Tag: cycling-day

Day 14: through the fairy forest

Hazard, KY to London, KY – 70.7 miles, 5293 ft

If Virginia was Big A mountains, then Kentucky is the fairy forest.

The mountain we climbed just a few days ago ->

If you move away from the towns, gas stations and highways, you can take the much calmer single lane roads. The roads go up and down, turn from asphalt to gravel. They will take you into a deep, dark, mystical forest.

the houses we left behind

leading us into the forest

The forest is humid and warm. There is water vapour in the air. It mixes with the sweat on your skin and makes it shine. You can almost always hear some type of water around you – a stream gurgling down the slope or water dripping from the rock wall by the road. Every once in a while there is a waterfall. The river that flows through the forest is brown, almost sand coloured. You hear birds and see yellow butterflies and maybe even a deer or two. Everything is green. The leaves create a tunnel around you. Even the road is turning green. The moss and some crawling plants are slowly taking over the road.

These single lane roads weave together a couple of houses, little settlements almost. There always seems to be a stream or a river running by them. The people living here keep chickens and grow corn in their backyards. They are kind. They ride quadricycles, wear tattoos and keep (mostly caged) territorial dogs. The kids ride quadricycles too and the dogs really don’t like cyclists.

If you go through the fairy forest, expect to get some rain, if not from the skies, then from the trees above you. But it is a calm and weirdly soothing place.

We were going through the fairy forest, when we stopped by a little church, and that is when the plot thickened.

the little church

where the plot was about to thicken

So, the situation. Our plan was this.

The church rest stop on top right (a tree with a table), then a dashed (meaning gravel) road (with hills), named aptly Confluence-Shoal-Sizerock Rd to Sizerock.

very steep ascent

However, once I made it up a very steep ascent to the Spring Rd crossing (see blue X), I was faced with two roads in the right direction.

Luckily, there people hanging out by some pickup trucks and quadricycles there. I asked them, which road could lead us to Sizerock.

And, while they seemed unsure about how to get to Sizerock, they did know that one of the roads was a dead end and the other one, which they had taken themselves, was flooded. Now, this was not good news. I could not figure out exactly what had flooded, but it was probably something in the area in the map marked with purple blobs and question marks. The water that had been all around the road in the morning, was now taking over the road. After some more talking, they advised we take the Hell for Certain Rd to get to Sizerock.

I debated just going for it and maybe walking through the floods, but my wiser self won and I decided to trust their judgement on whether I would pass the floods or not.

Equipped with this knowledge, I returned to our little church and we did a reroute (pictured right).

We were lucky there were easy reroute options. We swapped one gravel road for another (it was indeed named Hell for Certain Rd). And it is a good thing we did.

The car on a fairly good part of the road.

There were no floods on this road, but even without that, it was not easy. Not for the cyclists nor the car. Some took advantage of shuttling in the (fully packed) van, but we were lucky Joseph had the car in good hands. Ups and downs and sharp turns, and puddles and potholes, but we made it to Sizerock, also called Hell for Certain.

And, with the arrival at Hell for Certain, we had made it out of the forest.

We ate lunch, Charles climbed a tractor, we biked some more, did a fun stop at Dollar General.

Charles

Taking over the dollar general

Then we got thunderstormed on and arrived at our home for the night during golden hour.

Rolling towards the destination

I took this picture of the fields after the rain

Ruth took this awesome selfie

There we were greeted by a very friendly cat 🙂

cat

thanks Ruth for the pictures!!!!!

i heart

And that is it! Thanks for reading and I promise we are trying to get back on schedule for the blogs!

June 21, 2025
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.
Waiting out the rain at a rest stop
DAIRY QUEEN
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
June 16, 2025
Day 11: The Crucible

Howdy hi y’all, Ishaq on the blog today and what a day it was. The team (well actually mostly me) was pushed to the brink mentally and physically, and once again reminded of the cruel reality of this world. But at the end of the day maybe of greatest enemy is the one thing we cant escape from… ourselves.

