Today was one of those days that felt like, maybe the novelty of biking across the country isn’t so novel anymore and it kind of set in that this routine we’ve been doing for the past week, we will keep doing for the next seventy days. Not in a bad way of course. Just that, now that it’s been a little over a week, the team has more or less found our routine. Because of a pretty uneventful but still amazing day, I’m kind of treating today’s blog as a diary of my thoughts and feelings that I’ve had over the past week.
When you apply to Spokes, the first question that you will be asked is, “Why do you want to do Spokes?” The answers that both myself and the rest of my team gave were along the lines of “super cool, adventure of a lifetime, important to spread STEM education, and all the other awesome reasons to do spokes.” But to be honest, my most real answer is that I wanted to build great friendships with a group of people that I’d never met before, because for me, I find that the most fulfilling part.
Chasing the sunset and I wanted to take a jumping picture of everyone but I guess Nate is against fun
Obviously though, this was my daydream and when it comes down to making real connections with real humans, it’s nerve racking. I’m thinking, what if we’re actually all super incompatible and everyone hates me and finds me annoying and blah blah.
My other greatest fear of Spokes was that I would simply not be physically capable enough to do it. For some context, I’ve never considered myself to be or been considered by others to be an athletic person. When I would tell my friends and family that I was biking across the country, they were just convinced that I was lying or joking (and I would too, don’t feel bad if you thought this at first). Or, they would just get extremely worried for me and ask if I’m sure this is something I can do. On top of that, Spokes 2025 would not stop fearmongering us about how physically hard it will be, especially the first couple of days. I think from all of this, I built up a lot of anticipation and anxiety for our first biking day (that was also 90 miles, so almost double anything I’d done before). I was honestly convinced that I would need to be SAG-ed out.
Somehow, though, like 300 miles and many large hills later, I’m still intact. I credit a lot of this to my team because everyone’s been incredibly supportive of each other, but I also credit a lot of this to myself.
Rest stop number 1 and rest stop number 2 where Drew took this photo of us that I think could be on the cover of a magazine
I started today biking the first 15 miles with Aarushi. Aarushi and I have been roommates for the past four years at MIT, so I would say she is one of the few people who knows me best in the world. We decided to do a little debrief on how we’ve been feeling thus far about the trip (you can read more about how Aarushi’s been feeling in her most recent blog but this blog is about me). I told her I was “feeling good” (because I’m actually really terrible at debriefs) and she told me that she’s noticed a kind of “Nunu explosion.” From her eyes, she says it seems like I’m thriving. After some more reflection, I realized I am truly having the time of my life and I’m so thankful and appreciative of every single day I get to spend building deeper friendships with the wonderful people on my team, seeing places I’ve never seen before, leading learning festivals to excited kids, and getting to know the kind people who host us every night.
But back to my team, I actually love them all so much. And maybe some will say it’s because we are in the honeymoon phase so of course we love each other right now, but I really feel like Spokes 2025 couldn’t have assembled a better Spokes 2026. I feel like every single person cares deeply for each other. We all operate very selflessly for the betterment of the group. For example, as I’m writing this blog, Nate and Drew are outside getting bitten up by mosquitoes, trying to fix my bike chain that keeps falling off. I also think that we communicate well and can be fun and silly when it’s time but also serious and productive when it’s necessary.
Rest stop number 3 where Nate launched me off the seesaw and we all swung on this swing
However, 7 strangers suddenly forced to spend 24 hours a day for 75 days together will inevitably stir up some conflicts. Everyone has different personalities, priorities, opinions and we somehow have to align in a context that none of us are used to. While I wouldn’t call this specific instance a conflict, tonight was the first night we had to do some deep talking with each other in what ended up being a 3 hour long team meeting. I won’t go too much into the details, mostly because it’s kind of boring. But what it boiled down to was that we needed to communicate our priorities to each other during bike days and how those priorities affect our pace and our group schedule. At the end of the day, we have one shared goal which is to have a lot of fun and enjoy each other’s company this summer. As long as we remember this, it will be an awesome summer.
Playing Durak and Nate lost again (4th time in a row) and then we played ERS and I won, of course. Also yummy dinner from Steve and Debbie and then our kind of serious team meeting to end the day.
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.
Today we awoke in our campsite and EVERYTHING WAS WET!!! We had foolishly left all our belongings strewn about the campsite, including bike shoes we had to wear this morning and fresh laundry that now needed to be re-run. Although there had been no rain in the forecast, all our bike gear and camping tents were now covered with a generous layer of morning dew. After a couple of “it’s over” “it’s chopped” “it’s buns” “it’s cooked”, we packed up wet tents in wet bags and did some knee stretches (pictured below) and put chamois butter on our butts (not pictured) and I spent some time trying to pick which audiobook to listen to only to realize that not only do you need to pay for Audible you need to pay for the audiobook as well (!!) and after three hours we were ready to leave the campsite at 9 AM.
Realization number 1 today: America really is so beautiful. The song was literally made about this place (O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!). We biked through rolling meadows and lush green grass everywhere and fluffy cows and houses with pretty porches and tantalizingly inviting pools. We were biking along the Shenandoah River, and when I realized that I was literally biking down the country roads John Denver was singing about, it felt like I could actually sense his deep nostalgia for the countryside and felt a surprising burst of American patriotism that I haven’t felt in a long time as he sang in my ears…
Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growin’ like a breeze
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads
We kept the good vibes going for a long long lunch where we stumbled upon a perfect oasis where we had a glorious picnic, brought out our big floatie but never went into the water, and instead laid down on the grass and took a group nap.
Wow that was a beautiful sentence. Well-deserving of its own paragraph. Writing this blog is making me retroactively even more grateful for these moments. Sometimes you don’t realize how awesome you have it in the moment.
