Stop and Smell the Roses... or Roadkill
Today was interesting… to say in the least.
Basically, there are four words to summarize my day: painfully amusing and mad chill. Riding from Palermo, NY to Rochester, NY, we were approximately biking 90 miles for the day. Some others decided to circle RIT’s campus to hit the century mark. Props to them, especially since it was the longest day of the trip thus far.
First, we had a great start to the day. After we had cereal for breakfast, cleaned up the church, and got Tammy to sign the van and one of our former rider’s boxers, we were all pumped up and started to roll out of the parking lot. And of course, with our luck, Graham, Sarah and I hadn’t even ridden 5 feet and Graham got a flat. BUT not only was it the most dramatic fall I had ever seen, it was one of the funniest things that happened on the trip so far. (Sorry Graham… I still can’t help laughing thinking about it. hahaha). For those who know what I’m talking about, it would have been ridiculous to not have laughed. He had flung his hands up in dismay, his cleats were stilled clipped in to his pedals, and as he started to sense gravity pulling him down, he intentionally (not so sure?) did a dance on his bike and tried to jump off. MISSION SOOO UNSUCCESSFUL. Before you knew it, Graham was on the grass, and there was a crowd of us cracking up around him. So after Graham rolled around in the grass for 10 minutes, having a seizure from laughing so hard, we fixed up his tire and were FINALLY on our way (sorry sweep!)
Eventually several people stopped at a diner but I continued on, caught up to Chris’ group and joined their paceline for a little bit. However, within a few miles, Sam got a flat from riding over a broken beer bottle and we ended up on the side of the road for about an hour as we all watched Sam patch up his tire. Regardless, that hour was VERY productive: Chris, Laura and Matt Nelson got their pictures taken in the middle of a busy road. Sarah Carson brought us cherries. We distinguished a good “poop stop” for passer-bys and chalked it. And I learned all the words to the soccer song, “Oh Le” which basically repeats “oh le oh le oh le oh le oh le.” I was very proud of myself.
Then Sam declared his patching job a successful one and we were on our way again. But every few feet, there was roadkill of every sort. Possums, birds, cats (one was as flat as a rug), etc. There was A LOT to see today. Finally, at the 20th mile or so, I stopped counting the roadkill and noticed that we ended up passing a couple of bikers (who Carla evidently became best friends with along her journey). These two guys, with loads of 90lbs each on their bikes (containing mostly MREs), were apparently also riding from coast to coast, starting in Maine and ending in Oregon.
But huffing and puffing over a hill, we got to a sign that said “Fly by Night Cookies” and Andy suddenly pulled over and said, “we gots to go.” So we stood at the sign deliberating until we met this Vince guy, who was also cycling and a native from Fair Haven, which was the cute little town that contained the cookie house.
It didn’t take much for Vince to persuade us. Andy gave an impressive spiel about our mission and within minutes, we were following Vince down the quaint road to the cookie house. When we got there, we were like little children again. We were so awestruck by the façade of this house: the porch was nicely hand-carved into sculptural pillars, it overlooked Fair Haven beach and closely resembled something that would have been found in a fairy tale. When we finally made it inside, all our jaws dropped open. The room was filled with cookies. Ranging from the infamous “PMS cookies” to the “bird tirds,” the selection was endless. In the end, everyone left with a bag of at least a dozen cookies and I had never seen a group more satisfied than they had been at that moment. But it was nice and relaxing. As we all enjoyed our cookies in front of the house and soaked in the sun, we all contemplated getting back on our bikes though we knew we were somewhat behind schedule.
Eventually we made it back on our bikes, but ended up stopping about 100 yards away at the public bathrooms and playing around in the children’s playground. I took a 10 minute nap and we were on our way again. But maybe 10 miles later, as we were all trudging up a hill, Andy’s chain got wedged between his gears and frame AGAIN (this had happened the day before as well). A few of us waited at the top of the hill while Matt went down the hill to help him but it ended up taking longer than we thought and I was able to get a half-an-hour nap on the side of the road. So we finally got started again, and in the next town we were in, we were all in a single line and a tiny, ugly dog came out viciously chasing and barking at us from his house. Sam and Laura were in front of me and they were able to pass the dog, but it came after my leg, so I swerved and Shahen, who was behind me, almost ran over the dog. But when Chris and Matt stopped for the dog, it stopped barking and sat down innocently, acting as if it didn’t really want to kill us.