This day began like any other, despite my incredible Garmin sleep score of 90, we had a lazy morning, ate breakfast and packed our car, saying goodbye to our wonderful host Theresa and the quaint little town of Tazewell VA around noon. We expected a little rain, but nothing too bad so we hit the road with our rain coats. I was determined to make the day an easy one, so I employed the elite biking strategy that makes you 10-20% more efficient on the road: drafting Greta for 40 miles. Life in the draft is a nice one, you have the person in front pedaling away while I could just sit there taking in the sights and occasionally putting some wattage. Further, the climbs felt like easy mode. The draft helped less here, but Greta’s pacing simply couldn’t be beat. For the first time miles long climbs didn’t mean contemplating existence and cursing the earth for being bumpy, and not gonna lie I was feeling a little cocky so I decided to see how long I could go without shifting my front derailleur to the small ring (became a low cadence, high resistance warrior on all the climbs).

I finally was forced to shift when climbing the aptly named Big A Mountain (it was a big mountain after all), but sustained my riding bliss right up and through the summit. Now for the descent, but… tragedy strikes! When I go to shift up my chain fell off my cogs. So I go through the process of getting my hands a little dirty to get it back on and keep riding.

While descending we were hit by a massive rainstorm, each drop hella painful as we zoomed at 30 mph down the mountain roads. The next rest stop was right at the mountain base and we took shelter in the Honaker Community Center. Rain was coming down hard and Greta somewhat jokingly suggested that we should just stay there for the night. Lowkey it was a great idea, it was pouring rain, we had another 30 miles to go and the community center has bathrooms and a kitchen. The one down side is that the next day would be turned into a 115 mile ride to get to Hazard, Kentucky in time for our next learning festival. After an hour of deliberating, I was hopped up on endorphins and good vibes with a reckless abandon for the wellbeing and sanity of the team, making me a fierce supporter for a 115 mile ride. The team was split evenly: four for staying four for going.

Sanity was decreasing, then, in proper deus ex machina fashion, a staff member of the community center rolled up outside and told us we couldn’t stay the night inside and wed have to be in an outdoor shelter down the road. After seeing it, the team said heck nah and we geared up to bike the rest of the way to Breaks Interstate Park. Joseph and Charles leave. Ruth isn’t feeling well (ruth’s edit: this is a lie, I went to help with the tents) so she hops in the car with Tian. Ramona and Sarah then depart, however they start going the wrong way! Greta and I were about to take off, but tragedy strikes again! Greta can’t find her phone! I hop on my bike to go look for in the community center with her, then tragedy again again! My front shifter isn’t working!

I call up Ramona for some quick maintenance and we start trying to track Greta phone because it wasn’t in the community center. After some tinkering we determined my front derailleur had become horribly misaligned somehow and I was no longer able to shift to the small ring. And with some nifty find my iPhone tracking we saw Greta’s phone suspiciously traveling our route. After a quick phone call we determined that Joseph had stolen Greta’s phone and sabotaged my bike in an attempt to prevent the both of us front being first to the national park! Absolutely diabolical. Well, this is half true, he did accidentally take Greta’s phone (not even realizing he had it when we were clearly looking for it before he left), but my bike breaking is still a mystery.

Tian is driving, Ruth is in the car, with no room left, I have but one choice: Ride the last 30 miles using my broken bike. A challenge, yes, but one that I had the determination to complete. By this point everyone but Greta and I had left, we started cycling and instead of cheating in her draft for another 30 miles, I took the lead and I start dashing. Just a few miles in, Greta asked me, “Can you keep this pace for 20 more miles?” I simply shrugged and said “Let’s find out.” It was then, on a broken bike, that I hit my fastest 5 mile, 10K, 10 mile, 20K, 30K, and 40K pace (peep the Strava) averaging 20 mph for a long stretch through the rolling hills of western Virginia.

