Catch-Up

Howdy everyone.  I'm really sorry I've been such a bum about my blog, but we have been pretty non-stop since my last post.  Let me catch you up on ride days 1-5.


Our first ride out from the coast to Swan Quarter, NC was nice and flat with a gorgeous tailwind, we were flying.  The only unfortunate thing about that ride was that me and some other riders blew straight past the church and rode an extra 4 miles up the road before one of the riders who had already arrived at the church chased us down (which is epic, btw.  John Stevens is a boss).  So it was kind of a bummer to ride an extra 8 miles on an already 67 mile day, but I guess we can use the practice right?  


After Swan Quarter we rode to a magical place called Belhaven, NC.  It rained the whole day, but luckily we only had to ride about 35 miles.  When we got there, a wonderful man named Georgie offered to drive us to his house to get showers (a beautiful upgrade from the hose).  Georgie owns an oyster bar in Belhaven, and opened up on a night the restaurant is usually closed to feed our whole team ON THE HOUSE.  It was amazing.  And they were the biggest oysters anyone had ever seen.  I also had their house clam chowder which was "Hatteras Style" and SO good.  If you're ever in Belhaven...definitely hit up Georgie's Oyster Bar.  


Tuesday we rode to Greenville, NC (~57 miles), home of Eastern Carolina University.  It was the first substantial town we've stopped in.  We stayed at a really awesome church downtown.  It was huge and had basketball courts and we slept in a room with these giant building blocks and costumes (I dressed like an alligator and played the guitar) so that was fun.  Tuesday was kind of rough though, because we had a pretty serious accident...one of our guys crossed tires with the person in front of him while going over a bridge and literally flipped bike-over-body over the rail.  I am pleased to report that Andrew made a miraculous soft landing into some brush (though it was a 10-15 foot fall) and only suffered some scrapes.  And he was such a trooper about the whole thing, got right back on his bike and rode the rest of the way to Greenville.  We got champions on Bike & Build.


Hands down, the toughest day of the trip thus far has been the ride from Greenville to Wake Forest.  It was 85 miles of the first real hills I've ever ridden.  And it sucked.  I also didn't eat enough and almost bonked (I got really fatigued and just felt like I couldn't do it).  I took a break and had something to eat and made it the last 25 miles.  It was a really hard day for everyone, but once we got to the church at Wake Forest everyone was so happy and proud that we made it.  We just laid in the parking lot on the warm concrete and relaxed and it was amazing.  Even on the toughest days, it feels so good to be here.


Now we're in Chapel Hill, NC for 2 days to build.  The ride from Wake Forest to here was fun, it was nice and short and I am beginning to appreciate the rolling hills.  I'm also kind of starting to understand how to shift in order to not be miserable going up the hills.  We stopped in Durham and went to a diner for brunch.  A regular there saw us and found out what we were doing and footed the bill for every rider (a group of about 16 of us).  It's amazing how great people are.  It warms my heart and even makes my quads stop hurting.  


So that's where we are, I am really going try to give you guys an update every day we have internet from now on.  So you keep up with me and I'll keep up with you!