Day 27: somewhere in between

Day 27: somewhere in between

Columbia, MO to Marshall, MO — 67 mi, 2,432 ft

Politics can be interesting simply because they are messy. Even Spokes politics.

People hold conflicting, complicated beliefs that cannot be pruned into a single, clean solution. I find they naturally intersect and overlap and diverge in a tangled mess. And then people grow emotionally attached to the mess, to the point where it hurts to prune.

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We have created a spectrum which is probably more divisive than it is useful. It attempts to describe our methods of biking, how we like to spend our rides. It goes from speed demon on the far left, to extreme sidequester on the far right. I feel we have presented this as binary, either you choose to push yourself, go fast, don’t even take the time to look up at your surroundings, and make it to the hosts house before 6pm. Or you take your time, stop at whatever draws your attention, go at a comfortable pace for your head to always be on a swivel, and arrive late in the evening having had your adventure throughout the day.

There is a reason why a spectrum has an infinite amount of points to land. Everything is variable. I think our initial intention with creating this spectrum has been overshadowed by the implications of the binary. That’s what I want to rectify through this blog. Just format my thoughts. Show that there’s somewhere in between.

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This morning we woke up to Vince’s amazing breakfast of biscuits, gravy, and watermelon. As soon as Tatiana opened the door to my room, the smell wafted in and encouraged me to finally open my eyes. 

Vince was such a great host. He was so patient with us when we took ages giving our bikes a deep clean in his front yard. They were covered in mud from yesterday, which we had been too tired to wash off. I was afraid I had damaged my derailleur and brake discs, since us three riders all experienced horrible squeaking, creaking, and scratching from bits of rocks and sand lodged in too many places to count.

Our ride started back on the Katy trail, which had thankfully dried overnight. Here are some pics of us during the first few miles looking awesome and coordinated.

Soon after, Caroline and I passed by a cute cafe for bikers with the same millennial vibe I’ve gotten from most coffee shops in the midwest.

It is here where I make my first decision of the day: to sidequest or not to sidequest.

My initial thought was to keep biking, because we were less than 10 miles into the 66 we have to finish. But after I physically stopped in the middle of the road, and with a small push from Caroline, we chose to make a detour. The sign for fresh peaches up the road did indeed help me make up my mind.

Aarushia and Tatiana stopped as well, and then a plan was made. Coffee, then peaches. Amazing.

Turns out the coffee was mid. We noted that this was yet again similar to a “government operation”, so many people standing around getting nothing done. The same worker was getting our orders and making our coffees one by one, while the four others just stood behind the counter looking forlorn. But the peaches were heavenly. I had to drink the juice to keep it from running down my chin. We noticed an art gallery across from the fruit stand, and so we looked around at some local pieces.

I felt like a professional dilly dallier, having spent at least 90 minutes off the bike wandering around this cute little neighborhood. After several more minutes of conversations and bathroom breaks thrown in, we were finally ready to finish the ride to the first rest stop.

When we arrived, I learned that Nate and Nunu had left a few minutes ago but had a long break. To make up for lost time, we decided to make our rest shorter in comparison.

To me, this is a trade off, and a good one at that. Instead of spending an extra thirty minutes at the rest stop, we just traded it for time wandering about on our own terms. But eventually, there does come a point where the scales will always be unbalanced, where we dilly dally too much and cannot make an even trade. Where we’ll have to sacrifice dilly dally time later in the day to biking. 

I’d prefer to always have the opportunity to sidequest, not have one part of the day be too sidequest heavy. This, I think, is achieved by being conscious of the time we spend. Efficient dilly dallying. This awareness shouldn’t be suffocating, but just add a level of respect to our drivers and to our hosts.

We continued along the trail, until I spotted this wooden bridge sticking out of a small pond. To me, it was less about walking on the bridge and more about seeing if I could find a way to get to the end. I did, although possibly without the approval of the Mennonites. 

First solo sidequest. The rest of the group had gone ahead, and so I, rather ridiculously, pushed 18 mph in order to catch up. I found Tatiana and Aarushi stopped on the side of the road, where Tatiana called out to me to ask if I wanted to go to the casino we just biked by. It was a goal of hers to visit one before the end of the trip, and this was the first one she’s seen on our route.