Our final challenge? Three large hills at the end of the ride to enter the park. I, of course, cannot shift down. By this point Greta and I have caught up to and passed every other biker on the team. I forced all of my weight and all of my strength into the pedals as an ungodly slow cadence, swerving side to side just to reduce the grade ever so slightly. It began pouring after the first hill. I was exhausted, legs aching, heart pounding, thinking I’m certainly not qualified to carry these boats, let alone the logs. I pulled out my phone to call it quits and get Tian to come pick me up. No service. As said in the critically acclaimed drama set in the Star Wars universe, Andor, “There is only one way out!” I hopped back on the saddle and continued to sluggishly grind my way up into the park. On nearing the end, right before the park entrance, the rain cleared and we were beholden to a beautiful view of the mountains and the setting sun on the horizon. As the rest of the team caught up we had one last group hype session to get ready for the last stretch of the climb. I gave a short speech. The content? I cant remember. The result, however, was six bikers devoted to finishing strong on what may have been the craziest day of our trip so far.

We rolled into our campsite, Ruth and Tian having already unpacked and pitched tents, I took a shower and retreated to my tent, for my crucible was now over and I yearned for nothing more that the sweet comfort of my dreams. But… A car rolls up to our campsite, its a park ranger and they tell us the worst news: we had set up on the wrong site! But it was fine because no one has booked it and I didn’t have to move my tent and simply went to bed.

Oh and we totally saw a bunch of cows earlier in the day that kept blocking the road, but it didn’t narratively fit so here’s some pictures for funzies.

June 15, 2025
Day 9: forever long miles and the perfect refuel spot

Radford, VA to Tazewell, VA – 68.24 mi, 4,380 ft

It’s Ramona again and welcome to day 9. The day started with some awesome power oatmeal that Sharon made for us. It had all kinds of amazing nutritious additions, so we we’re well equipped to start the day. I left Sharon’s and Keith’s home with some hesitation. We had had a great evening with smores and fire (read more (probably?) on Charles’ account on day 8), but I knew we had to hit the road. On paper, the day seemed chill enough – 68.2 miles and 4319ft of elevation (according to ridewithgps, our navigation devices thought it was more like 6000ft, but i think they are wrong). So we headed out from Radford! These were the views – some mountains in the background here and there, some trees, a little bit of ups and downs and cloudy skies.

:sparkles: views :sparkles:

We had a nice little break at a park, where Greta and Charles unleashed their inner childs.

Charles getting in that exercise and Greta on the swing.

… but after the first 10 to 20 miles, everything started to feel ~ slower ~

I am not even sure why, we had plenty of rest stops to refuel and get water, but the fourth cycling day in a row hit me harder mentally than any of the previous ones. I know I wasn’t alone in that. Charles was hurting, Joseph had (very wisely) decided to take a rest day and Ishaq was complaining that his butt aches. The miles, with little variation in hills, seemed to go on forever. I was watching my navigation and I swear the miles left were just frozen sometimes.

Battling my own mind, I put on some music, but in the heat, and the occasional cars overtaking us, it just overwhelmed me. So I suffered for a while, until I remembered a great invention – podcasts! I put on some Origin Story (an episode on the Doctor Who) and everything got so much better. Dorian Lynskey even brought out some laughs in me. My dad actually recommended this podcast, so I was waiting to pull this card out in exactly this kind of a situation. So, from this experience, I rate listening to podcasts a 10/10 strategy, especially suited for when no good thinking thoughts seem to be floating in your mind, so you are left with battling boredom and frustration.

I had taken a break at some point, when Charles passed me. I did catch him afterwards, and remembered that perhaps an 11/10 strategy is yapping, even for a little bit. By the time the next rest stop rolled around (with a huge hornets nest, allegedly (ask Joseph or Sarah, I did not see any hornets)) I was feeling better. I left Charles with the hornets and started on the last 10 miles of the ride.

Soon after entering Tazewell I noticed a sign for ice cream and contemplated stopping, BUT THEN I noticed the some Spokies at the ice cream spot! Telepathy! Of course, I pulled over and got two cold, sweet and glorious scoops of ice cream (pictured below).

Me and ice cream

Spokies and ice cream

The spot was actually very cool! First, the ice cream hit the spot! And I’m pretty sure the girl at the shop only charged me for one scoop, so it was an incredible deal. Second, they also did floats, which Charles was very happy about. And third, through the same door, there is also an Italian food spot. (It might or might not be the same establishment, I am not sure). And Joseph noticed, it had a creative logo.