Realization number 2 today: calling people and listening to them talk like a personal podcast is the hack of long-distance biking. I called my dad who is really good at debriefs and he told me the story of how he wrangled the thousand pounds of luggage I left him on his flight to California. I called my mom who is really good at reminding me of the things I haven’t done and she talked to me about how I need to eat a lot of protein and how I should become even more shameless in asking for Spokes donations. I called my best friend Albert who is really good at laughing and he told me about this new TV show Girls that he’s been watching and indulged me in my fantasy of daydreaming about all the things we will do when we both live in the Bay Area together post-grad. I called my other best friend Ria who is really good at talking in general and she didn’t pick up. I called my friend Maanas who is really good at giving advice and he gave me some more wisdom from his post-grad bike trip from UT Austin to Alaska. I called my teammates Nunu and Tatiana so we could talk even more while biking even though we already spend every single waking hour together. Becoming a Caller is actually one of my goals this summer. It’s such a good way to keep up to date with my friends lives as we all move to different corners of the world, and I am so notoriously bad at keeping in touch with friends that I don’t see regularly that it is a serious fear of mine that the strong friendships I’ve built in college will fade with inactivity. If you’re reading this, please feel free to call me anytime this summer!!!
Our ride ended in Waynesboro today as our next host, Pam, picked us up in her truck over the mountain to her house. (Don’t worry, we will resume biking from Waynesboro again in order to have a contiguous route across America).
When we arrived at Pam’s place, we were greeted by a literal enchanted magical fairy forest. Pam lives on Shannon Farm, a hippie community founded in 1973 and where she has been a member since 1979. My goal in graduate school at Berkeley is actually to become a hippie so this was an amazing pregame for me. As we gathered around the dinner table and feasted on the delicious barbecue pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad and baked beans and corn on the cob she had made for us, we asked her about her life and her community.
Pam hands-down has lived one of the richest and most colorful lives out of anyone I’ve ever met. She was an activist protesting the Vietnam war in her college days, she’s been a nurse in clinics, peace walks, and wilderness all over the world, she’s raised two amazing children, she’s gone to Africa multiple times to rehabilitate chimpanzees and baboons and monkeys, she was the chairman of a primate sanctuary in North Carolina where she met Jane Goodall, and most admirably, she greets every person and experience she meets with a beautiful and warm and open heart. Pam, you are truly an inspiration to all of us, and I can only hope to internalize and pass forward some of the warmth you have shown us.
I forgot to bring my journal on this trip so I’m going to end my blog journaling to you all with some personal thoughts. This is the first time I’ve been a part of a team in my life, like not just a school group project or a friend group or workplace type team but a true, blood-sweat-and-tears sports team. We are all bound by this shared and really difficult mission of somehow biking across America, and I can already tell that by the end of the summer, we will know each other in different ways than the rest of the people in our lives are used to seeing. It’s also insane how competent everyone on the team is; everyone is constantly working to lift the entire team up and doing more than their share of work during tired evenings and rushed mornings. I’ve never experienced being the one that feels like they aren’t pulling their weight, especially because I didn’t come in knowing any special skills relevant for this trip like fixing bikes and mounting overhead storage on the car and efficiently packing gear and all. On top of that, I’m definitely one of the slower bikers, and I found out today that I’m apparently the slowest to get ready in the mornings too 😭😭
Fighting these feelings of inadequacy is something I’ll definitely have to learn this summer. It’s good in the sense that it means I really am doing something that is out of my comfort zone, because I actually never do things that I’m not good at. It’ll be a learning experience to first just accept my weaknesses as they are presented to me (putting aside my pride, the biggest of my seven deadly sins) and then actively work on them for the betterment of the team.
I do have a few goals I’ve been thinking about for this summer. One I already mentioned was to become a Caller and learn how to stay in touch with people. Another is to complain less. As the people in my life (especially my dad) can attest to, I enjoy complaining, but I enjoy complaining more as a shared activity, like let’s all complain about how annoying something is. But it’s really not the same when nobody else on the team is that into complaining so then I just seem like a big chud. I’m not going to list too many goals already on Day 4 because a laundry list of goals is ripe for falling through on all of them, so tune in for my next blog, every Thursday.
Thank you for the many people who have been donating and supporting and keeping up with our journey, I love you all!!
Today was a beautiful day, marked by sunshine, side quests, and the kindness of strangers.
We began the day with yummy oatmeal prepared by our host Jen, licks from her cute dogs, and a car ride courtesy of Jen’s husband Tim down the gravel mountain that Carmen, Drew, and Nate had painfully climbed the night before. This was my first day biking since I drove the day before, so I was feeling a huge mix of nervousness and excitement.
As we departed, I got into the groove and started really appreciating the nature around me. Virginia is so pretty! Cows! Hills! Uh oh… hills… The hills were killer, but I began to enjoy them and appreciated Drew’s company, especially as we discussed music and his piano skills.
When we came to our rest stop, my first reaction was a bit disappointed, as we were sitting at a gas pump with no overhang and no shade. Alas, the universe had other plans. A few minutes into our rest stop, a car pulled up next to us, and a man came out with curious questions surrounding our trip. He asked what we were doing and why, and suddenly asked if he could donate to our cause. When he started pulling out his wallet, I assumed that he wanted to donate $20. Instead, our team received a ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR donation from a kind man named Jimmy Baker on the side of the road in Virginia. Hello??? Crazy plot twist. Not only this, but Jimmy also offered to buy us food later in our route. The day seriously reminded me that we often assume strangers are far less kind and generous than they actually are. People are seriously awesome, and I have such gratitude for the countless friends and strangers who have already helped us along our journey.
After this, Drew and I kept pedaling on our short ride, with a slight detour to swing on a beautifully placed swing set and enjoy the Virginia views. The rest of the route, we moo’ed at cows, listened to music, and finally noticed our road turn into a side gravel path. As we pulled into the entrance of our campground for the night, we were greeted with a magical sight. After hours of tough uphill climbs, we suddenly saw a glistening blue pool in front of us, tantalizingly calling for us to jump in.
Immediately rejuvenated, Drew and I raced to our campground, excited to drop off our gear and celebrate with our friends. The group informed us that the pool wasn’t even the extent of our luxuries; we also had clean bathrooms, a jumping pad on the property, AND a place to play volleyball! Living the good life.
After a lunch break and some camping gear setup with extra tent troubleshooting courtesy of Nunu, we jumped in the pool, excited to finally relax. Our adventure quickly turned into 4v3 basketball, where my 4-person team was winning 5-2 until I had to reapply sunblock, and suddenly the score did not look too great for my team…
Nate put it perfectly: “It’s all haha until you’re the one that’s buns.”
After swimming, a few of us basked in the sun, played volleyball, and walked over to the jumping pad, which was, in fact, a huge blown-up tarp that you could jump on. You’re getting the vibes. Literally the best day ever. Sunshine and rainbows.
