Friday, June 19, 2009

Why I will never own a Chihuahua

Day 15 - June 18, 11:44pm

58 miles. Parsons, WV to Weston, WV

Sleeping in pews was fun, felt like I was in some sort of trench, except without all that nasty war stuff. The morning routine was a bit more stressful than usual since I had put off so many things from last night when i went to sleep early. Note: Bike and Build is not equivalent to sleep, nor does it particularly encourage average amounts of it. Especially if you journal.

Started out the day on some gravel country roads. The weather and scenery were great but the roads made the uphills even worse than usual. Fortunately the bike was lubed this time. We were just totally in forest and it was so misty that we might as well have been in the amazon. Now that i think of it, parrots are awesome and it would've been so much fun to see a Macaw.

Unfortunately one of the riders ahead of me took a big spill on the gravel going downhill. Sounds familiar... It was really scary riding up to her and seeing her grabbing herself. Note: HELMETS SAVE LIVES, and it did in this case. She had a decent scrape on her right shoulder and pelvis, almost exactly like mine except less severe. She's doing just fine right now and is in great spirits. We made sure to grab a picture of our matching elbow wraps later in the day.

But apparently the day had more falls in store. Now I don't really know whats up with West Virginia, but they've seriously gotta get they're dog situation under control.
If you were riding along a quiet road only to have a pack of crazy pet chihuahas run in front of you barking like mad you might feel this way also. Yes they were the size of my backpack and yes I kinda freaked out. I couldn't help but think they would get caught in my spokes or something. I swerved right but ended up falling while trying to avoid the riders next to me. Not like my knee can't use a few more cuts...

I've basically realized that Bike and Build for me is a wild combination of high highs and low lows. As Meryl and I pulled into a town around mile 27 we were starving and decided to see if a pizza store would help us out. We explained our deal and asked for any day old bread or something hoping that they might pity us and give an actual slice. What i did not expect was the owner returning with actual day old loaves of bread saying "This is the oldest we've got" It was great to have any food but still kinda hilarious since I never actually expected day old bread. Fortunately Ed and Judy at Hometown Pizza were super nice and also gave us four super fresh pepperroni rolls right out of the oven. They might as well have been made out of ambrosia they were so great. Thank you Ed and Judy!

To complement that high high, about 4 blocks later my wheel decided to get stuck in storm drain slit sending me over the handlebars and into a low low. In retrospect it was pretty scary but I escaped unscathed. What i did not need however was my third fall of the day coming as I tried to clip back in and get away from the whole mess. And yes, i do officially have a crashing reputation on the trip by now. I've already suggested a tally row for the trailer.

After the town, Meryll and I kept riding only to come across more unleashed dogs in yards. They came pretty damn close to us but never actually chased us. I think being real calm helped. But seriously! these were legitimate 100+ dogs that could've easily mauled us. I got so frustrated at this thought. LIke i thought that stuff only happens in cartoons. Many other riders we found out did actually get chased, but successfully disbanded them by squirting water at them. What was legitimately frightening was when I saw one dog that very well could've been rabid trot near us. I didn't even want to ponder that scenario.

We had lunch at a great campsite and played on the seesaw's there. Very fun. We also got mail. To be totally honest, getting mail on the road is one of the nicest feelings ever. Some of us tend to get more than others. This group doesn't quite include me. So do check out the new "how to send george love via mail tab on the right" Seriously even pity mail is a huge morale booster. Wow this is shameless.

West Virginia is actually pretty beautiful. It's basically all rolling hills and mountains with lots of trees and pastures. Rugged is how i would describe it. It's a different kind of beauty from Pennsylvania's open flat farms and one that deserves exploring. The rest of the ride was pretty decent and mostly downhill fortunately.

At one point there was an older lady mowing a large field on a sit down mower while her husband sat and watched the event on a lawn chair. Not gonna lie, kinda odd from the road.

The elbow wound is healing pretty well though the size of the future scar is apparent. Taking care of a semi-serious wound like that is interesting. It really makes me think a lot more about the special low maintenance relationship we have with our bodies that is often taken for granted i feel. It's also amazing to see how much abuse our bodies are capable of withstanding.

Dinner at the church was great and over conversation with one of the members we talked about college sports. Now college football has never made much sense to me. I never really understood why people care so much with something thats not even in professional athletics. Over our conversation however i came to realize that states like West Virginia don't have any major league teams at all in any sports. Their state universities are really the only things that represent them individually and it makes sense that people would rally around them. It all makes an incredible amount of sense to me know. While i still am not used to the idea, being from NYC, i can totally appreciate more rural states addiction to college football way more now through this one simple conversation.

Kelly's 21st birthday was today. Some riders went out to 7-11 and bought some makeshift presents including tin foil for a hat and a pack of bologni. Her mom also legit sent her a frog pinata full of candy that we will hit during lunch tomorrow. That is just plain super cool.

The whole getting into a host routine is kinda starting to take its toll given that we do the exact same things every single night without any real time to hang out or do actual activities. We're still so grateful to our hosts but its just so mentally exhausting to go through the same motions every morning, day, and night.

For me, this kinda represents a larger metaphor for life where we're pretty much doing the same things whether it be our jobs, schoolwork, taxes, toilet bowl cleaning, or other obligations that don't seem to ever disappear. It's pointless to get upset over these constant things, but it is rather more helpful to focus on the little hidden gems in life that are in between these chores and that give us happiness and hope for the next day. Most people call this the weekend. For me on this trip, it can be trying to push a haybarrel on the side of a road, posing near a funny sign, or having an enlightening conversation. But i feel this mentality can be applied way more generally in life and its something that I've realized I need to start cultivating for this trip. I think that by the end I'll be way better off in life for having done so.

Off to Ohio tomorrow, I can't even believe that we're really that far already.

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