Life is hard.
We continued pedaling and for the next 20 miles played “contact” since there really wasn’t much else to do but ride our bikes and look at roadkill.
Again, life is hard.
But somewhere along the way, we made it to lunch and ate leftover spaghetti sandwiched between slices of bread. So life was amazing again. After lunch, Sarah Carson and I reunited and booked it to RIT. We passed through some cute little towns, cruised for a little bit and breathed in the fresh air. But as we found out, the road became very tedious. It was just long and flat. (Evidently a few of us are becoming delirious because as Graham and I had discussed earlier in the morning, we kind of miss riding the hills of New Hampshire and Vermont). And I must have fallen asleep for a while because I ended up riding on the rumble strip and from that point on, my butt decided to disown me. We finally got to RIT, were assigned dorm rooms and had an amazing dinner provided by Jeff, RIT’s chaplain, and his wife, Nancy. Afterwards, a few of us decided to go to McGregor’s to hang out while others watched Grease and the rest did a yoga session with Lindsay.
Though the day was long, it was eventful. Graham got stung by a bee but he soon overlooked it as soon as he found his lawn gnome. Go Graham! Libby was finishing up her Snicker’s bar pack (for every 10 miles, Libby decided she was going to eat a snicker’s bar). Go Libby! Katie rode the last 50 miles after taking a rest in the van because of her fractured arm. Go Katie! Sarah Carson was reunited with her mom, dog and mom’s friend. Go Sarah! Sam fell asleep at dinner. Go Sam! Zachobar reunited with his grandparents, who live in Rochester, and ate five pieces of chicken that his grandma cooked for dinner. Go Zachobar! Cody and Max did their first century. Go those two! Kristian had a stressful day as the leader in the van. Go Kristian! And I ran over my first possum (he appeared dead but actually wasn't). Go me!
So yes, wonderful day.
P.S. We miss you Mei-Mei! Get better girl!
P.P.S.S. I think this is the first journal entry I have completed in my life. EVER.
Until next time,
Thuy-Tien Hoang NUS ‘07
shortie@alum.dartmouth.org
July 1, 2007
Rochester, NY
Basically, there are four words to summarize my day: painfully amusing and mad chill. Riding from Palermo, NY to Rochester, NY, we were approximately biking 90 miles for the day. Some others decided to circle RIT’s campus to hit the century mark. Props to them, especially since it was the longest day of the trip thus far.
First, we had a great start to the day. After we had cereal for breakfast, cleaned up the church, and got Tammy to sign the van and one of our former rider’s boxers, we were all pumped up and started to roll out of the parking lot. And of course, with our luck, Graham, Sarah and I hadn’t even ridden 5 feet and Graham got a flat. BUT not only was it the most dramatic fall I had ever seen, it was one of the funniest things that happened on the trip so far. (Sorry Graham… I still can’t help laughing thinking about it. hahaha). For those who know what I’m talking about, it would have been ridiculous to not have laughed. He had flung his hands up in dismay, his cleats were stilled clipped in to his pedals, and as he started to sense gravity pulling him down, he intentionally (not so sure?) did a dance on his bike and tried to jump off. MISSION SOOO UNSUCCESSFUL. Before you knew it, Graham was on the grass, and there was a crowd of us cracking up around him. So after Graham rolled around in the grass for 10 minutes, having a seizure from laughing so hard, we fixed up his tire and were FINALLY on our way (sorry sweep!)
Eventually several people stopped at a diner but I continued on, caught up to Chris’ group and joined their paceline for a little bit. However, within a few miles, Sam got a flat from riding over a broken beer bottle and we ended up on the side of the road for about an hour as we all watched Sam patch up his tire. Regardless, that hour was VERY productive: Chris, Laura and Matt Nelson got their pictures taken in the middle of a busy road. Sarah Carson brought us cherries. We distinguished a good “poop stop” for passer-bys and chalked it. And I learned all the words to the soccer song, “Oh Le” which basically repeats “oh le oh le oh le oh le oh le.” I was very proud of myself.