Potential third sidequest of the day? All before we were halfway into the ride? I don’t know. I could see this meant a lot to her, and I didn’t want to prevent her from enjoying herself, but I knew that if I went, I’d be itching to get back on the bike. We still had 40 more miles to go. 

Aarushi ended up going with her instead. While I continued they were busy gambling.

Tatiana won an impressive 19 cents out of her initial $5, but I’m sure the memories made were priceless. 

Afterwards, they told me they went to this festival Boonville holds once a year. It was apparently very lit as they got to chat with the locals and learn a little bit about their lives. They got to see a quilting circle, where older folks switch quilts between them and add unique designs every rotation, preserving the memory of each other in their art. They also stopped by a vintage car show and got to sit in the back seat of one.

Some decisions must be made without all the facts, as they might only become apparent after. Had I known how much of a cultural insight this festival was, I would have taken the time to explore. But that’s not how life works. If I had the same choice between biking or stopping to play some slot machines, I’d choose to bike. And I don’t think this means I’m averse to fun or whimsy, just in the moment, with 40 more miles, the threat of a storm brewing, and the desire to enjoy such a moment outside of my sweaty chamois (allowing that a 19 yr old can gamble), biking through the trees with a cool breeze on my face as I listen to Fleetwood 

Mac sounded more appealing.

I eventually finished our ride’s portion on the Katy trail, and then caught up to Caroline, where we attempted to ride like two sardines squished next to each other until an RV decided to nearly ride us off the road with a foot margin between us. We made it to the next rest stop, where Drew was waiting for us with lunch. Caroline and I made our delicious sandwiches with sundried tomatoes, pesto, pickled onions, and some fancy seed bread. 

We then visited an ice cream shop and, of course in Spokes fashion, split two flavors three ways. I have never shared my food (and saliva) more than on this trip, and realized that for the past nineteen years I’ve been missing out on something. Passing around a drink and sharing that same straw amongst seven people brings you much closer than I thought was possible. 

Nunu also found some cool glasses in the shop and wanted to show them off.

Caroline, Nunu, Nate, and I left to bike the last segment of our ride, aiming to beat this oncoming thunderstorm. It was ominously brewing in the sky as we biked through backcountry roads.

For this half of the ride, I decided to push myself a little. After doing so for a good amount of our  past rides, I was finally feeling more comfortable at a faster pace. But Caroline and I still kept up a good engaging conversation, I was still able to keep my head on a swivel (learning to watch for dogs in Kentucky has truly made this second nature) and take pictures when I felt called to. None of these are mutually exclusive. I find they all add to the experience.

Nunu and Nate had split off, but three miles to the end Caroline and I caught up with them. I thought maybe they were waiting for us but actually they had just crashed into each other. Nunu hadn’t seen a turn and Nate ran into her, almost payback for the century day when Nunu ran into Nate after he slowed down abruptly to check his Strava. His garmin watch and phone bore most of the damage, both screen protectors shattered. “Now we’re even,” Nunu had said to us, “but he didn’t find that very funny.” I definitely did. Sorry Nate.

When we made it to our wonderful host’s house, we were met with iced tea provided by Dave and Shandra, and a beautiful doggo named Percy. He really loved Nate.

While we waited for our remaining team members to arrive, we talked with Dave and Shandra about our journey. To our surprise, Dave had read all of our blogs and even remembered the minute fact that Nunu’s chain had fallen off on the climb into Blacksburg. I’m immediately super impressed. It just goes to show how much of an amazing, invested host he was. 

We had a great dinner, and they even graciously agreed to provide us breakfast at the ridiculous hour of five in the morning, around when we planned to leave to beat the 95 degree heat…

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Here’s my take: balance is key. Though what that means may change day by day, depending on mileage and elevation gain. Maybe you’d want to go faster to avoid some weather, or go slower throughout a city, or even push yourself while appreciating your surroundings. Maybe you’d want to delay a sidequest so lunch doesn’t get warm, or maybe you’d want to do so because it’s your only chance to. There are multiple solutions that all vary with each situation and with importance to each person.

Maybe it boils down to consideration. For whom is the question. For myself? For our host? For the driver? For my teammates?

How do I judge the importance of these factors relative to each other? How should I?

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If any thorns were plucked, I hope it wasn’t too painful.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Carmen