Day 39 - July 12, 8:26pm
75 miles. Alma, NE to McCook, NE
Nothing like waking up and finding out your on Sweep! I've found that its really hit or miss depending on mileage, terrain, partners, weather, etc. When I heard I was really hoping for a great experience to make up for last time. Boy did it deliver.
Unfortunately my original partner was feeling a bit under the weather so people got to volunteer at breakfast to ride with yours truly. I personally would've preferred more of a Bachelor or Dating Game style of selection procedure, but for the sake of time, hand raising seemed to work just fine.
Colin King(Hilary) raised his hand immediately and just beat out Doug. Boy does it feel good to be fought over. Or maybe they just wanted to take their time leaving? Anyway, I was super pumped to have Hilary riding with me. He's honestly one of my favorite people on the trip by far and definitely just about the coolest. I say all this despite the fact that he has recently shaved his super intense lumberjack beard which was magnificent. His sense of humor is excellent and really jives with mine. He's kinda hilarious actually but he also just exudes a great mix of being both intelligent and very down to earth. Just one of those people who you know you are guaranteed to have a great time with in any situation. I love the feeling of great connection that I've been able to share with several people on this trip and how it just flows so naturally. He and others on this trip also have great laughs which i find awesome. Its hard to describe a good laugh but laughing is one of my favorite things in life and i guess thats why they're such a factor in me liking others.
It was probably only a few miles out when the day hit its high note. Jenny approached in the van and i knew it was my time for retribution. I channeled my water balloon zen and pushed off with my left hand the shot that would be heard around the world, or at least our trip. Never in my wildest dreams did I even contemplate what kind of watery massacre I would unleash when the balloon entered straight into the open passenger window of the moving van. To put it in perspective imagine a disgustingly large US bunkerbuster bomb setting off an implosion in the mountains of Afghanistan. Thats what basically happened inside of the van while the two people were in it. The glorious rejoicing was temporarily subdued by my feeling like an asshole for actually legit splattering both of them head on with a water balloon while they weren't even riding. But then I remembered that I had done it barely looking with one hand through the open window of a moving van while riding a bike uphill. Even Jenny had a hard time being totally mad at me since her complaints were basically compliments as well.
Colin and I rode at a solid pace and had some great flowing conversation and laughter. Riding really chill like that, stopping where you want, and enjoying some great one on one time is what makes sweep totally awesome sometimes.
We also took the opportunity to appreciate some of Nebraska's more "varied vegetation" by adorning, or stuffing, every orifice of ourselves and our bikes with it. Lets just say that rolling into our lunch joint like that definitely brought out a good number of laughs.
At lunch we found that Sonya and Libby had begun fomenting the seeds of unrest towards our waterballoon hegemony. Some mysterious maneuvering was definitely observed. How convenient that a few miles later, everyone in their 5 person group but Sonya and Libby had stopped supposedly "checking their tires." How odd that they got nervous when we didn't want to ride with them. What was obviously happening was a classic textbook "ploy and destroy" maneuver. Alpha team had set up the decoy meant to trick us into riding slow with them, while the Bravo Strike Force consisting of Sonya and Libby would stake out in some bushes and then pursue and ravage from behind. I only knew this because Im actually sick enough to have previously considered this all myself.
Well what happened was that Sonya and Libby got tired of hiding in a bush for 45 minutes and rode up on us and released their silly string in a hit and run. The getaway was not their strength though as a quick sprint brought me into striking distance. Two consecutive direct hits on Sonya was enough to send the enemy into full retreat. If only the taste of victory could be quenching...
Finished off the day pretty well though by 2pm the sun was not playing around anymore. By the time we rolled into town at 4:30 it was 100+ degrees. We could only contemplate what the Nevada desert has in store for us. The heat is why I've really been making an effort to get in early these days and its really paid off as i found out today. I've touched on this before, but its crazy how each part of the country has such different and unique challenges for riding that aren't really present in the others.
Entering Colorado tomorrow which is nuts, we're officially moving way past the half way point and are actually already west. Guess i'll start getting all mushy soon about how the trip is slowly ending but not really, there's a ton more riding to do and i love that. Only two days until our build day which should help us stay motivated. We'll especially need it tomorrow since its our fist Century, aka 100 mile day! It's not really that big of a deal since we've done 90+ several times but it'll still be cool since round,even numbers are kind of inherently more desirable for some reason.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Mari-what?
Day 38 - July 11, 9:24pm
47 miles. Red Cloud, NE to Alma, NE
Never thought i would feel this way, but ever since Lawrence its like we've been on vacation. Today was less of a riding day and more of a day off spent biking to a lake.
Same beautiful terrain and quick riding held up and before we knew it we had gone 38 miles to Harlan County Lake. Now i know we were gonna have surprises along the way, but lets just say that i wasn't totally prepared to be riding through 30 miles of cannabis lined Nebraska highway today. The stuff was everywhere! And totally out in the open, not even concealed. Quite possibly one of the most hilarious moments of the trip when we realized that it wasn't just our minds making up that smell. No wonder why they call Nebraska "the good life"...
The lake had a great lunch spot and I got on a swing for the first time since I can't remember when. Things only got better when the local ranger Chris took a few of us on a tour of the Dam. As soon as you stepped inside the concrete walls, the 55 degree air immediately surrounded you. 40 degree temperature drops give quite the tingle. He showed us all inside in the hallways and pumps and also took us up to the catwalks where we could see everything below us. I love huge structures like that and gettting the tour was a blast for all of us. No pictures were allowed unfortunately and for some reason neither was pressing the button labeled "Open Gates"
Afterwards, Larry, Carlie, Hilary and I went for a quick dip in the lake which was glorious. I used to be such a stickler about being cold and not wanting to get wet but around this year as part of my larger push of getting rid of silly inhibitions I've totally embraced things like this and the concept of just letting go and doing it. I really try and live as much of my life as i can by this and throwing myself into the cold water was wonderful affirmation of this.
I just completely laid out on the sand for at least a half hour afterwards. It was so surreal, but mostly heavenly, to just be hanging out like that on a sandy beach on a riding day. Just one more example of how Bike and Build has made me appreciate almost everything in my life so much more.
Oh and by the way, did i mention that i finally nailed the van today. Victory sure did taste sweet.
The United Methodist Church put out a great spread for dinner. I could tell because before I even ate I was already so happy thinking about how good tomorrow's lunch leftovers would taste.
Probably the best thing from today was getting to talk to my best friends George and Paul from back home, the latter of which I haven't heard from for a month. I had the biggest grin on my face the whole time. I barely use my cell phone at all on the trip, (not that the service is exactly excellent out here..) so when i do actually call and talk to people its just that much more special and amazing to have the comfort and love of their voice while on the road. Not really being around a phone and being isolated in general like we are really makes you think about who matters in your life via who you find yourself wanting to call.