And you know what could make it EVEN better? I had called the town a few minutes away from our campground yesterday, and a pizza place offered to donate us a few pizzas for today’s dinner!! Wow. Miracle.
At this point, Carmen, Aarushi, Drew, and Caroline went to the town to pick up groceries, the pizza, and some medicine, while Nunu, Nate, and I stayed back to blog and finish up some tasks. Before we began, though, we walked around the property and noticed a POOL TABLE! Not to be confused with the earlier swimming pool (you get the blog’s title?). Obviously, we had to sneak in a game where Nate and I lost to Nunu through Nate’s devastating sinking of the black ball a little too early in the game. Our loss encouraged us to finally lock in on our tasks.
Nunu actually made this shot…
When dinner arrived, I truly felt bliss in my soul as we devoured the topping-ladden pizzas and washed our food down with Aarushi and Carmen’s EXTRA surprise of Lofthouse cookies. I’m telling you, we’re spoiled. We also battled against Drew’s spilled Lemon-Lime gatorade, which suddenly created a “pee” trail traveling down the bench.
We knew, though, that the day after was going to be tough, so we decided to use some of the remaining daylight to clean the car, pump air into our bikes, finish setting up our campsite, and do our laundry.
Quick side note: we actually have the best team ever. Everyone is so helpful and wants to work hard to make sure everyone has a good time. I have noticed that our team is very kind, and I really feel like everyone is trying their best to work as a group and appreciate each other. We laugh a lot, and it has really been making this trip amazing so far. I also feel like everyone has their distinct roles, which make our team function well. For example, I consider myself the Morning GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) because I am the only certified morning person and get everyone moving at 6 am. See below for my opinion on everyone’s roles:
Nunu: Organizational GOAT (our car is pristine, our stuff is perfectly organized)
Nate: Car and Gear GOAT (always locks in on the bike rack and top storage)
Drew: Grocery GOAT (best food ever is always present)
Caroline: Laundry GOAT (walked all the way up the hill 5 times to do our laundry)
Aarushi: Housing GOAT (effortlessly found us a new campground and free Airbnbs)
Carmen: Route and Bicycle GOAT (knows everything, pumps everyone’s tires)
Of course, all of these roles overlap between team members, but still, having people who are great at the tasks has made life so much easier.
After our work session, everyone took showers, finished the next day’s route, and slowly went to their tents to sleep. Aarushi, Nunu, and I shared the 4-person tent; Carmen and Caroline shared a 2-person tent; and Nate and Drew shared a 2-person tent. Awesome.
My last comment for this day is that my awesome boyfriend Noah organized the cutest surprise ever for me this summer. He got all of my friends and family to write me notes, and collected 75 notes for me to open in the 75 days of the trip. Just before going to bed, I opened my third note, and it was from a friend, Sam Hughes. Thank you to her, to Noah, and to the many people who have written to me, even if I haven’t opened yours yet. I look forward to reading the notes from you guys every day 🙂
Washington D.C. to Linden, VA – 88.6 mi, 4947 ft (5833 ft if you make the wrong turn)
Def SAG (noun): Support And Gear. The minivan holding all the teams’ gear, food, etc.
Def SAG (verb): a.k.a SAG out. To get picked up by the car during a ride, usually to be driven to the end point.
Before explaining today, I’d like to provide some context on the current state of the team. Two nights ago, the most sleep anyone on the team got was 4 hours. Last night, the team got 2 hours of sleep and then taught at the juvenile detention center for 7 hours. After driving an hour back, cleaning bikes, eating dinner, packing the van, buying groceries, doing laundry, and getting ready for bed, it was 11pm.
With this in mind, we decided to prioritize recovering our sleep before today’s ~90 mile ride by waking up at 7am instead of the 5am wakeup we had decided to do after finishing teaching. The plan was to leave the house by 8am to drive to DC, arrive at 8:30am, take pictures, and then start biking by 9am. That did not happen.
At 8am, half the team was still upstairs getting ready and all bags weren’t in the van until 8:30am. We ended up leaving at 8:40am and, because we were now driving into downtown D.C. at peak rush hour, we didn’t get to the Lincoln Memorial until 10am.
Huge shoutout to Aarushi’s uncle and aunt Nikunj and Deepika for hosting us + helping shuttle us to D.C. and to Tatiana’s mom Olga for returning the cargo van for us after we left!
After taking a few pictures, Spokes 2026 was off from D.C. for their first ride of the summer!
Spokes 2026 sets off from D.C.!
The fanfare of departing from the Lincoln Memorial was short lived unfortunately as we immediately ran into a slew of technical difficulties (e.g. red lights for ages, falling walkie talkies, twisting ramps causing the first fall of the summer, making incorrect turns getting out of the city, etc.). After getting out of D.C., we biked together for no more than 2 miles before splitting up into faster and slower groups (despite planning to all bike together for 20 miles).
Biking out of D.C. along the Potomac River.
Drew, Carmen, and I biked together for a bit before Drew fell behind a little. Carmen and I continued on to the first rest stop at mile 20 where we checked off the first bathroom break a la fresca and then regrouped with Drew.
Prior to the first rest stop Tatiana and Nunu both called me to let us know that Drew’s drivers license was found in the laundry machine back at the house, and so Tatiana would be driving back to get it and, as a result, wouldn’t be able to meet us at the rest stop. We decided to mess with Drew a little by asking him to show us his ID to make sure “he had the right one in case we get stopped by the police”. I’ve never seen someone so confidently claim they had their ID while already holding all cards in their wallet. (Note from the future: we are currently keeping a count of things Drew has left behind, we’re currently at 4 things in 3 days).
I’m sure it’s in there somewhere Drew.
We then continued biking towards the second rest stop where Tatiana would meet us for lunch. We decided to have Drew and Carmen draft so that we could all stick together (Carmen said she was winded from getting to the first rest stop). This turned out to work very well. We were able to hold a solid 15-17mph pace all the way to the lunch stop and get Drew a new speed PR.
Discovering the powers of group riding.
So far, and up to around mile 40, we rode along the Washington & Old Dominion bike trail, which was super nice: separated from the road, very green, and had occasional tree coverage.
