Day 4: thunderstruck⚡️

Big Meadows Campground, VA to Afton, VA – 42.74 mi, 3,045 ft

“There’s no way I’m biking down Skyline Drive this morning,” I told Ruth as the pitter patter of rain woke us up from our short, wet night of sleep. Yesterday, we completed the long ascent up Skyline Drive and I had spent hours of it imagining us all flying down the mountain at the end. Unfortunately, the combination of blind curves, thick fog, and heavy rain was a perfect recipe for broken bikes and broken Spokies–not a desired outcome on day 4 (or day anything) of our trip.

Luckily for us, as we were stuffing our soaking wet camping gear back in its bags, my dad and his friend Greg were driving up to meet us at Big Meadows. Now, with two cars and two bike racks at our disposal, we decided the best plan was to shuttle both ourselves and our bikes down the mountain into the nearest town. Even though I knew I wouldn’t have felt safe on the mountain in these conditions, I still spent the whole drive down mourning the loss of such a beautiful descent. I was not consoled when I was informed we didn’t have enough space to bring down all the bikes in two trips–so my dad was going to make the trip down by bike after all. without me…

Once we were all assembled at the bottom of the mountain, we ate some brunch, pumped up our tires, and got on the road. Although Greg and my dad were purportedly here to ride “with Spokes”, I guess the beautiful Virginia hills got to them because they took off as soon as we started. I let them get away the first couple miles, until I decided I couldn’t let two middle-aged dudes get the better of Greta Lawler so I showed them what I was made of (aka drafted off my Dad for the rest of the ride) 👍 Besides their super speedy bike skills, I was super happy to have Greg and my Dad with us for a day! Greg taught us to think about our energy reserves as a matchbox; each one of us has only a limited number of matches to burn each day. Its important to know how many you have and to decide carefully how to use them. I really liked that one! My dad updated his advice to future Spokes from “be safe and have fun” to “be prepared for rain.”

(Did I mention we got hit by another bout of torrential rain around 4pm? Classic Virginia.) Other highlights include “the world’s best pizza” (according to Ishaq), the acquisition of a new (overpriced) sticker, and lots of cows!!

Despite our crazy, water-logged day, we arrived at our host’s house by about 5, which is much earlier than we’ve arrived at our destination the previous two days of Spokes. I’m so glad we did because our host, Pam, is just incredible! First of all, she hosted her son’s entire wedding the day before we arrived and still offered to host us for two nights. Second of all… well, there’s really too much to tell, so I’ll do my best with a (completely inexhaustive) list.

List of reasons Pam Mendosa is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met:

• lives entirely off the grid
• built her own house from the ground up
• is an expert wildlife rehabilitator, working both with cats and racoons in her backyard and gibbons and chimpanzees in Africa
• volunteered as a a street medic at the charlottesville riots in 2017
• worked as a racecar pitcrew and chatted with tom cruise and paul newman without even knowing who they were
• pours her heart and time into pursuing her passions
• created the release protocol for rehabilitated bush babies
• makes a delicious mac n’ cheese
• is one of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever met

Pam lives in an “intentional community” called Shannon Farm, which is a neighborhood tucked back in the forest in which everyone has shared ownership of the land, participates in community events, contributes to upkeep of the farm, and is invested in knowing and supporting their neighbors. Everyone I met seems to really love it in Shannon. It reminds me a lot of French House, where I currently live in MIT, and I honestly think I would love living in an intentional community one day. Even just 4 days in, Spokes has given me so much to think about and I’ve met so many cool, generous, inspirational people. Somehow, the world feels both bigger and smaller than ever. (Not to mention I’m getting to hang out everyday with 7 of my newest favorite people ever. 🫶 ) So so so excited for the rest of our adventure!

Peace out,

Greta