Only 1 more day in Nebraska, and then Colorado, aka THE WEST! I'm so super pumped for the rockies and showing them who's boss. At least so I say now from the flattest place in the country...
47 miles. Red Cloud, NE to Alma, NE
Never thought i would feel this way, but ever since Lawrence its like we've been on vacation. Today was less of a riding day and more of a day off spent biking to a lake.
Same beautiful terrain and quick riding held up and before we knew it we had gone 38 miles to Harlan County Lake. Now i know we were gonna have surprises along the way, but lets just say that i wasn't totally prepared to be riding through 30 miles of cannabis lined Nebraska highway today. The stuff was everywhere! And totally out in the open, not even concealed. Quite possibly one of the most hilarious moments of the trip when we realized that it wasn't just our minds making up that smell. No wonder why they call Nebraska "the good life"...
The lake had a great lunch spot and I got on a swing for the first time since I can't remember when. Things only got better when the local ranger Chris took a few of us on a tour of the Dam. As soon as you stepped inside the concrete walls, the 55 degree air immediately surrounded you. 40 degree temperature drops give quite the tingle. He showed us all inside in the hallways and pumps and also took us up to the catwalks where we could see everything below us. I love huge structures like that and gettting the tour was a blast for all of us. No pictures were allowed unfortunately and for some reason neither was pressing the button labeled "Open Gates"
Afterwards, Larry, Carlie, Hilary and I went for a quick dip in the lake which was glorious. I used to be such a stickler about being cold and not wanting to get wet but around this year as part of my larger push of getting rid of silly inhibitions I've totally embraced things like this and the concept of just letting go and doing it. I really try and live as much of my life as i can by this and throwing myself into the cold water was wonderful affirmation of this.
I just completely laid out on the sand for at least a half hour afterwards. It was so surreal, but mostly heavenly, to just be hanging out like that on a sandy beach on a riding day. Just one more example of how Bike and Build has made me appreciate almost everything in my life so much more.
Oh and by the way, did i mention that i finally nailed the van today. Victory sure did taste sweet.
The United Methodist Church put out a great spread for dinner. I could tell because before I even ate I was already so happy thinking about how good tomorrow's lunch leftovers would taste.
Probably the best thing from today was getting to talk to my best friends George and Paul from back home, the latter of which I haven't heard from for a month. I had the biggest grin on my face the whole time. I barely use my cell phone at all on the trip, (not that the service is exactly excellent out here..) so when i do actually call and talk to people its just that much more special and amazing to have the comfort and love of their voice while on the road. Not really being around a phone and being isolated in general like we are really makes you think about who matters in your life via who you find yourself wanting to call.
Only 1 more day in Nebraska, and then Colorado, aka THE WEST! I'm so super pumped for the rockies and showing them who's boss. At least so I say now from the flattest place in the country...
Center of the Universe
Day 37 - July 10th, 10:41pm
70 miles. Beloit, KS to Red Cloud, Nebraska
I know, seriously, a town called Red Cloud, you just know this day had to be awesome. I'd def put it in the top 3. All the cool things today were definitely much needed after those 200 miles of nothingness.
To start with, 70 miles is actually a treat. Our terrain was the same mix of flat and rolling ground, a great mix of wild, untamed prairies and endless farms. It was really gorgeous and kind of struck me as a less intense version of West Virginia(which id say has been the prettiest so far), West Virginia Lite if you will.
The weather was a whole other deal. To begin, as we exited the building this morning what did we find? Not one, but two rainbows covering the entire sky! They were so pronounced and colorful, almost like a skittles commercial. It was the first time all of us had seen anything like that. Words cannot describe. It was wild and purely awe - mazing.
We started the day pedaling away from the darkest of the dark clouds towards the other half of the sky that was all blue. It was only 2 miles before the cue sheet turned us left back into the storm clouds for 27 miles. As we prepared for the worst, being rain, the landscape yet again pulled off something crazy. The sun peeked through some clouds illuminating all of the seas of wheat and contrasting heavily with the ultra dark sky. The color clash was outrageous. It looked like a poorly photoshopped image or something and was super. Kinda was one of those "Whoa, are you for real right now sun?!" moments. Even more super was that we were able to actually peddle all the way through the storm clouds to the other blue sky side without any rain! Anyone reading this blog knows very well by now what that means for me.
Our first funstop of the day was at the world's largest ball of twine at Cawker City, KS. In case you were wondering, 17,000 pounds is really heavy and yes that ball is ginormous. Its kinda hilarious to think that something like that actually exists but then again we need something to take pictures in front of, right? Much fun was had as we did some climbing on it as well as taking little snippets to carry along with us. Don't worry, we also put on our own twine contribution that way exceeded what we took.
Next up was the geographic center of the universe, erm, i mean the continental US. I kinda love anticlimactic monuments and this definitely did not fail to deliver. Though i did think it would be pretty funny if they one day discovered that they were off by like a few feet and had to move the whole monument. There was also this rooster just hanging out in the lunch gazebo. Kinda random, but also kinda fun.
The biggest highlight by far though, and one of my favorite memories so far, was my riding with Larry, Ryan Farr, Steven, and Carlos. 20 miles of enless, deserted rode basically means byof. Bring Your Own Fun. What started out with some joking around about riding formations quickly turned into the most extremely synchronized cycling performance Kansas has ever seen. Seriously\, I've seen less coordinated Olympic athletes. After developing about 6 or so moves including the Jack in the Box, Flying V, Five Abreast, Reverse V, we ran through a 5 minute choreographed routine memorizing positions and all. That was merely to prepare for none other than our finale, the fabled Zanzibar. All i can say is that criss crossing, water bottles, charging, flanking, thumbs up, and fist pumps, may or may not have been involved in that move alone.
While obviously super fun by itself, we performers have the audience at heart and ran through it relentlessly in preparation for a Van only performance. Kate apparently didnt get the message and passed us only 1/3 of our way into it. No Joke, we were actually furious that they hadn't watched it all. Its all good since we calmed down after getting out a flawless run through anyway. Ugh, Happiness is so internal these days...
The waterballoons were unused today due to rehearsal, but the munitions team remains ever alert.
Passed into Nebraska today! Apparently over here is where its "The Good Life". Funny, you wouldn't really know it from the 5+ shotgun rounds sprayed onto the state welcome sign. Oh America...
Got some pool time in along with the others in town. I've never really taken to diving but there have been boards everywhere. I decided today that I don't enjoy painful bellyflops but would rather prefer graceful swan aerialism. Did a lot of practicing on the board. Not much improving, but still, a lot of practice. Hopes are to get a decently cool one i can do solid by the end of the trip. I mean what's water for if you can't show off to your friends, right? The millions of little kids there definitely had a ball doing that in front of us today.