We eventually reached the second rest stop around mile 35 where we waited 5-10 minutes for Tatiana to arrive with Drew’s ID, set up sandwiches for lunch, and started eating. After ~15-20 minutes, the second group (Aarushi, Nunu, Caroline) arrived and joined us for lunch.
First Spokes Lunch!
After everyone finished eating, we let the second group go ahead while Drew, Carmen, Tatiana, and I packed up lunch. We then set off towards the second half of the ride.
The second half of the ride featured a bike park (that we were required to take a short detour at) as well as some nice views along a gravel road.
Eventually we reached the 3rd rest stop around mile 55. Nothing very notable happened yet but at this point we did realize that in 2 days we had eaten two 1kg bags of dried mangos.
Nunu yearns for the mangos
The story of a hero starts now.
It was currently around 5:30pm with 35 miles to go. Our Warmshowers1 host Jen wanted us at the house before quiet hours at 9pm when she puts her 2 year old baby to bed. As a result, I decided to bike ahead alone (since Drew and Carmen wanted more recovery time) so I could start showering and unpacking (+ because Jen and her husband Jim had very kindly offered to help drive any straggling members to her house to ensure we got there in time – I had 0 intention of letting this happen to me since I wanted to fully finish the ride).
So I then left the park we had been using as our third rest stop and turned right out of the parking lot back onto the road we had been biking along. Meanwhile, the rest of the team would spend 20-30 minutes more resting before turning left out of the parking lot to retrace our steps and continue along the road actually part of our route.
Unbeknownst to me, my bike computer had quickly rerouted when I made this right turn. Our bike computers have graphs of the upcoming elevation along the route and show stretches of steep elevation gain in colors ranging from green (flat) to yellow to red (steep). When I looked down at my bike computer, I saw shades of red that I had never seen before on that bike computer.
I chugged up a 1 mile, 500 ft elevation gain hill, before coming up upon a 4-lane highway with cars going 60mph that my GPS was telling me to cross and continue biking on. The highway had a generous shoulder so I waited for a break in the cars to cross and start biking uphill along the highway with cars and 18-wheelers zooming by. My elevation graph was showing deep red and purple(I didn’t even know that was an option), so I decided that I should warn the rest of the team that things were about to get pretty tough.
Luckily, the stretch along the highway only lasted ~5 minutes before I had to cross back over to the other side straight into a 1000ft climb. This would become my new highest climb (beating the 500ft one I had just finished), but after around 30 minutes of chugging up the hill at 5mph I reached the “flatter” section at the top and continued along the rest of the road.
After riding along the road for a bit, I got a call from Drew that no one wants to hear: that I was off route. My first reaction was that HE was the one off route, but after pulling off the road and checking the original route I confirmed that I was on a parallel road heading slightly more north. Turns out the whole team was confused when the horrible climbs and highways I had prophesied would arrive, since the route they were on was very reasonable.
At this point I considered my options: retracing to get back on route, which would be ~8 miles back and require me doing 43 miles in 2 hours i.e. not feasible; continuing on the current route which, after checking Google Maps street view, I found required biking on a four lane highway with no shoulder for bikes i.e. incredibly unsafe; or the tragic third choice of being the first person to SAG and get moved back onto the route.
With little other choice, I called Tatiana to ask her to come pick me up where the road I was on met the highway and have her transport me ~6 miles along the highway to get back on route.
Luckily the distance I biked along the road was around the same distance as the other road but with an additional 1000 feet of elevation gain so I still had grounds to stand on that I finished the ride. But at this point Drew and Carmen were ~5 miles ahead and I needed to complete the last 20 miles in the next hour to avoid getting actually SAG’d out. It’s worth noting that one of the reasons Jen and Jim offered to help SAG us was because they didn’t want us going up and down the exact mountain I did
Anyways, as soon as I got dropped off the route and my bike was off the car bike rack I booked it along the route (making sure I was headed the right direction this time) at ~170-180 bpm, huffing and puffing with my legs burning the whole way.
After 11 miles I passed Carmen and, shortly after, I passed Drew (😜).
Around this time, Aarushi, Nunu, and Caroline had all been SAG’d out at 76 miles, by Jen’s husband Jim since they were too far behind to make it to the house in time. Side tangent but to be SAG’d out they were told to look for Jim’s red pickup truck. At some point they saw one parked near the meetup point and approached it, only to see a sign reading “No trespassers. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.” They quickly left the area and were safely picked up by Jim later.
After passing Carmen and Drew, I pushed the last 9 miles with my legs burning, painfully climbed the gravel mountain to Jen & Jim’s house, and rolled up to the house as a champion.
But did we really win? In the end Carmen and Drew also made it without being SAG’d out since the time it would take to SAG them out would’ve been longer than just letting them finish the ride. Additionally, the route for the next day was a 60 mile 8000 ft elevation ride notorious among the Spokes teams every year. Finally, because we arrived so late Jen and Jim ended up putting their baby down to bed an hour late.
After arriving, we quickly ran a shower line, ate the ground beef tacos Jen had kindly cooked for us, unpacked, ran laundry, had a team meeting to plan the next morning, and did some blog writing. It was over dinner that Jen warned us about our ride the next day being a dangerous route due to its sharp, low visibility turns. After this rough day 1 ride no one was eager to do the dangerous + painfully steep ride, so in the end we swapped our route to a 30 mile 2000 ft elevation ride that got us to a different camp ground and got the job done. Jen also told us we had done the longest day 1 Spokes ride she had ever seen 😁.
I guess I won after all?
