Washington, D.C. to Linden, VA – 82.06 mi, 5,361 ft
hello!!! this is sarah with our 1st biking day blog!!! 🚲
after spending our first night all together at our lovely airbnb in falls church, virginia, we got up at a timely 5am (or around there, it’s been a few days, behind on blogs…i think i even got up at 4:50), i excitedly put on my full spokes “uniform” for the first time, packed up my personal belongings and threw them in the van (dubbed “amy” because that was the second part of the license plate :)), and hopped on my bike to go to breakfast at greta’s house with ruth (we were ready on decent time…can’t say the same about everyone else…)
this breakfast was EXACTLY what i needed to start our 1st biking day. that french toast casserole was seriously one of the best things i’ve ever had. the rest of the team eventually caught up and finished eating, we did final preparations out front and our team chant (which is a work in progress), and set OFF (feat. captain lawler, aka greta’s dad!)
the 1st ~30 miles were absolutely WONDERFUL. the team was cruising down the flats, enjoying the virginia scenery. as a las vegas native, i never get sick of greenery. there were also sightings of cute deer, cool birds, and…a singular snake. yikes.
eventually we made it to our first rest stop at my 2nd cousin claire’s house! my mom reached out a few days before we set off to see if any of her side of the family on the east coast was along our route, and claire and her husband miles ended up being literally right off of the trial we were taking. nice! i haven’t seen them since…maybe ever, but definitely since i was too little to remember anything. my great aunt bubby also decided to stop by, and we all enjoyed the company of my family, their LARGE and FLUFFY and so friendly and cute cats moose and noodle, and the bagels and fruit they set out for us. the water and electrolyte refills were also MUCH appreciated. if the fam is reading this, thank you so much!!!!! will be back soon to visit again 😇
after some more flats, the team pulled off for a lunch break at bluemont community center. the ominous clouds that were once in the distance were now on us and slightly pouring. after waiting out the worst of it for about half an hour, we got back on the road to conquer some hills that i swear came STRAIGHT from hell. after a few walks alone in the woods contemplating why i joined spokes, around 3 close calls with death via asthma attack, i made it to the the final rest stop at some random pull-off about 10 miles from our first host.
after almost falling asleep in the passenger seat of the van, i realized that finishing this ride was probably not in the picture: while very frustrating and slightly embarrassing, i had to remember that spokes was a marathon—not a sprint—and that my body probably just wasn’t super well adjusted on the very 1st day, as well as not able to handle super steep climbs super well in any case due to my health condition. i had to give myself some grace and recognize that i still biked around 63 MILES in ONE day, which is a HUGE accomplishment! something i have been working on the past few years is not comparing myself to others in an unhealthy way, keeping in mind my own capabilities and unique strengths and weaknesses, and being proud of what i do accomplish rather than always just looking for the next achievement. i think i took another step on that specific journey today, and this was only day 1!
getting driven up and getting to the host early with tian actually ended up being a HUGE blessing in disguise because right after we got there, a HUGE thunderstorm started nearby, and half the team was still. biking. greta had made it up (even after a missed turn), with ruth and ishaq following close behind, but joseph, charles, and ramona were still out. joseph ended up making it up (albeit getting soaked in the process), but those of us who had made it had to quickly empty the car to make extra room for the rescues of ramona and the lost and hurt charles (who had crashed 😦 thankfully he was ok!) if i hadn’t come up earlier, a TON of extra unpacking would have had to been done in order to get 1 more seat for the very likely rescue of yours truly (since i was behind everyone else).
thankfully, we all made it to our first host (although some of us soaking wet) in one piece! we were staying with an mit alum and her husband: she was a course 7 (biology), similar to me! we had tacos for dinner with their baby wayne and dog…it was some computer science reference that i can not remember to save my life :,) maybe one of my fellow spokies can help me in the comments…
we split up between the couch, sleeping bags on the floor, and a mattress split between me, greta, and ruth. i almost got kicked off and fell on top of joseph like, 2-3 times? but sleep was MUCH appreciated. a very eventful day 1! see you next time from…(now checking the route spreadsheet for when i am blogging next)… tazewell, va for our 2nd learning festival!
future sarah here since i am so behind on blogging (apologies to my fellow spokes) (i guess its been future me the whole time but shhh), but it took me getting through midnight marathon, day 1 of real spokes, and all my training rides in between to learn that our bikes (and prob most bikes in general) have 2 SETS OF GEARS. and i had been on the harder one THE ENTIRE. TIME. while i obviously still struggle on hills a little (cause duh), i since have had a LOT easier time. sometimes i wonder how i got into MIT. on that wonderful note, see you next time!
MIT Spokes 2026 