The logo, in case you want to stop by, ice cream is right there!

With that we arrived at our destination. Theresa at the Main Street United Methodist Church is kindly letting us stay. I am glad tomorrow is not a cycling day, since we are teaching! So, last item on the agenda is dinner. Lead by Ishaq, the Spokes cook crew is making turkey meatball spaghetti right as I am writing this. I better go and help them. Tune in tomorrow (or whenever Sarah will finish tomorrow’s blog 🙂 )

Meatballs in the making

June 13, 2025
Day 8: A Day in the Life (Driver Edition)
Roanoke, VA to Radford, VA – 52.39 mi, 4,265 ft

The stars have aligned. We have 8 bloggers but only 7 drivers (uncommon Ramona L), so today is one of the rare days when the driver is in charge of blogging! I thought this would be a good opportunity to peel back the curtain and explain some of the driving logistics that happen behind the scenes to keep our cross-country ride running smoothly.

Literally me

The driver’s day actually starts the previous night as they are tasked with unloading the cooler. This way they know what goes into the cooler when they load it in the morning of their driving day. Our hosts yesterday, Lisa and Rob, didn’t have a lot of fridge and freezer space for us, but Rob’s mom lives right down the street her fridge had a lot more room! Thanks Rob and Carol!

Since the driver gets the day off, they take on a few more responsibilities to make life easier for the bikers. This includes:
- Packing the car in the morning
- Refilling the water jugs
- Flagging Spokies down at the rest stops
- Contacting our hosts (if we’re being hosted)
- Checking biker locations on Life360 periodically (safety first!)
- Grocery shopping (if need be)
- Getting gas (if need be)
How we’re packing the car (we limit at most 1 bag on the cooler for easy access to our lunches)
View from the driver’s seat
Every day, the route has multiple rest stops. The driver leaves each stop after the last biker departs and then drives to the next rest stop in time for the faster bikers. At the rest stops — if needed — the bikers refill their water bottles, re-apply sunscreen, snack, eat lunch, and take a break from biking.

The best part about being a driver is not having to bike 😆. Most of the time, the driving route between the rest stops is the same as the biking path. Knowing that the everyone else has to bike on the road I’m driving on definitely gave me a new perspective today. I tried to feel bad each time I drove up a hill but mostly I just giggled and felt fortunate to be in a car with AC on and music blasting while I zoomed towards my destination.

The next best thing about being the driver is the free time you get after arriving at the rest stops and waiting for bikers. Activities our drivers have done with this free time include:
- Watching a show/movie
- Reading
- Napping
- Calling loved ones
- Calling not-so-loved ones…?
- Blogging!
Today, the first rest stop was at a gas station. After troubleshooting a buggy bike computer for a bit, I decided to generously spend some of my free time acquiring some fundraising opportunities for Spokes.
Feeling lucky 🍀
No dice 😕
We did not win a single scratch-off. However, as the well-known statistic goes, 95% of gamblers quit before they win big. Big Spokes windfall coming next time for sure.

At the second rest stop, I discovered that the Sprite we had bought yesterday had not been completely loaded into the cooler. The team keeps teasing me because I really want to teach my own slightly unhinged Learning Festival lesson about the science of pressure. Maybe my fellow Spokies could take a lesson on pressure so we don’t have beverage cans burst in the heat!

Deformed Sprite cans

Cleaning up

The third and final rest stop of the day was when most people decided to eat their lunch. I hadn’t fixed myself a lunch in the morning, so I tried to make myself a very simple tuna sandwich. There was one problem, though. The can opener was in the cooking supplies box that was under another box in the trunk. I was also feeling very lazy. Greta definitely egged me on by suggesting that it was possible to open the can by smashing it on the ground.
Greta’s floor rice cake
Ice ice baby
Aftermath of our tuna can opening attempts
My “tuna sandwich”
Spokes derangement reached all-time high levels over the course of the ensuing 20 minutes. We threw the can on the ground. We smashed it on rocks. We stomped on it. We pried at a small opening with sticks. We shook out small bits and pieces onto my sandwich. Tuna went everywhere. Mostly *not* on my sandwich.

