Day 12: katch me in kentucky

Today started at 3am when I sat straight up in my tent and started screaming for someone to come help me get out. After entertaining my tentmate Ruth and terrifying the rest of my teammates (including Joseph, who, thinking I was being attacked by a bear, started screaming along) I went soundly back to sleep until our wake up time around 8am.

Besides my exciting pre-dawn shenanigans, today was a relatively uneventful day. Cloudy with occasional rain in the morning, we made our way across the Virginia border and into Eastern Kentucky. One of the things I like most about biking as a mode of transportation is that it’s slow enough to take in on all the sights around us. I’ve rarely travelled to areas as rural and secluded as what we saw today, so I spent a lot of time contemplating what life might be like out here. There is so much beauty in the winding creeks and appalachian foothills, but life also seems harder here than it is back home. I’m coming to appreciate all the urban conveniences I usually take for granted.

I spent most of the day thinking about the land we were riding on, and just how much bigger our country is than the slice of east coast life I’m used to. Somewhere along the way, though, my mind turned inward and I started thinking about the ways this trip was shaping me. I realized the things that had been hardest for me on the trip hadn’t been what I expected, and neither had the things I’d most enjoyed.

Overall, these first two weeks of Spokes have been some of the best in my life. I had thought the most difficult parts of the trip would be how gross and dirty we were. In reality, the most difficult part of the trip so far has been.. ummm… saddle sores? which was not something i even knew existed? something i wish i still didn’t know existed?? other than that, i’ve been most challenged confronting my fear of unleashed dogs and figuring out how to manage the dynamics of conducting life constantly surrounded by 7 other people (answer: with a lot of laughter!) I’ve absolutely loved meeting our hosts and other locals, each one of which has expanded my perspective on what the future could hold. I’ve also been cherishing all the small moments we spend together as a team, whether at rest stops, cooking dinner, or even when we’re all grumpy and bleary-eyed in the morning. It’s a privilege to see each other through our highest highs and lowest lows, and I feel like I’ve personally bared down to my realest self more quickly than at any other time in my life.

I wanted to get the rest of the team’s perspective, so I asked everyone to go around and share a rose (highlight), thorn (challenge), and bud (something to look forward to) from the trip so far. Here are their answers:

Sarah

Rose: Seeing a lot of greenery that I’m not used to since I’m from the desert. Also seeing wildflowers and butterflies and rivers. Thorn: climbing ginormous hills and not knowing how to shift my bike gears. Bud: visiting national parks in Utah.

Joseph

Rose: the time the team has spent hanging out together so far. Thorn: my seven day streak of horrendous sleep that forced me to take an extra rest day. Bud: when we finally get into a stable enough routine that we can do a bunch of fun stuff during and post ride

Tian

Rose: all the nice people we’ve met along the way who have offered their homes, showed us their communities, and made us delicious food. Thorn: managing both physical and mental fatigue from day to day. Bud: The rest day learning festival combination in bowling green (extra rest!)

Charles

Rose: this sandwich/ getting to hangout with all of ya’ll and the fun moments we have over dinner and breaks. Thorn: butt pain and neck stiffness. Bud: buc-ees!!

Ramona

Rose: having a very different routine and set of responsibilities and things to worry about that is completely unrelated to what I do and worry about during the semester. Thorn: less time than I expected to think about life and whatnot… scared the summer will pass in a blink and I’ll be launched back into chaos. Bud: excited to see more places and experience what “real” heat it

Ruth

Rose: meeting the hosts and eating their foods (learning about their lives, sitting at dinner and talking with them). Thorn: sleep. Bud: better sleep

Ishaq

Rose: getting to the top of the hill in Shenandoah. Thorn: climbs are still hard. Bud: being better at climbs when we get to the Rocky Mountains