Day 7: Dear Nate

Waynesboro, VA to Lexington, VA — 41.9 mi, 2,131 ft

I woke up at 6am this morning to the sound of Nate’s alarm- I don’t bother setting one anymore because I sleep in the same room as Nate every night… at varying degrees of distance. Two nights ago, we shared a bed after a wolf spider big enough to swallow a child decided to stake a claim to my bed. Last night, however, I gathered the courage to reclaim my sleeping quarters, freeing me to toss and turn at will.

I checked my watch and read the date, June 7 (6/7). It reminded me of a conversation I had with the youngest group of kids that came to our learning festival on Saturday. Nate and I had pivoted to a drawing activity for the youngest kids after deciding that some of our prepared discussion on electromagnetism may not be suitable for their grade level. In response to having been given a pencil, the kids immediately start drawing “67” all over their paper. The joke, being as enigmatic as it is infamous, prompts me to ask the kids, three boys, “What does the number ‘67’ actually mean?” I was surprised by the varied responses.

Boy 1: “My mom told me 67 is a way of remembering how God created people on the 6th day and rested on the 7th”

Boy 2: “My mom told me 67 means the devil and that I can’t say it.”

Boy 3: “Actually! It’s just a joke and doesn’t mean anything!”

This morning, Pam, our host, made us pancakes for breakfast- my personal favorite. We loaded the van, borrowed a truck, loaded the bikes in said truck, then shuttled to the point where the last route ended and today’s route would begin. Nate and I were sentenced to riding in the truckbed, as if our butts haven’t been through enough the past week. However, we got some beautiful views of the blue ridge mountains.

Pam’s hospitality certainly overshadowed Shannon Farm’s lack of a clear boundary between inside and the Appalachian wilderness that left a few on our team a little shaken. We did our best to convey our gratitude and set off, albeit in different directions.

While Nate, Carmen, Caroline, and I started on the uphill half of the day’s 41 mile route, Aarushi and Tatiana decided to bike to the local urgent care before continuing onto the route.  Aarushi had been experiencing symptoms of an ear infection that worsened overnight.

I’ll try to convey the events that occurred in the Tatiana-Aarushi subplot as faithfully to Tatiana’s telling of their story as possible.

Upon arriving at the urgent care clinic, 15 minutes passed, then 30, then an hour, before a nurse finally showed up to take Aarushi’s vitals. Upon being led into the patient care room, Tatiana finished an episode of Grey’s Anatomy before a nurse practitioner finally showed up to spend a few seconds peering into Aarushi’s ear and prescribing her antibiotics.

As a native Mississippian, Tatiana’s recount of a trip to urgent care honestly sounded like it went pretty well; Though, I could see how someone less used to rural healthcare would be repulsed such an inefficient use of time.

Next, they bike to CVS. They get there and find out that the prescription hasn’t yet been sent to the pharmacy. When the prescription finally does find itself in front of the eyes of the Waynesboro CVS Pharmacist, it does so without a signature from the nurse practitioner. As the CVS and local clinic are working together really hard to acquire the single necessary signature, Tatiana borrows a key from a CVS worker to use the building’s bathroom. When she left the bathroom emptyhanded, she probably asked herself, “Where are my sunglasses… and the key to the bathroom?” Both were in the bathroom, which was locked. 

“Are you able to open the bathroom for us?” is probably what Tatiana asked the employee which seemed to be responsible for all customer service and janitorial duties.

The employee asserts that only the maintenance guy who comes on Tuesday would be able to recover Tatiana’s sunglasses and the lost bathroom key. 

Tatiana bought new sunglasses. 

Meanwhile, Aarushi got her medicine. At the same time, the rest of us had finished the day’s 42 mile, 2000ft elevation route.

The coincidence of these events is partially due to the supreme amount of patience that rural healthcare demands and partially due to the four of us being absolute machines on our bikes. We kept a 15 mph pace the entire time.

I took some pretty cool pictures of Nate while we were biking. He took some of me as well, but they aren’t very good so I chose to exclude them. I’m probably better off taking selfies from now on- Nate’s not much of a photographer. 

Speaking of Nate, I realize that the last blog I wrote contains a humorous jab at Nate which resonated as “not cool” or “unnecessary” to some, including Nate’s parents. Now, as a much more responsible individual who realizes the potential for personal damage which the Spokes megaphone enables me, I would like to make known that I have a very strong appreciation for only other male member of Spokes, Nate Mustafa.

Dear Nate, I’m hitting new speed PRs every day that I’d never be able to hit without the pocket of low pressure air that follows you around when you bike. Thank you for being the other ambassador to play country music in the Spokes van. I desperately needed to hear something other than 2000s “in the club” music. I’m very fortunate that, when it comes time to hunker down in a soggy 2-person tent, you’re the other sardine in the can.

As Tatiana and Aarushi set out for the day, the rest of us settled at our host’s (Dirk) home and decided that we would all take the van to go visit them at the midway rest stop. Along the way, we got coffee and even stopped at this truck stop that was kind of like an off-brand Buccees, but with Popeyes, Papa John’s, and Subway. We got Popeyes chicken sandwiches– they tasted like heaven.

After that, we met Tatiana and Aarushi at the halfway point. I fixed Tatiana’s derailleur, which was missing gears, then we headed back to Dirk’s home. Tatiana and Aarushi arrived not to long after– most of the last half of the route was downhill.

When they got there, Dirk and his wife shuttled us to the river where we spent the rest of the day on the water until dinner. Nate and I shared a paddleboard. Nunu, Aarushi, and Tatiana took another paddleboard. Carmen and Caroline both got these little inflatable one-man kayak things that looked really fun and had immense bumper car potential. Our time at the river turned into me and Nate taking turns paddling around with everyone else being towed by the paddleboard’s wrist strap. This went on for a few hours as we relaxed and told stories.

On the way back, Dirk took a few of us offroading in his old jeep and dropped us off on a hill near his house where we saw this pretty sunset.

Afterwords, we ate dinner- It was definitely the best so far during Spokes. I’ll let the picture speak for itself. 

Shortly after, we made smores with the company of everything that has 6 legs.

At this point, Spokes is starting to feel more like a routine of waking up, packing, biking, unpacking… repeat. Tomorrow is my first driving day, and I’m at the point where I much prefer biking to driving. I feel like biking really is the only way to simultaneously cover significant distance while still being slow enough to take everything in, and open enough to feel immersed in your surroundings. It’s interesting. I fly over this region of the US every time I go between home and Boston. I couldn’t have imagined everything that was under me. I’m very grateful to be able to experience Shenandoah this way– and there’s so much more to see.

– Drew