Thought today about having us try to break some kind of cycling world record. Would probably be unneccessary, silly, and totally useless. Figured it would fit right in with the rest of our fun activities!
47 miles tomorrow is a joke, we usually do a little less than that just for lunch. Will be nice to rest while still covering distance. I'm also responsible for writing the group journal for today. Was originally planning on letting my imaginary gnome friend, Moxy, take care of it. He tells me he'll cover next time though and will just use my experience for this time. Gnomes these days... Anyway, Goodnight!
70 miles. Beloit, KS to Red Cloud, Nebraska
I know, seriously, a town called Red Cloud, you just know this day had to be awesome. I'd def put it in the top 3. All the cool things today were definitely much needed after those 200 miles of nothingness.
To start with, 70 miles is actually a treat. Our terrain was the same mix of flat and rolling ground, a great mix of wild, untamed prairies and endless farms. It was really gorgeous and kind of struck me as a less intense version of West Virginia(which id say has been the prettiest so far), West Virginia Lite if you will.
The weather was a whole other deal. To begin, as we exited the building this morning what did we find? Not one, but two rainbows covering the entire sky! They were so pronounced and colorful, almost like a skittles commercial. It was the first time all of us had seen anything like that. Words cannot describe. It was wild and purely awe - mazing.
We started the day pedaling away from the darkest of the dark clouds towards the other half of the sky that was all blue. It was only 2 miles before the cue sheet turned us left back into the storm clouds for 27 miles. As we prepared for the worst, being rain, the landscape yet again pulled off something crazy. The sun peeked through some clouds illuminating all of the seas of wheat and contrasting heavily with the ultra dark sky. The color clash was outrageous. It looked like a poorly photoshopped image or something and was super. Kinda was one of those "Whoa, are you for real right now sun?!" moments. Even more super was that we were able to actually peddle all the way through the storm clouds to the other blue sky side without any rain! Anyone reading this blog knows very well by now what that means for me.
Our first funstop of the day was at the world's largest ball of twine at Cawker City, KS. In case you were wondering, 17,000 pounds is really heavy and yes that ball is ginormous. Its kinda hilarious to think that something like that actually exists but then again we need something to take pictures in front of, right? Much fun was had as we did some climbing on it as well as taking little snippets to carry along with us. Don't worry, we also put on our own twine contribution that way exceeded what we took.
Next up was the geographic center of the universe, erm, i mean the continental US. I kinda love anticlimactic monuments and this definitely did not fail to deliver. Though i did think it would be pretty funny if they one day discovered that they were off by like a few feet and had to move the whole monument. There was also this rooster just hanging out in the lunch gazebo. Kinda random, but also kinda fun.
The biggest highlight by far though, and one of my favorite memories so far, was my riding with Larry, Ryan Farr, Steven, and Carlos. 20 miles of enless, deserted rode basically means byof. Bring Your Own Fun. What started out with some joking around about riding formations quickly turned into the most extremely synchronized cycling performance Kansas has ever seen. Seriously\, I've seen less coordinated Olympic athletes. After developing about 6 or so moves including the Jack in the Box, Flying V, Five Abreast, Reverse V, we ran through a 5 minute choreographed routine memorizing positions and all. That was merely to prepare for none other than our finale, the fabled Zanzibar. All i can say is that criss crossing, water bottles, charging, flanking, thumbs up, and fist pumps, may or may not have been involved in that move alone.
While obviously super fun by itself, we performers have the audience at heart and ran through it relentlessly in preparation for a Van only performance. Kate apparently didnt get the message and passed us only 1/3 of our way into it. No Joke, we were actually furious that they hadn't watched it all. Its all good since we calmed down after getting out a flawless run through anyway. Ugh, Happiness is so internal these days...
The waterballoons were unused today due to rehearsal, but the munitions team remains ever alert.
Passed into Nebraska today! Apparently over here is where its "The Good Life". Funny, you wouldn't really know it from the 5+ shotgun rounds sprayed onto the state welcome sign. Oh America...
Got some pool time in along with the others in town. I've never really taken to diving but there have been boards everywhere. I decided today that I don't enjoy painful bellyflops but would rather prefer graceful swan aerialism. Did a lot of practicing on the board. Not much improving, but still, a lot of practice. Hopes are to get a decently cool one i can do solid by the end of the trip. I mean what's water for if you can't show off to your friends, right? The millions of little kids there definitely had a ball doing that in front of us today.
Thought today about having us try to break some kind of cycling world record. Would probably be unneccessary, silly, and totally useless. Figured it would fit right in with the rest of our fun activities!
47 miles tomorrow is a joke, we usually do a little less than that just for lunch. Will be nice to rest while still covering distance. I'm also responsible for writing the group journal for today. Was originally planning on letting my imaginary gnome friend, Moxy, take care of it. He tells me he'll cover next time though and will just use my experience for this time. Gnomes these days... Anyway, Goodnight!
Seas of Gold
Day 36 - July 9, 7:58pm
94 miles. Manhattan, KS to Beloit, KS
Waking up at 4:30 really isnt too bad. Really, I mean as long as you think of it as an extended nap from the day before you'll be set. Seriously though, being totally ready to ride while its still dark was an interesting experience. Breakfast was provided by this funny group of men from the church who were kind enough to be up so early. It was funny since dinner the night before had been prepared by a female only group. Seems like a good enough way to avoid marriage stress...
Riding with the sunrise in the morning made me realize how few I've actually seen. I can't even remember the last time, but let me tell you, no one could get over how magical the morning ride was with such a majestic sun creeping over the horizon. We all agreed that we'd totally do 4:30 every morning if we could experience that each time.
The rolling scenery was great all the way through. Lots of prairies and lots of wheat. Unfortunately the latter had already been harvested only a week ago but that didn't stop Karina and I from getting a quick frolic in(it was her first!). Though i would've loved to be running among head high stalks, standing in a sea of gold for as far as i could see was pretty awesome. The 100+ degrees that started hitting around 2:30 was less than great. But there were sheep! We even got to see them run around. Gotta love em.
I explained yesterday how people usually just end up riding with each other sorta randomly unless arranged beforehand. Lately there have been lots of two person pairs and I've been thinking for a while how frustrating it can be when your pace isn't matched up with your partners. Its really none of your faults but just rather your difference in riding abilities. On a super hot and long day like today where the roads are flat I at least feel that its nice to go a healthy pace and finish early and beat the heat. You obviously can't ditch people you're with so it gets a little tough if things aren't matched. Its not so much going slow that's the problem, but rather that feeling of not getting a good workout. I guess in a way my body sometimes craves endorphins and speed really bad but I can't always allow that due to riding conditions, and that can sometimes be tough to handle. Its also much harder if good conversation isn't always present to make up for the slow riding. Just some thoughts on an unavoidable dilemma. It kinda bothers me that i sometimes find myself subtly maneuvering to make sure I don't get paired with certain riders, but on the other hand there shouldn't be anything wrong with wanting to ride with people who you like and who match your speed.'