– Nate
1 Warmshowers is a platform where touring bicyclists can open up their homes to other touring bicyclists to stay with them while out on multi-day bike rides. MIT Spokes has utilized Warmshowers heavily throughout the past 12 years to get housing across the US. Many hosts have hosted multiple generations of Spokes teams – for example, Jen has hosted the MIT Spokes teams four times (and the team is very grateful!).
well, this one is LONGGG overdue…whoops 😀 (please forgive me, mom, grandma, etc.) anyways, without any further delay, i will recount our 2nd to last biking day before reaching our long-anticipated destination of san francisco. buckle up, because while i ALWAYS say this is going to be a long one, this statement could never be more true than right now…(2662 words, to be exact, and for JDs stats on the spokes 2025 bloggers total word counts) (if you’re wondering, yes, i had the most)
…which, in true spokes fashion, started the night before, past midnight and the previous day. ramona (the previous day’s blogger) was fast asleep during these festivities, so i will give the much needed context instead. it all started when joseph, while making the day’s route, pointed out that there was a six flags amusement park within 10 miles of our destination in benicia.
this small comment will drastically alter the course of the following day.
ishaq, the next day’s planned driver, is now DEAD-SET on going to six flags, even willing to wake up at an ungodly hour and bike instead. ruth decides she will follow whatever the group does, but goes to bed right then and there on the couch in case we decide to wake up early. tian wants to go, and is scheming to switch driving days with ishaq and take the van straight there. joseph, charles, greta and i are all indecisive for the next 2-3 hours, while ramona is in the blissful ignorance of slumber. eventually, we come up with the PERFECT plan so that everyone gets what they want:
because we are, for once, in proximity of civilization™, this is one of the most perfect days to do a self-supported ride (or, a ride without the van)
ishaq and tian will switch driving days, and tian + the van will head straight for six flags around 10am to get there by opening for the six flags group, but leave late enough for the late-risers group
all riders are free to leave and go where they please: we end up splitting up into “six flags” (ishaq and ruth), and “regular” (joseph, charles, ramona, greta, and i)
six flags group leaves around 5-6am to get there around opening
regular group sleeps in and takes a chill day exploring the various stops through california leaving the capital on the way to the bay!
everyone does what they want!!!
obligatory “six flags” crew pics from their day
strong tian
snoozing after we showed up…at 10:30pm…
this leaves me waking up around 9am. joseph also gets up around this time, ramona is already awake (and is debriefed on last night’s plan), while charles and greta have to be woken up (by me) so they don’t sleep in TOO late and miss dropping off their stuff in the van (you’re welcome). most people have some of the oatmeal made by our lovely hosts, while i start scheming for a early ride cafe stop (because what else can you expect from me if not a cafe stop?) i end up finding a spot in downtown sacramento, so after leaving our stuff in the van joseph, ramona and i set out around 10am, with charles and greta behind us. while they originally intended to join us at our cafe, they ended up just heading straight for the one at our first rest stop. this was probably a wise decision, as with the morning rush, it took around a combined 30-45 minutes for joseph and i to get through the line to order (thanks ramona for guarding our stuff!), and all our food to come out. social media was RAVING about their egg sandwiches, so of course i had to get one. my bacon, egg and cheese ended up being pretty worth the hype (maybe not the wait, though…) after finishing up our food, chai lattes, and tea, we set out for davis.
heading to breakfast 2!
food!
food except zoomed out for everybody
a golden bridge…but not THE golden (gate) bridge
while the first leg would have actually been around 17.5 miles, it was a little shorter than that since we were heading out of downtown. we went on a bike path headed right along the highway, sometimes moving even faster than morning commuter traffic, which i thought was pretty funny. the closer and closer we got to davis, the more i realized it was not nearly as rural as i thought—after all, it was only an hour out of sacramento by bike. we passed by some fruit stands, got accidentally drafted by another random biker, and made our way into the college town of davis! after checking on the status of charles and greta via life360, we realized they we’re actually still in town, so we met up to officially form the full non-six flags group.
with the amount of activities and procrastination that went on in davis, this rest stop deserves its own paragraph. the original rest stop was another cafe, which we all ultimately skipped for other places. after the freshies group helped some locals repair their bikes, we all met up at a newspaper shop around the corner. we learned that davis had the first bike lanes in AMERICA, met the shop owner’s absolutely MASSIVE great dane in the back, and joseph and i got popsicles before heading out. we made our way over to a korean dessert shop, and ended up splitting some bingsu—a popular dessert made from shaved ice, milk, and various toppings. ours was topped with strawberries, mango, circus animal cookies, and what i believe was a chocolate covered oreo. while we munched, charles and co. worked on the crossword inside the copy of the new york times he got at the newspaper shop. eventually, we spread out: charles and greta napped outside on a table, ramona and i looked at books together, and i honestly don’t know what joseph was doing. at some point i split off to call my sister, and before we knew it it was almost 3pm and we were about 60 miles from where we needed to be before dark. spoiler alert: we did NOT make it before dark…
hello davis!
DAWG.
first bike lanes in america were in davis!
popsicle
bingsu purchasing
bingsu eating
yummy
nap time…
alas, we FINALLY start heading out of davis. our next stop was only 12.5 miles away, and after we all accidentally split up in 3 different directions trying to make our way out of town, we met up again and biked as a pack on the mostly empty farm roads. a few stopped to eat almonds off the trees on the side of the road (myself NOT included), the turns we hit every 1.5-2 miles as we zig-zagged along the main highway kept me entertained, while the wind slightly annoyed me. soon enough, we hit the dixon fruit market! i got a watermelon juice for myself, as well as a loaf of bread and block of cheese to split with the rest of the group. while i was unsure if we would finish the whole thing (as the van was not there to carry the leftovers), i left with only a small cube of cheese in my bike bag. in hindsight, i think not having to worry about the driver being stuck in one place for too long is what caused our future problems. anyways, we made a slight detour to a gas station for restrooms, ice, and scratchers, and hit the road after another decently lengthy stop.
the “regular” crew
mandatory pole vault pit pic
almonds…yum…
fruit stand!
roadside charcuterie
yum yum yum
leg 3 was about another 15 miles, and while the rest stop was supposed to be at a park, we once again decided to get creative and instead make it at the great west coast fast food chain known as in and out. i honestly don’t remember much from this leg, but at in and out i got animal style fries for the first time (truly life-changing), while this was quite a few others first time at in and out at all. it’s not the best food ever, but it is pretty good, and in this economy, where else are you getting a burger, fries and drink for less than $10? as we sit outside enjoying our meals with the sun just dipping below the horizon, this was the first time it settled in that we were kinda cooked (aka biking in the dark). after calling the six flags crew, to keep an already incredibly long blog a little shorter, we realized the van simply was not going to be able to come shuttle people if needed (which we really only do in dangerous conditions physically or environmentally), so we had no choice but to finish the ride. i dump the rest of my lemonade in my water bottle (a huge hydration strat i discovered at the end of spokes), and the crew locks in for our last 35 miles.
