kennedy

kennedy, originally uploaded by sodanopop.

a result of doing sprints in the parking lot of the holiday inn the night before the ride started.

sorry guys, i’m workin on it

i am actually on day 17… ? today. i’ve been taking notes and going though my pictures to try and remember what i did each day and then put it up here. it’s just tough because when i get to the hotel or campsite i’m pretty tired and dont really want to look at a computer. so, today is day one of major organization. what i currently have up has been organized, added to, and refined a bit. so dont give up on me and my blogging skills.. or lack there of.. yet. i’ll update when i can. also trying to batch upload stuff to flickr… some of the better pics will be refined later as well. thanks!<3

flickr.com/sodanopop

atlanta GA to heflin – 92.6 miles

day 15:

started with brian, chris, crystal and alexander. stopped at a waffle house 13 miles in and then rode with a larger group after breakfast. we pace lined it for about 30 miles – lost a few people – chad got a flat. we stopped at a gas station and after that katie and i broke off to go a bit slower. (it’s always so hard to get going again once you stop, it’s like your legs don’t want to go and you have to warm up all over again.) we were chased by multiple dogs and 20 miles away from the end point we saw the fast group again, stopped at an ice cream shop. and i was sipping on my chocolate malt crystal busts out her harmonica and starts playing ‘oh susanna.’ a few minutes later nick pulls up and dan steps out of the car with an ice pack on his shoulder. he was drafting off of dade and accidently clipped his back wheel and fell on his shoulder and side. it didnt look bad and he could still move it certain ways so we didnt think it was broken. i left for the hotel – 20 miles away and left everyone behind. i got there at 1:15 – i was the third person there after chris and bennett, but the first girl so i got the championship ring for the day. the others didnt show up for awhile later and when they got back i found out i had missed some awesome food and thrift stores dan went to the hospital and had x-rays taken – he had broken his collarbone and they told him it would take 6-8 weeks for it to heal. today seemed like the the day for disasters… crystal had a close encounter with a pick-up truck driver. he pulled up next to her while she was riding and started yelling things at her and told her to pull over. she slowed down so he could pass her… and as soon as she did he lost control and his car veered to the left… swerving 4 feet in front of her and then going off the road into a ditch. he blew all his tires and his airbags went off. she stayed for a second to make sure he was still alive. he got out of the car and immediately started apologizing saying that he was a cyclist and that he was just telling her what a good job she was doing ect. she didnt buy it and started yelling at him. at least she didnt get hurt and that jerk got what he deserved.

winder GA to atlanta – 30/50 miles

day 14:

couldn’t sleep all night because red and judy’s tent was right next to ours and someone was snoring super loud. got a few hours of rest, had a doughnut for breakfast that doug gave me. bayla and i were sweeping so we had to wait till everyone left before we could go. allison got a flat before we even left the campsite and we started about an hour later than everyone else. allison and crystal rode with balya and i. i pulled for 25 miles and then we stopped at a lame consignment shop. started riding a few minutes later and as we were coming to the top of a hill, we looked over and the sky was completely black. we got on the ‘highway’ and the headwind was unbelievable. we got to the waffle house on the route which marked the little over halfway point. judy was sitting in the parking lot with brianne. all of us threw our bikes in the car right before it started to torrential downpour. got lunch at waffle house and then got a ride to the hotel (holiday inn) with judy. that night we had a party at taco macs – it was not a very exciting bar but the food was good and they had a large beer selection. ben – my friend/old neighbor from ohio came to visit – and we went out with some of his friends to little 5 points and to a coffee shop called ‘octane’ where we ran into nick. and then we went to another bar called earls ( being in a car is super disorienting.. everything goes by so quickly). got back to the hotel around 12 or so and passed out.

charlotte NC to greer SC – 91.85 miles

day 11:

it was cloudy for most of the day, i left with doug, tyler, matt and bayla… lost most of them and and then rode with tyler. saw a sign that said ‘god answers knee mail.’ we stopped at johnny’s cafe for food and johnny was there… sittin in the corner by the juke box. after lunch we rode though Gaffeney – where a serial killer was on the loose. it was a sunday, but the town looked abandoned – all the stores were closed and there was not a car on the street. there were some interesting signs and old buildings but i didn’t really feel like hanging around there. while later the sun came out so i decided to pick up the pace (being a red-head, the sun and i are not too friendly with each other). the last 10 miles were the roughest part of the ride: hills, headwind, traffic, malls and chain restaurants. got to the holiday inn at 2:20 and went to the mexican restaurant next door. it is there where i found out that one cannot buy alcohol in south carolina on sundays – - extremely lame.

later that night i was sitting in the hallway with alexander and nick. a man named joe came up to us and was asking for an old hat or bandanna. earlier that day i found a blue bandanna on the side of the road (washed it) so i gave it to him. he started to talk about how his hair was ruined because it was half burnt off, so he was going to shave it – about 12 hours ago he had been sitting in his apartment building on his recliner, watching television and smoking a cigarette. his cat (that he found and adopted about 6 months ago) was rubbing against his legs, asking for attention. he put his cigarette in the ashtray, the cat jumped onto his lap, but in the processed it knocked the ashtray over and the contents went under his couch. in seconds the whole thing was ablaze. joe jumped up and tried to pull the couch out of the door, but it was too late, the flames were spreading quickly and he had to get the rest of the people out of the building. luckily no one was badly hurt, joe even carried one of his elderly neighbors out of the building on his back. after he was finished with the story he just kept talking about how everything he had ever owned was gone, and that he hoped his cat was alright – which he seemed to care about more than all his material possessions.

knee mail

knee mail, originally uploaded by sodanopop.

