a typical day

For those of you who are still curious about my cyclist lifestyle, I'd like to share a bit about my daily routine.

We used to wake up at 6:00. Now it has become essential that we are out of our super comfy sleeping bags before 4:00 in the morning. I can't tell you how defeating it is to wake up to the realization that you are now about to spend more hours on your bike than you did in your "bed." Like most summer camp-like ventures, we each have a morning chore ranging from packing our trailer to packing all of our food into coolers.
After we have all pumped our tires, filled our Camelbaks with water and lubed our shorts with chamois butter we head out on the road. The morning usually passes relatively quickly and today, I had done my first 40 miles and was at the lunch stop at about 9:00 AM. The afternoon is where it gets difficult...

I noticed that before I came on this trip, everyone had expert advice for me and wanted to let me know just how and where I would run into trouble. Funny, I think only about four of these people had actually ever ridden a bike for any significant distance, and no one had done a trip like this from East to West. However, I listened to the advice, warnings and general information hoping either that it wasn't true or would come in handy. Several people tried to tell me that the middle of the United States is flat. Well, you should be able to tell (even if you are in a car) that this place is not flat. In fact, it seems that these hills rise out of nowhere just to torture us. That said, by the afternoon we are usually quite exhausted by the terrain right about when the headwinds pick up. It's about this point that a few of us have come to adopt the ritual of the "delirium Gatorade." Delirium Gatorade happens at the point of the day when delirium has actually set in. Anything is fair game at these stops as I once happened upon a group of several riders actually sitting on the floor inside of a BP sipping thirst quencher. If you'd like to experience it for yourself, you could just run around outside for 5-7 hours and then stumble into someplace with both Gatorade and air-conditioning. I think that would give you the gist.

Fortunately, shortly after Delirium Gatorade, we hit the end portion of the ride which has affectionately become known as 10 Miles of Fun. Sometimes its fun and sometimes it isn't, but we call it that anyways. Though you might think you have it figured out, 10 Miles of Fun does not necessarily end at the host location as there are often detours, re-routes and added mileage at the end of the ride. It is funny that we all love 10 Miles of Fun, but fume when we hit 11 Miles of Fun.

Once into the host location, we set up camp by throwing our stuff pretty much everywhere, finding nooks and crannies to sleep in, and falling asleep. If you are lucky, someone usually wakes you up for supper. This has to be the best time of the day because every night is a new potluck. After dinner, we often do our Bike and Build presentation on affordable housing.

After writing this, I realize that my life here sounds horribly boring, but I wanted to post this anyway to give you a sense of my daily routine.