IN AND OUTTT
good lawd
our 2nd to last leg wound up probably being 15-20 miles, but no matter the case, we locked in and got PEDALING out of vacaville. we were slowly losing more light, but the grind doesn’t stop. we passed by the original rest stop 3, and after some time we made it to our new rest stop—a tj maxx. as we had never biked in complete darkness before, we didn’t realize how cold it got with both the wind and the absence of sunlight. greta got a long-sleeve cotton button-up that she planned to reuse for normal day wear, joseph got a pair of pajama pants with garfield-shaped pumpkins on them, while the rest of us took the opportunity to rest a little. otherwise, we kept the stop pretty short, and soon headed out to get to FINALLY our place for the night.
fitted up
resting up
what’s to come…
oh boy.
stepping out of the warmth of that building made me question if i should have actually purchased additional layers or not, but i reassured myself that once we got pedalling i would warm up again. and boy, did we have to PEDAL, because (of course) all the climbs—albeit pretty short—we’re saved for the very end. just my luck. however, there was just around 15 miles to go, so there was no choice but to lock in (count how many times i’ve said that in this blog), and FINISH. we got in the most maximally lit and visible formation, and hit the hills heading into benicia. the first portion was probably the scariest and most painful—-basically pitch black except for our lights and the interstate running adjacent to us on the service road (with the cars BLINDING me instead of helping me see), headwinds CENTRAL, and some route confusion that almost led us down a steep hill to nowhere. but after conquering this most mentally challenging section with the power of the kpop demon hunters soundtrack, we hit benicia and civilization…meaning flat, lit, and car-free BIKE TRAILS!!! we finished the last of our climbs, zoomed down into town, and finally made it to our place at the lovely hour of 10:30pm. we all sigh in relief, saying that would NEVER happen again (of course, with spokes ending the next day, it most definitely wouldn’t, but the sentiment remained). we take quick showers and meals, apologize to our hosts for our ungodly hour of arrival, set out our sleeping bags, and pass out along with the six flags group (who had gone to bed at a much more ideal time).
the next day, we would bike across the golden gate bridge into san francisco, officially completing our over 4,000 mile across the united states. yet, at the time, it didn’t feel like we were actually, finally done. after being in a constant, structured regimen of biking, learning festival, and rest days for almost 3 months, it was hard—no, impossible—to process that in a few days, i would be going home, and then back to school in boston—back to normal life.
fast forward a few weeks later: it’s a sunny sunday afternoon in cambridge, i’m sitting in flour on mass ave, iced chai latte just about finished, about to start working on my 8.02 learning sequences. my bike—covered in stickers i collected over the summer—sits chained up outside. i feel like i’ve adjusted comfortably back to the school routine, the busyness and chaos—between 4 classes, my UROP, pole vault, my new sorority (pi phi, wings up!), my job at the list arts center, and preparations to recruit spokes 2026 (keep your eyes open!)—keeping my mind occupied (which i like, actually).
however, every so often, i am reminded of my life-changing journey (it’s something i will never forget, but sadly, life goes on). chrysler pacificas driving down the street. the cyclists outside trader joe’s last weekend, eating pickles straight out of the jar. certain songs that come up on shuffle on spotify. the hundreds of thousands of pictures in my photo album when i happen to scroll back too far on accident, or when i am reminiscing on purpose. the seemingly simple question from peers of “what did you do this summer?”
i cherish these memories, and remember them fondly, but it breaks my heart to come to terms with the fact that i can’t ever truly go back to and relive those 3 months of my life. i could sit with that pain forever…or i could choose to look forward to what’s next. there are interesting classes and projects to be done, exciting track meets to train for, and so many new friends to be made, and fresh adventures to go on in the meantime (bike touring is certainly in my future—pacific crest summer 2026?) i am forever grateful for the many people i met along the way: from ever generous and wise hosts and grateful, hard-working learning festival partners and their bright students, to kind strangers at rest stops and on the road, and of COURSE my fellow spokies, i truly believe i saw the best of humanity this summer. the chaos and mayhem in the world right now sometimes made the future seem pretty dim, but in every small interaction—from child to senior, townsperson to city dweller, farmer to entrepreneur, stranger to friend—i gained just a little more hope. i saw the grand sights and views, as well as the charming, unique corners, nooks and crannies of this diverse country that make me proud to call it home—both in place and people.
i am also very thankful for the many people who got me to this point in my life journey, to be able to go on the journey of spokes. to my family, teachers, mentors, coaches, and friends—who never doubted my ability to go far and do hard things (like get into MIT…which is still so crazy to me)—i thank you from the bottom of my heart. some days, i still can’t believe the life i get to live, and it was all thanks to you and your hard work and support.
finally, i would like to thank my fellow spokies—my new best friends. tian, ishaq, ruth, charles, greta, joseph, and ramona, thank you for being such a big part in a summer i will never forget. thank you for getting me through the longest days, the toughest climbs, and the most exhausting learning festivals. for the yaps on the bike about anything and everything, serious or not, for the great meals and the time we spent making (or just enjoying) them, and ALL the laughs in between. for the rest stop shenanigans, rest day adventures, and MANY cafe runs that i dragged you all on because i insisted on having as many on each day’s route as possible. for your endless encouragement, thoughtful advice, and sincere love. i can’t wait to keep being friends with all of you—even if we are no longer all together physically, the thousands of miles that brought us together will never, truly, tear us apart.
with my final philosophical spiel, i will end my final spokes blog. it was the ride of a lifetime (haha, get it?), and i am SO excited to pass the baton to spokes 2026, so that 8 more can take part in this special journey.
a lovely rest of your day and one final thank you to YOU, my lovely readers!
The Spokies awoke one by one in what started off as a slow, bum morning in a church in Placerville, unaware of what the day ahead had in store. Previously someone had made plans to do a scavanger hunt one of these days and Ruth had now convinced Greta that today was the day. So, after calls home, breakfast and packing, we lingered a bit longer in the lot by the church, while Greta flushed out the hunt. Once Greta was done with her scoreboard, we split off in teams for the competitive spirit and after some brief scheming set off. 54.2 miles with very little climbing created the perfect atmosphere for a unserious day full of side quests.
where we stayedlot by the churchPlacerville
I was teamed up with Ruth and Joseph. Our plan was to hit a CVS in Skinners to get hair dye and enact a break-up, then go to rest stop 1 to jump in a lake, maybe find a secluded area for skinny dipping and choreograph a dance. Then find a car wash, hopefully neighbouring a gas station to wash our bikes and get that winning scratch-off. Finally, get some ice cream with sun glasses upside down, introducing yourself as Latvian and grabbing the ice cream by the scoop. For on the way tasks we could do the secret handshake, stranger selfies and other bits. At the end of the day we would run the last 0.5 miles. Writing this all down, it sounds like way too much, but at the time it seemed completely doable. Our cycling days were always long, so what’s a little side quest here and there?