Eventually the shame set in and we called it quits on that. We all made it to the house for the night and met our lovely hosts, Sharon and Keith. They cooked us an immaculate dinner and gave us a tour of their greenhouse that Keith built during COVID. S’mores followed dinner (Ramona had her first ever smore, as well as her second and third). Our long-awaited attempt at a movie night was postponed yet another night as people cozily chatted and blogged by the fire.
Sharon and Keith’s signature fried spaghetti setup
yum 😋
Ramona’s reaction to her first ever smore
The greenhouse
All in all, a packed but fairly restful day for me. This driving thing is pretty efficient — wonder why we even bought these dang bikes in the first place 🤔
June 12, 2025
Day 7: The Lone Star Adapts

Lexington, VA to Roanoke, VA – 59.58 mi, 4,160 ft

I woke up to the smell of pancakes courtesy of Dirk and Chrissy van Assendelft. The breakfast I had at their place in Lexington was some of the best I ever had.

Berries! Yum 😋

After breakfast, the team scattered to pack. As I collected my clean laundry, I felt anxious because I hadn’t biked the steep hill, which had grades up to 17%, from yesterday. Not completing something gives me immense dread. My pride also makes it hard for me to stomach that I am the slowest biker on our team.

We packed our lunches on the lawn of Dirk and Chrissy’s home as the morning sun brutally shone on us—lunches I wished that we packed the evening before. After 2.5 years of traveling the world solo, I am used to organizing my schedule however I want. However, I am learning that traveling with a group of 8, each with their quirks and needs, proves to be a very different task.

We started our ride to Roanoke down a grassy and gravel path where some of us feared for our lives. Fueled by my desire to become faster, I kept pedaling, one street after another, until I left the city. Before I realized it, I passed the zeroth(?) and first rest stop. Some of the team members stopped in downtown Lexington to snack on gelato and sit in love chairs. Usually, I would feel FOMO. However, I didn’t want gelato, and there was nothing I could do about missing a rest stop. Besides, my anxiety about completing the route was ebbing away with every mile I moved towards Roanoke. I am content with choosing to ride on.

Spoksies on a creaky bridge

I ended up playing leapfrog with Ruth for the rest of the day. I would ride in front, and then she would pass me for another stretch. I took the advice of a previous spokester (Duha) and acquired open-ear headphones. With Chappell Roan playing in my ears, my legs were willing to keep spinning the wheels. Although I was exhausted and walked a couple of hills, this was my happiest biking day.

Second rest stop! After completely missing the first 😦

When I finally arrived at the destination, I couldn’t find Lisa and Rob’s home. I meandered back and forth on the street, hoping that our driver Ishaq would pop out of nowhere to fetch me. Instead, I spotted a lady in her yard who beckoned me. That’s how I met Lisa.

Lisa ushered me into her home with utmost kindness. I met Ruth, who arrived before me. Ruth was shocked to the core when I said I wanted to shower first. Apparently, our shower order was based on the arrival order (I never arrived early enough to find out). But it calmed my anxious heart to know that I will be showering second today.

Lisa offered us a bowl of cherries. I love cherries, but I never buy them because they can cost quite a penny. Lisa and Rob were generous and offered us flautas and me impossible burgers. I even got to meet Carol (Rob’s mother) who is a big fan of Spokes. We met Rob, the creator of the Virgina Rockstar route, a trail some of us vow to do one day (not me).

Since this was the second day we arrived around 4 pm, Lisa and Rob had time to take us sightseeing. This was the first time Spokes had time to sightsee. I was so excited. Sightseeing was one part of my solo traveling I missed on Spokes. Lisa loaded me onto an artsy van Rob bought for $200 and drove us to see the largest man-made star, which happens to be in Roanoke.

Reassured by the city lights of Roanoke that twinkled in the distance, I realized I was still figuring things out. I don’t know where exactly Spokes ends and Tian begins. I’m not sure how much of the solo traveler in me can exist on this trip. But surely, once in a while, I can choose myself.

