We had a pretty epic ride today. I rode sweep today with Sam, which basically means that we brought up the rear of the group to make sure that everybody made it to the destination safely. It was a long, long day. We covered over 70 miles of extremely hilly terrain (definitely the farthest I've ever gone on a bike in one day). We left around 8:30 am and didn't make it to the destination until around 6:40 pm. It was a lot of fun, though. The slower pace of riding at the back of the pack was conducive to plenty of conversation with Sam and the other riders, which was very enjoyable.
While the ride was a lot of fun, there were a few stressful situations. Win ran over a screw and got a big hole in his tire. The "dollar bill trick" worked all right but required frequent refills on air. Then I got a call from Logan and Evan telling me that Derrick took a nasty spill going down the hill and that the route directions were all messed up and that they couldn't get in touch with the van since the cell phone coverage was really patchy in the area. Then there was a thunderstorm that forced a group of us to seek refuge under the porch of a random home. Nobody was there at the time, but a few minutes later the owner arrived making it a bit awkward. The lady was fortunately very nice and did not mind.
Nevertheless, everyone made it to the destination, which was very impressive considering the fact that most of us are not experienced cyclists.
Here are a few pictures. This is our trailer and van. The trailer holds all of our gear while we ride. I've heard some people call this cheating, but come on. I think biking across the country with our without all your gear attached to the bike is a pretty impressive accomplishment.
A beautiful view from the road. It looked like something out of a fantasy book or movie.
What can I say? I fell going about 3 miles per hour. Pretty pathetic. Not really painful but definitely a hit to my pride.
The rain is coming!
The sweeps finally arrive! We stayed the night at the Kent School, which is a private boarding school in CT. The facilities were a lot better than those of any high school I've ever seen.
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