The day was once again spent on Route 24 which was thoroughly uneventful. We did pass a sign pointing to Salina, KS which was cool since my roommate Patrick is from there and has told me a bunch of stories about it. On the last 15 miles, we hit flat land and the crosswind picked up like nobody's business. We were struggling to not let the wind push us off the rode. I literally had to ride tilted left 80 degrees just to keep from being pushed over. It was pretty fun and cool actually. I mean really, who would want easy riding?
We did some guesstimating and are thinking that the Rockies will come into sight in two days. Some say tomorrow but i think two days sounds good. Can't wait to get that first glimpse of them on the horizon. Nothing like staring at doom head on for hundreds of miles.
Also, the artillery was out in full force today. The satchel was loaded last night with seven munitions of which only one was prematurely detonated today. One other was fired directly at the van as it passed us(perfect timing!) only to be deflected off the windshield. No other victims were targeted, but tomorrow is another day. And for those who are more confused than usual, I'm talking about my slowly self-consuming water-balloon obsession. Jenny couldn't tell what hit the car, so worry not, she still assumes it was an onion(?). The enemy still sleeps...
Finally! i found postcards. Such a load of stress off of me, it was literally the only place in a 30 mile radius that had any. Ugh! Its silly to be upset over this but i still can't believe that in 94 miles and our host town i didn't pass a single pharmacy that i could buy sunscreen from. With sun that intense its a necessity and it pains me to keep borrowing from people. Words cannot express my outrage at the barren countryside right now, as beautiful as it is. This is def my city side being all fussy but seriously, just one bottle of sunscreen. I just get really upset and outraged when things that should make sense and be simple aren't. Namely, buying a bottle of sunscreen somewhere in 200 miles of road. Don't even get me started on companies' customer service...
Got into town early with Carlie around 2:30 and enjoyed a great root beer float at this nice soda fountain shop for only $2.50. You can't even get a whipped cream topping for that cheap in NYC. By then it was definitely over 100 degrees and we headed to the city pool with some others only to find the greatest slide ever. We easily went on it at least 10 times in the first 5 minutes and were more hyper than most of the little kids there. Water to our skin was like gold bond to a wet crotch. (Trust me, riders know what that means) Getting to know several female lifeguards was also very appreciated. Easliy chilled in the pool for over 1.5 hours and loved every minute.
The catholic church here treated us to a great spaghetti dinner and i couldn't help but go into "inhale" mode after all that swimming. Finished dinner by 7 something and its really nice to have all this time to decompress. Though its quickly approaching 10pm which for most people is probably the equivalent of 1am.
Also, mail drop today! Super Duper thanks to John and Niki and everyone for sending the cards and words of support (loved the drawn in bicycle!). They totally made my day. I guess someone looked at how to mail love on the right sidebar, ahem... Also just in general thank you for your unrelenting love and encouragement. That goes for all of the readers of this blog as well. You're probably all connected in some way to one or more riders on this trip, whether friends or family, or acquaintances we've met along the way. If you're a random dude in Greenland that's probably still okay. But knowing that you're all following along and silently cheering means the world to me and all the riders. Comments are just goldmines of encouragement as well and I'd highly recommend them. Its really my honor and pleasure to share this magical journey with you all so THANK YOU for being there with us.
94 miles. Manhattan, KS to Beloit, KS
Waking up at 4:30 really isnt too bad. Really, I mean as long as you think of it as an extended nap from the day before you'll be set. Seriously though, being totally ready to ride while its still dark was an interesting experience. Breakfast was provided by this funny group of men from the church who were kind enough to be up so early. It was funny since dinner the night before had been prepared by a female only group. Seems like a good enough way to avoid marriage stress...
Riding with the sunrise in the morning made me realize how few I've actually seen. I can't even remember the last time, but let me tell you, no one could get over how magical the morning ride was with such a majestic sun creeping over the horizon. We all agreed that we'd totally do 4:30 every morning if we could experience that each time.
The rolling scenery was great all the way through. Lots of prairies and lots of wheat. Unfortunately the latter had already been harvested only a week ago but that didn't stop Karina and I from getting a quick frolic in(it was her first!). Though i would've loved to be running among head high stalks, standing in a sea of gold for as far as i could see was pretty awesome. The 100+ degrees that started hitting around 2:30 was less than great. But there were sheep! We even got to see them run around. Gotta love em.
I explained yesterday how people usually just end up riding with each other sorta randomly unless arranged beforehand. Lately there have been lots of two person pairs and I've been thinking for a while how frustrating it can be when your pace isn't matched up with your partners. Its really none of your faults but just rather your difference in riding abilities. On a super hot and long day like today where the roads are flat I at least feel that its nice to go a healthy pace and finish early and beat the heat. You obviously can't ditch people you're with so it gets a little tough if things aren't matched. Its not so much going slow that's the problem, but rather that feeling of not getting a good workout. I guess in a way my body sometimes craves endorphins and speed really bad but I can't always allow that due to riding conditions, and that can sometimes be tough to handle. Its also much harder if good conversation isn't always present to make up for the slow riding. Just some thoughts on an unavoidable dilemma. It kinda bothers me that i sometimes find myself subtly maneuvering to make sure I don't get paired with certain riders, but on the other hand there shouldn't be anything wrong with wanting to ride with people who you like and who match your speed.'
The day was once again spent on Route 24 which was thoroughly uneventful. We did pass a sign pointing to Salina, KS which was cool since my roommate Patrick is from there and has told me a bunch of stories about it. On the last 15 miles, we hit flat land and the crosswind picked up like nobody's business. We were struggling to not let the wind push us off the rode. I literally had to ride tilted left 80 degrees just to keep from being pushed over. It was pretty fun and cool actually. I mean really, who would want easy riding?
We did some guesstimating and are thinking that the Rockies will come into sight in two days. Some say tomorrow but i think two days sounds good. Can't wait to get that first glimpse of them on the horizon. Nothing like staring at doom head on for hundreds of miles.
Also, the artillery was out in full force today. The satchel was loaded last night with seven munitions of which only one was prematurely detonated today. One other was fired directly at the van as it passed us(perfect timing!) only to be deflected off the windshield. No other victims were targeted, but tomorrow is another day. And for those who are more confused than usual, I'm talking about my slowly self-consuming water-balloon obsession. Jenny couldn't tell what hit the car, so worry not, she still assumes it was an onion(?). The enemy still sleeps...