asheboro NC to charlotte – 45/90 miles

day 10:

rode with doug and crystal who were the sweeps for the day. got off to a late start because we were camping the night before. in the beginning everyone stopped to eat breakfast at arby’s so we had to stop as well – because when you are sweeping you have to stay behind everyone else – so we went down another road and found the golden waffle (pretty sweet joint, it topped waffle house and definitely huddle house). next stop was at a gas station down the road, there we met a man who said it was flat all the way to charlotte – i have no clue where he got that idea. road for awhile and caught up to the geezers so we stopped at this building that was surrounded by rusting cars, farm equipment and old soda machines. the man inside the shop said he bought old machines and fixed them up. he didn’t have a hose but offered us bottles of water. rode some more… saw the geezers again, so we stopped at a fruit stand, ate some and then fell asleep against the sign, letting our white feet tan in the sun. we woke up an hour and a half later and started riding. it was hot and we were pretty far behind the rest, so when we got to judy we just hopped in the van and went to the hotel.

it was the fourth of july so we got our red white and blue on and headed out to ‘the epicenter’ where there was a free concert, expensive bad beer, gussied up rednecks, and hundreds of cops. i was on the wrong side of the building when the fire works were going off and didn’t see any but the very last burst – kind of a let down. after the roof we got pizza and walked to another bar – dixie’s tavern. the music was better and so was the beer, but didn’t stay too long. when you have to wake up at 445 in the morning it really ruins your evenings. so dade, crystal, bennett, alexander and i split a cab ride back – and it was bumpin. the indian driver turned up the dance music as we flew down the highway – the cab ride was probably the highlight of the evening.

that night cali and crihs went to the wrong hotel and crihs passed out in the hallway shirtless. alexander tried to climb the fence and go to the pool (failed).. that morning waking up was a little rough to say the least.

happy fourth.

philly to baltimore – 103 miles (my first century+)

day 3:

up until today the terrain had been mostly flat, now the rolling hills and shady rural streets paved the way for our journey. all 42 of us left the city together and then went our separate ways around the 15 mile mark. for the first 35 miles i was with the lead pack, riding at a fairly quick pace. after a couple hours crystal, alexander, chris, matt, dan and i stopped for lunch in a small town. afterwards i broke off from the group and decided to go on my own. at one point i met up with bennett and dade, and stayed with them for 20 miles or so – steep climbs, steep descents. bennett started to go ahead and dade stayed back with me. the hills became harder and harder to climb, i started falling behind dade, and he would wait for me at the top of each hill. riding with someone and not being able to keep up was pretty stressful for me – i started to question if i was actually able to do this ride. i told dade to go ahead and leave me, i needed to rest for awhile. ((to dade: thank you very much for staying with me that morning)) i sat on the grass on the side of the road – i was only halfway into the ride and i was dead tired, mentally and physically. a few minutes passed and then i heard a voice above me, “ya thirsty? would ya like some water? it’s hot out here, i have air conditioning inside.” it was a middle aged woman cradling a baby she was bottle feeding. i thanked her but said i was fine, just resting for a minute. she said the offer was there if i changed my mind, wished me luck, and went back across the highway to her house. sitting there with my head on my knees i kept thinking about how i’ve never ridden more than 40 miles in a day – that the 50 or so miles i had done today where extremely difficult. up down up down up down. if i was feeling like this now, how could i do this day after day? then i thought of all the people that believed in me, cared about me, that were excited i was going on this adventure. before i left my good friend brendan told me, “out of all the people i know, if anyone was capable of doing that ride, it’s you, you’re too stubborn to give up.” i stood up, took a deep breath, and started riding. — i went up the hills in the easiest gear, and then flew down. at one point i looked at my computer (little device that tells me how far i’ve gone, how fast i’m going, … ect) and i was going 45 mph down the hill. at the bottom i came to a bride that went over a river. it had no shoulder and was fairly long, and at the end of it – a massive hill. i got the other side and called nick to make sure i was going in the right direction, and i was. climbed the hill and stopped to eat something. while i was sitting there a family in a van stopped to make sure i was okay. a bit later brian and katie came by and i joined them (at this point i had been riding by myself for a few hours). we rode the rest of the way together, stopping at a fruit stand, and a few gas stations. after we got out of the scenically appealing rural areas and started approaching the city the trees turned to strip malls and the roads became more crowded, straighter, and less hilly. after a long day – we did it.

us

DSC_0327, originally uploaded by sodanopop.

in central park – day one

new york to new jersey – 65 miles

day 1:

woke up at 3:30 to load up all our gear and head to columbus circle near central park in NYC. some people were on the early show or interviewed by the local news. around 9:30 we started riding up the east side of manhattan. for this day we had to stay together because there were about 70 turn queues on the direction sheet. we kept getting lost and missing turns, and because there were so many of us it took a while to turn around, or realize we were going the wrong way. eventually we split off into a few big groups. the route wound us though neighborhoods and side streets, none of the queues being longer than a few miles. some parts we would go on these greenway paths, which are paved paths that go though the woods and are used by pedestrians and cyclists. none of them were longer than a quarter of a mile and it took more time to find them than it would have to just bypass them and take a busier alternate route. while on one of these greenways the path split into a y shape and alexander couldn’t pick a path to go down so he decided to off road it. (probably a bad idea from the get go considering he had a 25 lb old school boom box/cassette player attached to the front of his bike) his fender came off and got stuck in his spokes, sending him over his handlebars where he did a somersault in mid air. somehow he managed to make it out without any major injuries. we made it to the hotel around 1ish but they wouldn’t let us check in until 3. so there we sat sweaty and down – wondering if that day was just a taste of things to come.