The night wrapped up sweetly with Lisa’s chamomile mint tea.

June 11, 2025
Day 6: stab your friends…

Afton, VA to Lexington, VA – 47.02 mi, 4,354 ft

Today was just one of those days. I woke up at 1:55 am to pee, and never quite fell back asleep. Tian, our resident snorer, unknowingly kept me awake all night. I popped in my airpods and drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few hours.

At the breakfast table, we (ironically) started off the day comparing sleep scores — Ishaq was well rested with an 87/100, and Greta was close behind with a 71/100. I was the star of the show with a whopping 42/100. I was basically non-verbal throughout breakfast and car-packing due to how sleep deprived I was (apologies, fellow Spokies).

Now, I’m not sure if you read Day 5’s blog (go Joseph), but if you did, you may know that we changed our route last minute, opting for a shorter, albeit steeper climb. Due to my state of being, Greta, our driver for the day, offered to drive me to the top. I respectfully declined – I needed to tire myself out enough that I would sleep peacefully tonight.

Sad to leave Pam’s magical cottage in Afton, VA, we headed off to the steepest climb to date. With an average grade of 10% (and a maximum of 17%), this climb reached a steepness of over 2 times the maximum allowable slope of a wheelchair ramp (my dad is an architect).

Text correspondence with Father Ruth

I opted to not have my own bike computer to save the team $350, so I rotate through drivers’ computers. Today, Greta’s computer was simply not loading the route for me – I resolved to follow Ramona closely behind so I wouldn’t get lost, since we ride at a ~similar~ pace.

Me, Charles, and Joseph before I zoom ahead with Ramona

I’m not going to subject you to the same pain that I felt climbing that large hill today, so I’ll spare you the details. Just know that Ramona and I didn’t take breaks, that I felt I was going to go backwards at multiple points, and that when we finally passed the worst of it and pulled over to snack, I didn’t know if I could get up again.

As for the rest of the journey, it went pretty smoothly. All the Spokies met under a tree to eat lunch. By this time, my mood was significantly better👍. Exercising does release endorphins, after all ✨.

Me and Ramona smiling through the pain post a 17% grade

Spokies at lunch

Ramona, Ishaq, and I set out before the others. Then came the best 13 miles of the day – flat land. On this land, like a fledgling jumping out of its nest for the first time, I learned to fly— i.e. ride with no hands. I even did the wave!

We had one last climb before the house, but after a quick snackie, we pulled through.

Me, Ramona, and Ishaq smiling before the last climb

46.8 miles later and 4456 ft ascended, we made it to Dirk and Chrissy’s house in Lexington, VA at 3:30 pm— early for a change. Roxy the dog was awaiting us!

Greta petting Roxy

Ramona chasing Roxy

Roxy with a ball

Joseph passed out next to Roxy

Greta hugging Roxy

Greta and Ishaq ran out to get groceries, while the rest of us took much needed showers. Once everyone was stink-free, we had dinner! A very very very yummy dinner, with stuffed mushrooms and caprese salads and protein pasta. During dinner we discovered Ramona’s love of orienteering – Europe’s favorite pastime. We also realized what a small world it is. Last week, Dirk and Chrissy hosted a Harvard pole vaulter that Sarah sort of knows. And they have a daughter at Stanford in the same department and year as my sister, who she doesn’t know at all! Pretty small world if you ask me.

Since we got to our Warmshowers so early, we could actually do fun things! We used the large foot massager in the living room. Most people hated it but Tian was ready to sneak it into the van. People made banana bread. I got sat on by Roxy. We pet the bipolar cat, Eli. Finally, we played Stab Your Friends, a card game (by Dirk and Chrissy’s nephew!) that turned all of us against each other. Charles, I’m coming for you.

