective and meaning behind why we are biking across the country. Sometimes we get caught up and stressed in the actual biking aspect of the trip so it is nice to be reminded of what it's really all about. Their son sounded like an amazing person who loved to adventure and live life to the fullest. We plan to dedicate our ride to him tomorrow :)
After dinner, we had our typical team meeting. Every night we come together to go over the next day's plans, get info from our ride directors, and to do "spotlight" and "hot seat". Spotlight is when we go around and you can "spotlight" someone on the team for something helpful/nice/awesome they did that day. It's a really good way to come together as a team after riding in groups all day long to hear funny stories about your teammates or just the nice things they have been doing for each other while riding. Hot seat is a game we have played every night since day one where one person goes in the middle of the circle and the rest of the team bombards them with whatever questions they want. It has helped us to get to know each other better and just have fun as a team. Tonight was my turn and I was a little nervous because I had no idea what I was going to be asked! Luckily my teammates were nice to me and didn't get me with too hard of questions. Weirdest question I was asked: "Would you rather have chickens for hands or chickens for feet?" (thanks Kelsey).
After our team meeting we headed to bed. They had set up four different classrooms for us to sleep in, and apparently I had been the only one in my room to set my alarm because when it hit 5:15, everyone was still asleep (we are supposed to wake up at 5). I knew we had to get up and ready so I risked my life and turned on the lights. Let me tell you: 4K riders are not happy when you wake them up with bright lights at 5 in the morning (myself included). Hopefully I won't have to be the one to do that again because people were not happy with me :) We are headed to Columbus, OH next and I am on water van duty with Margaret for the first time! Read about it in my next blog post...
I actually then passed out for a long nap because I had had to take a Benadryl after getting a huge, nasty bug bite while we were riding on the trail. Shoutout to my teammate and nurse, Caitlyn, who checked out my gigantic bug bite, reassured me that it was not life threatening, and got me the Benadryl to take (she's awesome). When I woke up it was already 6 pm! (Biking across the country makes you really good at napping!). We had a really great dinner and got to meet and talk with our hosts who made it for us. The pastor and his wife of the church hosting us shared the story of how they lost their 21 year-old son to cancer just 3 years ago. We were so touched and thankful that they would be willing to share their story with us and it put some more perspective and meaning behind why we are biking across the country. Sometimes we get caught up and stressed in the actual biking aspect of the trip so it is nice to be reminded of what it's really all about. Their son sounded like an amazing person who loved to adventure and live life to the fullest. We plan to dedicate our ride to him tomorrow :)
After dinner, we had our typical team meeting. Every night we come together to go over the next day's plans, get info from our ride directors, and to do "spotlight" and "hot seat". Spotlight is when we go around and you can "spotlight" someone on the team for something helpful/nice/awesome they did that day. It's a really good way to come together as a team after riding in groups all day long to hear funny stories about your teammates or just the nice things they have been doing for each other while riding. Hot seat is a game we have played every night since day one where one person goes in the middle of the circle and the rest of the team bombards them with whatever questions they want. It has helped us to get to know each other better and just have fun as a team. Tonight was my turn and I was a little nervous because I had no idea what I was going to be asked! Luckily my teammates were nice to me and didn't get me with too hard of questions. Weirdest question I was asked: "Would you rather have chickens for hands or chickens for feet?" (thanks Kelsey).
After our team meeting we headed to bed. They had set up four different classrooms for us to sleep in, and apparently I had been the only one in my room to set my alarm because when it hit 5:15, everyone was still asleep (we are supposed to wake up at 5). I knew we had to get up and ready so I risked my life and turned on the lights. Let me tell you: 4K riders are not happy when you wake them up with bright lights at 5 in the morning (myself included). Hopefully I won't have to be the one to do that again because people were not happy with me :) We are headed to Columbus, OH next and I am on water van duty with Margaret for the first time! Read about it in my next blog post...