Finally! i found postcards. Such a load of stress off of me, it was literally the only place in a 30 mile radius that had any. Ugh! Its silly to be upset over this but i still can't believe that in 94 miles and our host town i didn't pass a single pharmacy that i could buy sunscreen from. With sun that intense its a necessity and it pains me to keep borrowing from people. Words cannot express my outrage at the barren countryside right now, as beautiful as it is. This is def my city side being all fussy but seriously, just one bottle of sunscreen. I just get really upset and outraged when things that should make sense and be simple aren't. Namely, buying a bottle of sunscreen somewhere in 200 miles of road. Don't even get me started on companies' customer service...
Got into town early with Carlie around 2:30 and enjoyed a great root beer float at this nice soda fountain shop for only $2.50. You can't even get a whipped cream topping for that cheap in NYC. By then it was definitely over 100 degrees and we headed to the city pool with some others only to find the greatest slide ever. We easily went on it at least 10 times in the first 5 minutes and were more hyper than most of the little kids there. Water to our skin was like gold bond to a wet crotch. (Trust me, riders know what that means) Getting to know several female lifeguards was also very appreciated. Easliy chilled in the pool for over 1.5 hours and loved every minute.
The catholic church here treated us to a great spaghetti dinner and i couldn't help but go into "inhale" mode after all that swimming. Finished dinner by 7 something and its really nice to have all this time to decompress. Though its quickly approaching 10pm which for most people is probably the equivalent of 1am.
Also, mail drop today! Super Duper thanks to John and Niki and everyone for sending the cards and words of support (loved the drawn in bicycle!). They totally made my day. I guess someone looked at how to mail love on the right sidebar, ahem... Also just in general thank you for your unrelenting love and encouragement. That goes for all of the readers of this blog as well. You're probably all connected in some way to one or more riders on this trip, whether friends or family, or acquaintances we've met along the way. If you're a random dude in Greenland that's probably still okay. But knowing that you're all following along and silently cheering means the world to me and all the riders. Comments are just goldmines of encouragement as well and I'd highly recommend them. Its really my honor and pleasure to share this magical journey with you all so THANK YOU for being there with us.
The Little Apple
Day 35 - July 8, 9:52 pm
80 miles. Lawrence, KS to Manhattan, KS.
So this was our cue sheet today.
1. Turn right out of hotel
2. Turn right onto Route 24.
3. Pedal Pedal Pedal for 80 miles.
4. Turn right into church.
One road, 80 miles. Yes, we're in the midwest. Rode with Clarissa today and it was honestly some of the fastest riding yet. She's pretty awesome and we get along well. Im just really attracted to her laidbackness and how forthcoming she is. Its kinda wierd to think shes 5 years older than me but how i never even think of that when talking to her. If she never told me i would've thought she was 20. Age is just so ridiculously arbitrary and it amazes me how little it matters in how people can connect. Its too bad it still remains such a silly barrier sometimes. LIke me, you may also be thinking of one age marker in particular.
We averaged almost 17mph for the whole day which i think is my highest yet. We got to lunch at 40 miles without even stopping once which was definitely a first. Neither of us had ever ridden 40 consecutive miles like that so that was cool. We had also never been on such insane flat ground without a headwind so yea.
Morning riding is the best. Traffic and temperature are so low and your energy is so high. By the time the sun came out in our last 10 miles, even I was having trouble with the heat. Guess who saw more corn today! Apparently all the wheat has already been harvested so thats no fun but 24 was actually a decent highway. In some ways, its nice to have many turns to give yourself small checkpoints and a false sense of accomplishment and such. But so long as the shoulder is nice and we can keep up a good speed, staying on one route and getting in your zone also works pretty well.
We found some abandoned train cars and climbed up to see the empty insides. Seeing an empty container is pretty much as anticlimactic as it sounds but it was still fun to see and climb the cars up close.
Its kinda personally funny to be in a town called Mahnattan coming from NYC myself, when its clearly not the most populated. In case you're wondering, Manhattan is actually a Native American term meaning roughly "Land of hills". Thats the only way i could see that the two towns would have the same name. Its apparently referred to as the "Little Apple"
Seriously though, could it be any harder to find a simple postcard. The gas stations were fruitless and the town book stores has all of these silly artsy cards. Its kinda frustrating actually because its just so counerintuitive. We have so little time to actually look for things like that and when you're riding it sucks to ruin your rhythm and take a pitstop for errands. Man, I've never wanted tacky gas station items so bad. You would think that a place like Kansas would want to show off itself at every chance it gets. Either way, I am confident that i will persevere and that through my cards all shall know of the great state of Kansas.
After getting to the church, four of us headed over to a local sprinkler park and basically did what every other 8 year old was doing. We ran around and screamed. Did some mothers pull their children away from us? Maybe. Hopefully not. it was an awesome sprinkler park though with so many cool colorful fountains and on such a hot day it must have been paradise for those kids. The only problem was the aimable squirt guns with which the kids decided to keep getting my attention with. For our pose we decided to go with Water Vixens. And by we i mean I. That might help explain the, how can i say, less than coordinated arrangement.
We continued walking into the main strip which was a typical college town strip for nearby Kansas State University. We walked into this store called Acme Gifts which is one of those stores that basically has all of those really witty and funny but utterly useless items like huge moustaches and peanut shaped erasers. It was sort of like Urban Outfitters except cooler and less gimmicky in my opinion. There were some fun girls there that were fun to talk to and that I joked around with about the store. Lets just say that I wouldn't have stuck around so long had they been guys...
Then i met the owner of the Store, named Diane, and had my world rocked. She was also apparently the owner of that Acme t shirt shop i wrote about in Lawrence as well as the original branch in Manhattan. I flipped out when i heard that and told her how i had legit said to myself how all i want to do is work there for the rest of my life. I could really sense something about her that I haven't seen in many other people and that immediately mesmerized me. You could tell that she just absolutely loved her work. I can't explain it but the way she spoke, her subtle facial expressions, her tone of voice and smile all just gave me the impression of extreme laidbackness in the best way, which is just so attractive to me. With a store like Acme her whole philosophy is how can i sell the coolest, funkiest things to people and i just find that so inspiring and beautiful. It was overwhelming actually how much that spoke to me. I can only hope for a career where i can pursue such a simple, fun goal like that. Meeting her and hearing her story and seeing how her personality was clearly the bedrock of her business was an unbelievable highlight. I could barely handle how inspired I was.
It disappoints me sometimes to think that people's careers and passions aren't always related. Its obviously one of things that just is and you can't really change all at once, but why does economic necessity have to so crushingly trump our personal fulfillment sometimes.
Great chicken dinner provided by the church which was much appreciated. We'll need it for our 100 mile ride tomorrow! I'll also need plenty of sleep for our 4:30 wakeup so goodnight!