Sarah making banana bread

Roxy sitting on me

June 10, 2025
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…

mystical fog at big meadows

hiding out from the rain:)

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!!

dad aka captain lawler

yep

joseph and the BEST PIZZA EVER (elf style…)

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
June 8, 2025
Day 3: BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, SHENENDOAH RIVERRRR

Linden, VA to Big Meadows Campground, VA – 55.75 mi, 6,555ft

Howdy y’all, Ishaq here. Today we had quite the late start but we’re treated to a quality pre-ride meal by our wonderful hosts, Jen, Tim, and their adorable baby Wayne (his cuteness fed our spirits with the motivation to conquer the day’s challenge). It was raining in the morning so we gladly accepted a short ride down the steep gravel road to start our journey on the highway to Shenandoah National Park.

Everything started out alright with a tiny hill around 10 miles in and we all got some wicked speed on the way down. However, it was quite hot today so I drank all my water by the time I got to our first rest stop and gladly purchased an Irish cream coffee and a lemonade from a lovely cafe. I also got what was probably the worst baguette I’ve ever had but a biker gotta eat 🤷🏾‍♂️. Ruth was driving today, and while she was waiting for us she explored a cute little inn. Everything inside looked old and expensive–so certainly outside of our spokes budget.

All in all it was a successful and restful break! Ramona took an awesome candid group photo and we continued our bike.

All was good until i saw this come up on my bike computer:

Arguably worse than our climb yesterday, we had a 10 mile, 3000 foot, grade 5 climb into Shenandoah ahead of us. And being completely real I was not physically or mentally prepared for that challenge. Everyone went ahead of me and two of us, who had been having some cardiovascular issues the previous day, made the smart decision to ride up in the car part of the way. I, however, stopped at another cafe, got another lemonade and sat on a porch of an abandoned building contemplating this climb. Contemplation quickly became doom scrolling, along with my daily LinkedIn games (gotta do my Queens). I realized it had been a bit and I probably should get going so I put on a podcast reviewing Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and got to riding. The first half of the climb took an hour. Physically, I was broken, mentally even more so. I did not help that the podcast was bad and they kept hating on the Star Wars prequels (which I am quite a fan of). I met up with Tian and Ruth for some lunch as everyone else had went ahead.

On this break at the half way point I went non verbal. Drank two full bottles of water, scarfed down the rest of my disgusting baguette, and laid down on a park bench. As I laid there staring at the tree above me and sky above that tree, I thought to myself, “dang I could really just hop in the car right now and get a ride to the top.” But then I thought of former Navy SEAL, endurance athlete, and motivational speaker, David Goggins. What would he say to me right now? WHOS GONNA CARRY THE BOATS!

I locked in, got up, biked out into another 5 miles of pure uphill. My willpower renewed, and reinforced now by the power of Jazz, Bollywood music, and the Sinners soundtrack. I pushed up that mountain and may have truly experienced endorphins for the first time. I took some stops at the view point and found joy in the climb. Just me, my bike and I, determined to make it to the top.

Hitting the peak was absolutely euphoric. I gladly zoomed at 30mph down the the other side until finally seeing other Spoksters at a lookout.

After that, I cant say the rest of the ride was chill, but it was certainly more manageable. We made it to Big Meadows campground as the sun was setting and I hurriedly got a bag of kettle corn and a sprite from the general store minutes before closing. I was now at peace… PSYCH! Where was Ruth? Where was Tian? Nobody knew, everybody worried. But it ultimately all panned out as Ruth found Tian and drove her on over. We unloaded the car and set up camp in the dark. We started cooking, but I conked out immediately, leaving the rest to the other Spokies.

June 7, 2025
day 2: taking off the training wheels (and lessons learned along the way) 🚴🏼‍♀️
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!)
our lovely 2024 chrysler pacifica amy <33
view from the airbnb 🏡
sunrise!
BREAKFAST 🔥🔥
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 😇
some views!
virginia is gorg ☀️
SNAKE
various spokies with moose, first up charles
joseph
me!
noodle 🍜
some of my fam 💗
bomb bagels…
…and fruit! 🍉
everybody together now
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!
leaving the cousin’s place 🌳
wowww
hey ruth!
lunch break ft. my fav lucky socks
rain
eugh 🌧️
chicken? turkey? idk
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!
tacos! 🌮
charles snoozing
June 6, 2025