Well, we ended up arriving to our first rest stop 19.4 miles out a whooping 5 hours later. But, Ruth and Ishaq met a bunch of strangers and took selfies with them. My team (the best team) staged a couple’s fight in a CVS, got some merch from a dollar store and acquired an additional team member – Tian. The other team (the second best team) had gotten some ice cream and probably went on some other side quests I have not been briefed about. Anyway, at the first rest stop – a cafe, where the lovely barista filled all of our bottles with ice water – Greta instated a time limit for the next stretch. That’s really when the day picked up pace. It was time to pedal and be efficient about completing our tasks.
We schemed some more, performed a choerographed dance, Joseph chugged half a gallon of oat milk, Charles downed three cans of Sprite and we struggled to land a bottle flip while cycling. Then we set off to find a place to swim. But on our way we first ran into a car wash and a gas station, so that was nice. Eventually we made it to a park, where we found a nice swimming spot, jumped in the lake and went skinning dipping. Then we pedaled off in a hurry to make it to our second (and final) rest stop in time.
Ruth got her bike signedJoseph and oatmilkthe winning ticket!trying to dry offRuth pedalling awayTian attempting a bottle flippart of the handshakeme jumping in waterRuth jumping in waterTian getting her bike powerwashed
Despite the high pedalling output to keep on schedule, the ride was very enjoyable. The warm weather had stopped bothering me after the swim and snacks from the car kept me fueled. I honestly am not quite sure anymore what tasks we tried to do afterwards, or what the other team was up to. It was a day overflowing with events, a whirlwind that made us forget time, blew us up in the air to land someplace else with a different agenda. Everyone was in high spirits when we finally arrived in Sacramento to our hosts Ray and Judy.
Ruth trying to eat a smushed ice creamcont.in the evening sunfound the place just in timeour hosts’ beautiful homeRuth and Charles enjoying the gardenteapots!
After showers we rewinded with pasta dinner, completed with tomato sauce and vegetables grown in the yard. The hunt dominated the dinner table discussion, everyone was excited to share their adventures. Judy and Ray’s home was stunning, which I will be able to confirm the next morning, when it was light outside again. An absolutely soul-filling experience – a day to fly through and an evening to feel grounded again.
Afterwards, I basically crashed into the bed, but some Spokies stayed up and discussed next day’s plan’s. But more about that in the next blog which Charles will be writing up soon!
South Lake Tahoe, CA -> Placerville, CA — 88.8 miles, 6,731 ft
Welcome to my last blog! We got an early-ish start to this morning (by Spokes ’25 standards) since Dan and Natasha were also headed out of town for a trip. This proved to be a great decision as we had a longer ride for today — almost 90 miles with 6,700 feet of elevation gain. But today would also be an excitingly speedy day, finally leaving the higher-elevation southwest for good with 11,000 feet of descent on the day as well.
The Spokies started the day together as we rode on this delightful trail surrounded by tall evergreens. What a terrific greeting for our first California ride! It was so refreshing having my line of sight interrupted by trees and a curving roads once again. After a full summer of biking, fresh of yesterday’s rest day, the legs felt fresh. To use a Joseph-ism, we were ZOOMING.
Joseph had let us know that after packing up the car (which is always a bit slower after a rest day) he was going to go shopping in South Lake Tahoe and he might miss rest stop 1. We reached rest stop 1 and everyone else had forged on, so after a quick bathroom break, Greta, Sarah, and I continued up the first climb of the day.
When we got to rest stop 2, Joseph still wasn’t there to meet us. Ruth and Ramona had already moved on. Joseph was only a few minutes away from the rest stop, so the rest of us decided to wait for him and admire the pretty lake and skip stones.
Joseph made up for his lateness with the best possible excuse one might have for such a grave transgression. He had set his mind on one-upping Ruth’s best-driver-ever submission on day 70 with one of his own. He opened the minivan door to reveal bag upon bag of groceries. There were the all the essentials and classic Spokes hits we’d requested for food, of course. Then, fresh apples, oranges, peaches, and a whole watermelon he was planning to cut up for us at the next rest stop. For our delicacies, we had a whole pack of Oreos and a family size Blue Machine Naked smoothie. AND, there was a “mystery surprise” that would be revealed later. I love mystery surprises.
Let me tell ya, the Blue Machine smoothie was simply mindblowing. Transcendental. (This is one of my three very-late blogs that I’m filling in retroactively and I still remember how great that smoothie felt going down the hatch). We were like hyenas. People were greedy. Okay, I was greedy. And Ishaq. When Joseph came back to show off the next bag of groceries, half the smoothie was already gone.
The peaches were so juicy and sweet as well. There were only a few peaches, so those who wanted peaches shared. We left one for Ruth and Ramona to share at rest stop 3. After the feasting frenzy had died down, Tian was still holding that last peach. “Guys… what if I just ate the peach.”
“No, Tian, we need to save it for Ruth and Ramona,” the virtuous crowd protested.
“I’ll share it with you Tian!” Greta piped in evilly.
Despite the virtuous crowd™ restating our position that this was a terrible, mean, no-good, poo-poo thing to do, Tian bit into the peach. Greta and Tian shared the peach. They ate the last peach! The peach meant for Ruth and Ramona! Shame them!!!
We all agreed we should simply omit these items from the shopping haul at rest stop 3 and Ruth and Ramona would never have to know. (The rest of us except for Tian had been complicit in the great Blue Machine disappearing act, so it was kind of a glass house type of situation). Sorry Ruth and Ramona. And sorry you’re finding out this way. You snooze bike faster you lose 🤷♂️
There were so many lakes today
Another lake
Third lake, third shade of blue!