Seriously, why do we even bother getting off our bikes sometimes.
80 miles. Lawrence, KS to Manhattan, KS.
So this was our cue sheet today.
1. Turn right out of hotel
2. Turn right onto Route 24.
3. Pedal Pedal Pedal for 80 miles.
4. Turn right into church.
One road, 80 miles. Yes, we're in the midwest. Rode with Clarissa today and it was honestly some of the fastest riding yet. She's pretty awesome and we get along well. Im just really attracted to her laidbackness and how forthcoming she is. Its kinda wierd to think shes 5 years older than me but how i never even think of that when talking to her. If she never told me i would've thought she was 20. Age is just so ridiculously arbitrary and it amazes me how little it matters in how people can connect. Its too bad it still remains such a silly barrier sometimes. LIke me, you may also be thinking of one age marker in particular.
We averaged almost 17mph for the whole day which i think is my highest yet. We got to lunch at 40 miles without even stopping once which was definitely a first. Neither of us had ever ridden 40 consecutive miles like that so that was cool. We had also never been on such insane flat ground without a headwind so yea.
Morning riding is the best. Traffic and temperature are so low and your energy is so high. By the time the sun came out in our last 10 miles, even I was having trouble with the heat. Guess who saw more corn today! Apparently all the wheat has already been harvested so thats no fun but 24 was actually a decent highway. In some ways, its nice to have many turns to give yourself small checkpoints and a false sense of accomplishment and such. But so long as the shoulder is nice and we can keep up a good speed, staying on one route and getting in your zone also works pretty well.
We found some abandoned train cars and climbed up to see the empty insides. Seeing an empty container is pretty much as anticlimactic as it sounds but it was still fun to see and climb the cars up close.
Its kinda personally funny to be in a town called Mahnattan coming from NYC myself, when its clearly not the most populated. In case you're wondering, Manhattan is actually a Native American term meaning roughly "Land of hills". Thats the only way i could see that the two towns would have the same name. Its apparently referred to as the "Little Apple"
Seriously though, could it be any harder to find a simple postcard. The gas stations were fruitless and the town book stores has all of these silly artsy cards. Its kinda frustrating actually because its just so counerintuitive. We have so little time to actually look for things like that and when you're riding it sucks to ruin your rhythm and take a pitstop for errands. Man, I've never wanted tacky gas station items so bad. You would think that a place like Kansas would want to show off itself at every chance it gets. Either way, I am confident that i will persevere and that through my cards all shall know of the great state of Kansas.
After getting to the church, four of us headed over to a local sprinkler park and basically did what every other 8 year old was doing. We ran around and screamed. Did some mothers pull their children away from us? Maybe. Hopefully not. it was an awesome sprinkler park though with so many cool colorful fountains and on such a hot day it must have been paradise for those kids. The only problem was the aimable squirt guns with which the kids decided to keep getting my attention with. For our pose we decided to go with Water Vixens. And by we i mean I. That might help explain the, how can i say, less than coordinated arrangement.
We continued walking into the main strip which was a typical college town strip for nearby Kansas State University. We walked into this store called Acme Gifts which is one of those stores that basically has all of those really witty and funny but utterly useless items like huge moustaches and peanut shaped erasers. It was sort of like Urban Outfitters except cooler and less gimmicky in my opinion. There were some fun girls there that were fun to talk to and that I joked around with about the store. Lets just say that I wouldn't have stuck around so long had they been guys...
Then i met the owner of the Store, named Diane, and had my world rocked. She was also apparently the owner of that Acme t shirt shop i wrote about in Lawrence as well as the original branch in Manhattan. I flipped out when i heard that and told her how i had legit said to myself how all i want to do is work there for the rest of my life. I could really sense something about her that I haven't seen in many other people and that immediately mesmerized me. You could tell that she just absolutely loved her work. I can't explain it but the way she spoke, her subtle facial expressions, her tone of voice and smile all just gave me the impression of extreme laidbackness in the best way, which is just so attractive to me. With a store like Acme her whole philosophy is how can i sell the coolest, funkiest things to people and i just find that so inspiring and beautiful. It was overwhelming actually how much that spoke to me. I can only hope for a career where i can pursue such a simple, fun goal like that. Meeting her and hearing her story and seeing how her personality was clearly the bedrock of her business was an unbelievable highlight. I could barely handle how inspired I was.
It disappoints me sometimes to think that people's careers and passions aren't always related. Its obviously one of things that just is and you can't really change all at once, but why does economic necessity have to so crushingly trump our personal fulfillment sometimes.
Great chicken dinner provided by the church which was much appreciated. We'll need it for our 100 mile ride tomorrow! I'll also need plenty of sleep for our 4:30 wakeup so goodnight!
Seriously, why do we even bother getting off our bikes sometimes.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Retro Cocktail Hour!
Day 34 - July 7, 10:50pm
2nd Build Day. Lawrence, KS
Have felt totally great these mornings. Forgot what it feels like to not have to freshen up, gear up, and pack your entire belongings all in 30 min. I think its fair to say we all got to the build site pretty excited to take our progress even further and get back in our rhythm.
Dave was one of the older knowledgeable guys helping out and just as we arrived i made a passing comment about his shirt which led into a ten minute conversation about "Retro Cocktail Hour" which is this great 50's lounge music that Dave loves which they apparently play on this one Kansas radio station. He totally jumped on the opportunity to talk all about it and i love it when you can get that reaction in a person. I really feel that life is all about passion, both serious and silly. If you ever find someone so into something the way Dave was into Retro Cocktail Hour you better shutup and listen because that person is sharing something that is so special to them and that kind of raw, energetic passion is so beautiful and contagious.
The building went great. I realized I'm actually becoming decently knowledgeable on home repair which is so cool. That kind of autonomy and self confidence is awesome. We covered the trusses in plywood and actually gave the house the start of its roof. Walking on the roof was fun but once again sort of terrifying. The before and after pics from yesterday and today are so awesome.
Also, the house is literally right across the street from a cemetary and you can see from the yard the grave of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, which was apparently done as a 1891 indoor winter sport for a local YMCA. Basketball is consuming at KU and the whole team visits the grave before the finals and such and the whole town takes super pride in him so it was cool to visit it. (What they won't tell you is that as KU's first ever basketball coach, he actually to this day has the worst ever loss to win ratio of all coaches since)
We had our first picnic since Connecticut tonight courtesy of the whole Habitat community and it was so intensely pleasant to eat and converse like that outdoors. Especially with some of the older gentlemen we had been working all day with. John was the awesome 91 year old who was just totally on his game the whole day and taking apart nail guns and generally being wise and supportive and grandfatherly. Mark was the supervisor and i really got to like him over these two days. He was just genuinely nice to us and it showed in the way he treated us that he appreciated our efforts. He also showed us his rumored "down in one" nailing.
