Thursday, June 27
This is a semi-comprehensive list of what I like to do during those long hours on the road! Roughly ranked in order of frequency
Listen to music (speaker)
This is what we mostly did before, when we were young and carefree (and had more trails to ride relaxedly on). We'd bike with one person blasting music as loudly as they could, all singing along as a big happy group. One day, Erin, Leah, Evan, and I listened to and sang the entire Les Mis soundtrack. Most other times Erin would be blasting her eclectic mix of mid-60s jazz and 70's/80's tunes, or Edgardo his dancy mix of Latino music and classic rock.
Think
This is the one I thought I'd be able to do a lot of during this trip. It is, however, surprisingly difficult to think while biking! Sometimes I think it's good because it means my trains of thought are very intentional, but usually my brain just feels too tired to think. I'll make it halfway through a thought and then drop off, and then have to struggle to pick it back up again.
Look Around
I try to do this as much as possible (sorry, guys, for the times I've almost swerved into you because of the interesting cloud to the left). There's definitely some kind of highway hypnosis effect while biking, getting lost in thought and semi-forgetting my surroundings. But I try to always take in what we bike past, and see how the US changes as we go through. We never would've seen these chicken statues if we hadn't been looking!
Eat Bars
Oh the bars! I love biking along, a bit bored, and realizing suddenly that I'm a bit hungry too. Then I have the nice distraction of reaching into my pouch, deciding what bar to eat, and snacking on a Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif or a Fruit and Nut Nature Valley for a minute. Now that I type this, I realize it sounds a bit desperate, but hey, it's finding joy in the simple things that matters!
Drink Water
Even more important than the last one. Whether from a Camelback or from a water bottle attached to the bike frame, we've all had to figure out how to drink water while biking.
Make a pit stop
Whether it's for a more relaxed bar/water break, to go to the bathroom, to ease the butt ache more substantially, or to fill up on fuel, our rides usually have at least 3 or 4 breaks in them.
Lift off of the seat to ease butt ache
They say "no pain, no gain", but I somehow feel that this particular pain isn't a productive one. After about 20 miles or so, I'll see everyone start to lift themselves off their seats periodically. We all know what they're doing ;)
Poke people
Another super fun thing to do - ride up behind someone and poke them as you ride past! Will it make them fall over? Not so far. Do they like it? Maaaaybe. Is it annoying the 15th time? Probably. Does it make me smile? Most definitely.
Shoulder the responsibility
Sometimes during a rough part of a ride, instead of our bikes carrying us, we carry our bikes
Listen to music (headphones)
This we've just recently started doing. Usually with just one earbud in, so we can still clearly hear the road sounds, but even then, it still feels weird to me to be halfway disconnected from the sounds around me. On our longer days coming up, however, I think we'll be doing more of this.
Take Photos
Gotta get those action shots! And since we don't plan ahead enough to take set-up action shots of Spokes biking past, I try to take as many as I can while on the road. Sometimes it's in the rain and I almost drop my phone, but it's almost always worth it.
Play tag
Now you might be thinking, "That sounds like a dangerous and exhausting thing to do during a cross-country bike ride!" ... You'd be right, of course. But I'd like to point out that no one has been injured in the course of our longitudinal game of tag since I started it a week or so ago. I think it's petering out because of the 200 meter sprints to get away from whoever's "it". But the game has provided a nice distraction.
Throw sticks
Sometimes some really immature people like to pick up a stick along the way, break it into small bits, and throw them at other people. Admittedly, I'm one of those really immature people. Observation: the balance between aiming well and not falling off one's bike is a delicate one.
Ride a boat
Listen to Audiobooks
In addition to the Book Box we brought with us, some of us have also started listening to audiobooks while riding. I haven't quite gotten into it while biking - again, that highway hypnosis sometimes means that I lose focus and miss a paragraph. But I'm going to keep trying, and hopefully brush up on my German with some read-aloud "Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen"
Change Clothes
This I only did once, when I realized one of my sports bras was too small and was making my back hurt. It gets an honorable mention because I'm quite proud of this feat: I managed to take the offending article off without stopping my bike or flashing anyone.
Ford a stream
~~~~~
Some quotes from the others about their riding activities:
Devin - "Thinking, but not about anything important"
Leah - "I just look at the road and comment on the paving"
Maile - "Try not to hit the person in front of me" "I think about how far we've gone: 'if we're at mile 19 and we just bike 1 more mile, we'll be halfway to lunch which is halfway through the day.'"
Erin - "I generally don't think in life in general"
Edgardo - "I contemplate the systems that humanity has created where some people are poor and some people are rich"
Evan - "I try to think"
Bill - "Usually daydream, started listening to an audiobook 'that's been fun'. Zone out until I have to zone back in."
~~~~~
And finally, a quick summary of the day before I sign off:
I drove in the morning, going grocery shopping before setting up lunch at the Calwood Community Center, a lovely picnic pavilion in the middle of farmland. I biked the afternoon with Maile and Devin, the hottest day yet, and we only survived by taking breaks in the shade of large roadside billboards, and some blessedly cold ice water from a Jimmy John's.
Finally we arrived in Columbia, MO, at Julie and Kevin's house, where Grandma Mary fed and cared for us as her own, and the family (including daughters Callie and Jillian) welcomed us and were super friendly! They fed us the famous Shakespeare Pizza, voted at some point by someone the best college pizza in the US. My theory, after having the leftovers for breakfast, is that it won because it's somehow even better cold and a day old, the classic college experience.
We just spent the evening hanging and calling friends and family, before turning in for the night.
Goodnight!
- Caralyn