Then Sam declared his patching job a successful one and we were on our way again. But every few feet, there was roadkill of every sort. Possums, birds, cats (one was as flat as a rug), etc. There was A LOT to see today. Finally, at the 20th mile or so, I stopped counting the roadkill and noticed that we ended up passing a couple of bikers (who Carla evidently became best friends with along her journey). These two guys, with loads of 90lbs each on their bikes (containing mostly MREs), were apparently also riding from coast to coast, starting in Maine and ending in Oregon.
But huffing and puffing over a hill, we got to a sign that said “Fly by Night Cookies” and Andy suddenly pulled over and said, “we gots to go.” So we stood at the sign deliberating until we met this Vince guy, who was also cycling and a native from Fair Haven, which was the cute little town that contained the cookie house.
It didn’t take much for Vince to persuade us. Andy gave an impressive spiel about our mission and within minutes, we were following Vince down the quaint road to the cookie house. When we got there, we were like little children again. We were so awestruck by the façade of this house: the porch was nicely hand-carved into sculptural pillars, it overlooked Fair Haven beach and closely resembled something that would have been found in a fairy tale. When we finally made it inside, all our jaws dropped open. The room was filled with cookies. Ranging from the infamous “PMS cookies” to the “bird tirds,” the selection was endless. In the end, everyone left with a bag of at least a dozen cookies and I had never seen a group more satisfied than they had been at that moment. But it was nice and relaxing. As we all enjoyed our cookies in front of the house and soaked in the sun, we all contemplated getting back on our bikes though we knew we were somewhat behind schedule.
Eventually we made it back on our bikes, but ended up stopping about 100 yards away at the public bathrooms and playing around in the children’s playground. I took a 10 minute nap and we were on our way again. But maybe 10 miles later, as we were all trudging up a hill, Andy’s chain got wedged between his gears and frame AGAIN (this had happened the day before as well). A few of us waited at the top of the hill while Matt went down the hill to help him but it ended up taking longer than we thought and I was able to get a half-an-hour nap on the side of the road. So we finally got started again, and in the next town we were in, we were all in a single line and a tiny, ugly dog came out viciously chasing and barking at us from his house. Sam and Laura were in front of me and they were able to pass the dog, but it came after my leg, so I swerved and Shahen, who was behind me, almost ran over the dog. But when Chris and Matt stopped for the dog, it stopped barking and sat down innocently, acting as if it didn’t really want to kill us.
Life is hard.
We continued pedaling and for the next 20 miles played “contact” since there really wasn’t much else to do but ride our bikes and look at roadkill.
Again, life is hard.
But somewhere along the way, we made it to lunch and ate leftover spaghetti sandwiched between slices of bread. So life was amazing again. After lunch, Sarah Carson and I reunited and booked it to RIT. We passed through some cute little towns, cruised for a little bit and breathed in the fresh air. But as we found out, the road became very tedious. It was just long and flat. (Evidently a few of us are becoming delirious because as Graham and I had discussed earlier in the morning, we kind of miss riding the hills of New Hampshire and Vermont). And I must have fallen asleep for a while because I ended up riding on the rumble strip and from that point on, my butt decided to disown me. We finally got to RIT, were assigned dorm rooms and had an amazing dinner provided by Jeff, RIT’s chaplain, and his wife, Nancy. Afterwards, a few of us decided to go to McGregor’s to hang out while others watched Grease and the rest did a yoga session with Lindsay.
Though the day was long, it was eventful. Graham got stung by a bee but he soon overlooked it as soon as he found his lawn gnome. Go Graham! Libby was finishing up her Snicker’s bar pack (for every 10 miles, Libby decided she was going to eat a snicker’s bar). Go Libby! Katie rode the last 50 miles after taking a rest in the van because of her fractured arm. Go Katie! Sarah Carson was reunited with her mom, dog and mom’s friend. Go Sarah! Sam fell asleep at dinner. Go Sam! Zachobar reunited with his grandparents, who live in Rochester, and ate five pieces of chicken that his grandma cooked for dinner. Go Zachobar! Cody and Max did their first century. Go those two! Kristian had a stressful day as the leader in the van. Go Kristian! And I ran over my first possum (he appeared dead but actually wasn't). Go me!
So yes, wonderful day.
P.S. We miss you Mei-Mei! Get better girl!
P.P.S.S. I think this is the first journal entry I have completed in my life. EVER.
Until next time,
Thuy-Tien Hoang NUS ‘07
shortie@alum.dartmouth.org
July 1, 2007
Rochester, NY