Totally wierd: The first person i mingled with at the dinner was this 70 year old pastor named Phil. We got into conversation about my school and he mentioned how since he went to Seminary in Boston he had once taken a few classes at the Harvard Divinity School. So far so normal. But not when I mentioned how i had also taken a class there last year WITH THE SAME PROFESSOR THAT HE HAD! Harvey Cox must be 80 yrs old now and is kind of a big deal in religious studies and actually taught both of us 50 years apart. I still remember how much I enjoyed his class and his teaching enthusiasm. Phil must have been among his first sets of students. Crazy!!!!
This stay in Lawrence was a much needed rest for us. Super Huge Mega Ultra thanks to Lori from the Habitat here for putting everything together so well and for just being plain cool and energetic and laughing at my jokes. It wouldn't have been the same without her watching out for us so much. You rock Lori!
Heading into the second half of the trip I'm in a great place. I just feel very centered and ready to absorb everything fully, and not flustered and disoriented as in the first few weeks. I'm back in the bubble, not really thinking about the real world and its truly bliss. I really feel that the ability to totally let go like that, even for days or hours at a time is so healthy for us. How many vacations or breaks are spent thinking about what has to happen upon return. Hopefully not too many. I guess it goes more generally into my whole theme of being present in the moment. It definitely takes practice and willpower, but consciously forcing ourselves to relax and live in carefree bliss for moments at a time is something i think we all owe ourselves sometimes.
I'm really looking forward to the change in scenery we're about to undergo in only 9 days. It's wild how we're going from rolling foresty hills to flat, farmland plains, to soaring snowy mountains, to burning deserts all in the same trip and I love it. America is really wild geographically when you think about it. Can't wait for the desert. Go Nature!
2nd Build Day. Lawrence, KS
Have felt totally great these mornings. Forgot what it feels like to not have to freshen up, gear up, and pack your entire belongings all in 30 min. I think its fair to say we all got to the build site pretty excited to take our progress even further and get back in our rhythm.
Dave was one of the older knowledgeable guys helping out and just as we arrived i made a passing comment about his shirt which led into a ten minute conversation about "Retro Cocktail Hour" which is this great 50's lounge music that Dave loves which they apparently play on this one Kansas radio station. He totally jumped on the opportunity to talk all about it and i love it when you can get that reaction in a person. I really feel that life is all about passion, both serious and silly. If you ever find someone so into something the way Dave was into Retro Cocktail Hour you better shutup and listen because that person is sharing something that is so special to them and that kind of raw, energetic passion is so beautiful and contagious.
The building went great. I realized I'm actually becoming decently knowledgeable on home repair which is so cool. That kind of autonomy and self confidence is awesome. We covered the trusses in plywood and actually gave the house the start of its roof. Walking on the roof was fun but once again sort of terrifying. The before and after pics from yesterday and today are so awesome.
Also, the house is literally right across the street from a cemetary and you can see from the yard the grave of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, which was apparently done as a 1891 indoor winter sport for a local YMCA. Basketball is consuming at KU and the whole team visits the grave before the finals and such and the whole town takes super pride in him so it was cool to visit it. (What they won't tell you is that as KU's first ever basketball coach, he actually to this day has the worst ever loss to win ratio of all coaches since)
We had our first picnic since Connecticut tonight courtesy of the whole Habitat community and it was so intensely pleasant to eat and converse like that outdoors. Especially with some of the older gentlemen we had been working all day with. John was the awesome 91 year old who was just totally on his game the whole day and taking apart nail guns and generally being wise and supportive and grandfatherly. Mark was the supervisor and i really got to like him over these two days. He was just genuinely nice to us and it showed in the way he treated us that he appreciated our efforts. He also showed us his rumored "down in one" nailing.
Totally wierd: The first person i mingled with at the dinner was this 70 year old pastor named Phil. We got into conversation about my school and he mentioned how since he went to Seminary in Boston he had once taken a few classes at the Harvard Divinity School. So far so normal. But not when I mentioned how i had also taken a class there last year WITH THE SAME PROFESSOR THAT HE HAD! Harvey Cox must be 80 yrs old now and is kind of a big deal in religious studies and actually taught both of us 50 years apart. I still remember how much I enjoyed his class and his teaching enthusiasm. Phil must have been among his first sets of students. Crazy!!!!
This stay in Lawrence was a much needed rest for us. Super Huge Mega Ultra thanks to Lori from the Habitat here for putting everything together so well and for just being plain cool and energetic and laughing at my jokes. It wouldn't have been the same without her watching out for us so much. You rock Lori!
Heading into the second half of the trip I'm in a great place. I just feel very centered and ready to absorb everything fully, and not flustered and disoriented as in the first few weeks. I'm back in the bubble, not really thinking about the real world and its truly bliss. I really feel that the ability to totally let go like that, even for days or hours at a time is so healthy for us. How many vacations or breaks are spent thinking about what has to happen upon return. Hopefully not too many. I guess it goes more generally into my whole theme of being present in the moment. It definitely takes practice and willpower, but consciously forcing ourselves to relax and live in carefree bliss for moments at a time is something i think we all owe ourselves sometimes.
I'm really looking forward to the change in scenery we're about to undergo in only 9 days. It's wild how we're going from rolling foresty hills to flat, farmland plains, to soaring snowy mountains, to burning deserts all in the same trip and I love it. America is really wild geographically when you think about it. Can't wait for the desert. Go Nature!
Go JayHawks!
Day 33 - July 6
Build Day. Lawrence, KS
Hotels rock. so does 7 hours of sleep. It was just so nice to have a sense of stability waking up this morning, as in being in a normal place where people usually wake up rather than a church basement. The continental breakfast was not exactly designed for 32 starving riders but they had real belgian waffles. Oh and processed eggs and sausage, YES.
I biked over to the build site with some others. Its so wierd to get on my bike for anything less than 70 miles, let alone an enjoyable stroll. The site had all of the wall framing done and kept us busy all day putting up the roof tresses and siding. It was crazy hot and sunny and I tried to hold out, but eventually had to do the unthinkable. Yes, I donned a visor. They're actually extremely functional and it kinda grew on me. Now if only it also looked good.
By the end of the day we had all of the tresses up and the house was really taking shape. I got to do some work up on the roof which was really fun and new. What wasn't fun was the fear of heights i think i developed from standing on 4 inch wide beams. It didn't help that this older dude Zach was zooming by on them like nothing and was literally walking circles around me. The family also was there and it was just a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
Afterwards Larry and I rode up along the town's main st and gave it a thorough checking out. it started out at "The Vagabond Bookstore" which was this crazy used bookstore stacked to the roof with all kinds of crazy old books. It was interesting talking to Howard, the Vagabond Bookman himself. He had gone bust farming in the 80s and kinda started buying books dirt cheap at flea markets, and reselling them out of his truck. It turned out pretty well for him and he soon had so many books that he had to open up shop. He also apparently sells bicycles that he keeps in the aisles. Interesting store to say the least. Picked up a sweet book from the philosophy section called "A commonplace book". Its a collection of different literary and philosophical quotes and this guy Charles P Curtis' pithy commentaries on them. Figure i could read one of the 109 sections a day. The guy was a Harvard Sociology Professor(my school and major) so that was also cool.
There were so many other locally owned gems in this town. A self identified hippie store with the largest collection of 1968 pennies in the world (around 14,000). The pennies are actually part of a compelling story of a guy who was upset one day, found a penny from 1968 on the ground and started collecting from there. (Check out www.1968pennies.com)
There was also this really cool t shirt printing shop called Acme, where you could design your own shirt and have them print it. They also had a whole wall chock full of hilarious designs. I walked in and almost bugged out. T-shirts are by far the one object in this world i have the least resistance to when shopping. I could literally spend my life doing something like that store. It was pretty inspiring actually in that sense.
We had dinner graciously donated by one of the KU ministries and it was fantastic. It was Mexican themed and all i will describe is the 60 avocados worth of guacamole that made my heart leap. I could've taken a bath in that tub it was so large. I basically ended up having a meal of guacamole with a side of rice, beans, tortilla and salsa. They also passed around a basket to the community members there for donations and we had a whopping $300+ in donations. Thank you to everyone there! I had the pleasure of sitting with Jim there and we had great conversation, some of which included him telling me about Red Dog, this 73 year old dude who leads 6am workouts 4 days a week in Lawrence with regular attendance of 200+. By the way this has been going on for 20 or so years and the guy is currently fighting cancer but still going. Wish i could have met him but my prayers are with him. Community was definitely a big theme i took away from that church and from Lawrence in general. You can definitely feel it everywhere, and its too bad that its not more often the case. Jayhawk pride was also something not too be even joked about for fear of being tarred and feathered.
We later walked around the KU campus which was really pretty. Kate had all 32 of our nametags stuck on her shirt which was amusing. There was this giant wood cylindrical sculputure made out of branches there rising to 25 feet which you had to see to understand. Standing inside was really cool. Also full moon = great.
We had more ice cream later(Blackberry!) which is quickly turning into a theme of the trip. I feel wierd doing it almost every day on this trip since i usually save it for special occasions. But honestly when you're riding 70+ miles daily, its hard to not to be like "Hey i totally deserve this" every single day. Kind of makes you rethink what is a "special occassion" on a trip like this and how relative life quickly becomes.
More building tomorrow, lets finish that roof!
Build Day. Lawrence, KS
Hotels rock. so does 7 hours of sleep. It was just so nice to have a sense of stability waking up this morning, as in being in a normal place where people usually wake up rather than a church basement. The continental breakfast was not exactly designed for 32 starving riders but they had real belgian waffles. Oh and processed eggs and sausage, YES.
I biked over to the build site with some others. Its so wierd to get on my bike for anything less than 70 miles, let alone an enjoyable stroll. The site had all of the wall framing done and kept us busy all day putting up the roof tresses and siding. It was crazy hot and sunny and I tried to hold out, but eventually had to do the unthinkable. Yes, I donned a visor. They're actually extremely functional and it kinda grew on me. Now if only it also looked good.
By the end of the day we had all of the tresses up and the house was really taking shape. I got to do some work up on the roof which was really fun and new. What wasn't fun was the fear of heights i think i developed from standing on 4 inch wide beams. It didn't help that this older dude Zach was zooming by on them like nothing and was literally walking circles around me. The family also was there and it was just a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
Afterwards Larry and I rode up along the town's main st and gave it a thorough checking out. it started out at "The Vagabond Bookstore" which was this crazy used bookstore stacked to the roof with all kinds of crazy old books. It was interesting talking to Howard, the Vagabond Bookman himself. He had gone bust farming in the 80s and kinda started buying books dirt cheap at flea markets, and reselling them out of his truck. It turned out pretty well for him and he soon had so many books that he had to open up shop. He also apparently sells bicycles that he keeps in the aisles. Interesting store to say the least. Picked up a sweet book from the philosophy section called "A commonplace book". Its a collection of different literary and philosophical quotes and this guy Charles P Curtis' pithy commentaries on them. Figure i could read one of the 109 sections a day. The guy was a Harvard Sociology Professor(my school and major) so that was also cool.
There were so many other locally owned gems in this town. A self identified hippie store with the largest collection of 1968 pennies in the world (around 14,000). The pennies are actually part of a compelling story of a guy who was upset one day, found a penny from 1968 on the ground and started collecting from there. (Check out www.1968pennies.com)
There was also this really cool t shirt printing shop called Acme, where you could design your own shirt and have them print it. They also had a whole wall chock full of hilarious designs. I walked in and almost bugged out. T-shirts are by far the one object in this world i have the least resistance to when shopping. I could literally spend my life doing something like that store. It was pretty inspiring actually in that sense.
We had dinner graciously donated by one of the KU ministries and it was fantastic. It was Mexican themed and all i will describe is the 60 avocados worth of guacamole that made my heart leap. I could've taken a bath in that tub it was so large. I basically ended up having a meal of guacamole with a side of rice, beans, tortilla and salsa. They also passed around a basket to the community members there for donations and we had a whopping $300+ in donations. Thank you to everyone there! I had the pleasure of sitting with Jim there and we had great conversation, some of which included him telling me about Red Dog, this 73 year old dude who leads 6am workouts 4 days a week in Lawrence with regular attendance of 200+. By the way this has been going on for 20 or so years and the guy is currently fighting cancer but still going. Wish i could have met him but my prayers are with him. Community was definitely a big theme i took away from that church and from Lawrence in general. You can definitely feel it everywhere, and its too bad that its not more often the case. Jayhawk pride was also something not too be even joked about for fear of being tarred and feathered.
We later walked around the KU campus which was really pretty. Kate had all 32 of our nametags stuck on her shirt which was amusing. There was this giant wood cylindrical sculputure made out of branches there rising to 25 feet which you had to see to understand. Standing inside was really cool. Also full moon = great.
We had more ice cream later(Blackberry!) which is quickly turning into a theme of the trip. I feel wierd doing it almost every day on this trip since i usually save it for special occasions. But honestly when you're riding 70+ miles daily, its hard to not to be like "Hey i totally deserve this" every single day. Kind of makes you rethink what is a "special occassion" on a trip like this and how relative life quickly becomes.
More building tomorrow, lets finish that roof!
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