We did bike past a lot of burned trees in this stretch
When I rolled in to rest stop 3, a feast was spread out on the picnic table we’d claimed. Fresh watermelon slices and my packed sandwiches awaited. Ruth and Ramona went for a swim in the lake. Greta and I went for a swim as well but the water was freezing so we dipped our toes and skipped some rocks. At this point I was already ready to crown Joseph best driver ever but we still had three more rest stops to go…
By now you’ve probably noticed a few themes when it comes to the biking groups. Ruth and Ramona — the dynamic duo. Ishaq and Tian, frequently lone warriors but a ride with them is never a dull one. Greta and I have become the founders of what we have informally been calling the “dilly dally club.” As suggested by the name, the dilly dally club excels at dilly dallying. We are extremely distractable, make frequent stops, are chatty cathys, will wait for anyone (or use that as an excuse to dilly dally), and are always the last to leave the rest stops. The dilly dally club doesn’t have an official motto, but if it did, it would probably be something like “sure I’m ready to leave, just one more thing.” Dilly dally club membership varies day-to-day, but you can bet your bottom dollar either Greta or I are in it on any given day (usually both if neither of us are driving).
So, Greta and I left rest stop 3 last and took on the last major climb of the day. As we neared the top, we suddenly ran into a long, backed-up line of traffic in our direction. We passed these cars on the shoulder until we reached the top and found out the cause for this traffic. A short stretch of highway was closed off for transporting logs (?) and only one lane was available. A flagger was holding up our side for the time being. Greta and I joined the other Spokies who had been waiting for much longer than we had and dismayed to see our dilly dallying rewarded. The dilly dally club strikes again!
After a short wait (for the dilly dally club, I think Ishaq waited for like 20 minutes), our side got the go-ahead, and we kicked off the second half of the ride together, a descent that would take us from 8,000 feet down to 2,000. Sarah slowed down abruptly at one point, so those of us behind her (Ruth, Ramona, Greta, and I) who passed her while descending waited for her at a turnout. Unfortunately, a bug had flown into Sarah’s eye and she had pulled over and tried to rinse it out. Her eye was still bothering her, so Sarah hopped in the car to try and get some eye relief until it was safe for her to bike again. Ruth and Ramona, finally relegated to the back of the pack after their blistering start to the day, decided to join the dilly dally club.
At rest stop 4, Joseph unveiled one of his surprises for the day (but not his last): ice cream! We busted out the spoons and bowls and all helped ourselves. Many of us topped our ice creams with Oreo chunks. Greta mashed her chunks up very fine and stirred it in with her ice cream until it became this spotty sludge. I thought it was gross until she explained she had basically made a cookies and cream milkshake. So of course, I had to go for thirds on the ice cream and give that a go.
The sole surviving image of the carnage that was rest stop 4. Bad day to be a food item in the Spokes van
The descent sped us along to rest stop 5, another lake. This one was in Sly Park Recreation Area, and had a small fee for vehicles, so we stopped at the parking lot near the entrance. Here, Joseph pulled out his final ace up his sleeve in his best driver ever campaign. He’d set out cups, orange and apple juices, and dry ice! We drank dry ice cooled juices and marveled at Joseph’s driver performance. Forget best driver day of Spokes ’25, today might have inducted Joseph into the all-time Spokes driving hall of fame.
Taking orders
Bro busted out the pocketknife too
Ishaq holding the dry ice block 🥶
We clarified the access road to the recreation area was free for bikers, so Greta, Ishaq, Ramona, Ruth, and I dropped down to the lake. Ruth and Ramona achieved the rare double swim day. I joined them in the lake while Greta and Ishaq napped. With the sun getting pretty low in the sky, we all agreed to skip the last rest stop and head to the final destination in Placerville.
The dilly dally club (with new members Ruth and Ramona for the day), chatted on the final biking leg for the day as the descent grade finally mellowed out. Ramona pitched us on her great idea for a piece of Spokes merch — a T-shirt designed like a band’s concert tour with “that one photo of us in front of the church” (she pulled over and showed us which one she was referencing, although we lamented that Ramona and Tian weren’t even in that photo!) and our learning festival dates on the back advertised like tour stops. We all thought it was a fantastic idea. We also discussed who would be down to get a tattoo at the end of Spokes, a la Spokes ’24, and, if so, what design we would want.
Dilly dallier recruited
The proposed front of the T-shirt
The dilly dally club arrived at the church hosting us in Placerville just as the sun was setting. Dinner preparation was in full swing. I knocked out on one of the pews (oops). As always, we ate together and reveled in each other’s company. Dinner with the Spokies — at one point new, foreign, and a given that stretched into the far, distant future — now was all too familiar, joyous, cozy, yet concluding, enumerated by the days in the week we have left, a tradition fated to come to an end. The dilly dally club rehashed our conversation from earlier and we discussed merch, tattoos, and ways we wanted to honor this journey when we ride across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and finish Spokes 2025.
Dinner ft. iconic Ramona pose
Cursed filter applied to our Garden of the Gods photo
This is my last blogging day. It’s been an honor recapping and reflecting on every eighth day of Spokes and sharing them here.
giving you my WARMEST of welcomes (truly, it’s pretty toasty out here…) from the silver1, battle born2, and (tragically) most mountainous state in the union, the one i happen to call home—nevada! your friendly neighborhood nevadan sarah is here to give you the details on our stretch from ely (pronounced e-lee) to eureka! 💡
like many a day with spokes 2025, this one actually started very, VERY early. as in just past midnight from the previous day. this came courtesy of a late-night, spontaneous decision headed by ruth to film a spokes version of the trailer of the classic 1985 film “the breakfast club.” roles were assigned, clips were filmed, and everyone eventually set off to bed: as of writing this (slightly delayed) blog, the full production is in the final stages of editing by ruth, so stay tuned!!! 🙌🏻 so, the spokies ACTUALLY started our real day pretty late, not waking up until well after 8am in the otherwise desolate halls of white pine high school. i hit a quick shower (mostly due to the freezing temperature and EXTREME water pressure…i thought my skin was going to get blasted clean off), ate some granola, packed up, and set off around 10:30am…yikes 😬
after turning onto highway 50 to head out-of-town, i felt the familiar dread of looking down at my bike computer and realizing that the next turn was not for another 60-something miles 😐 i think i am ever so slightly addicted to the variety of data in order to keep me stimulated on the ride, but we all have our own coping mechanisms…right? it’s ok, though: i had left that morning with greta and ruth, and we eventually caught up with tian to have an almost all-spokes-girlies leg 1 (minus ramona, who understandably sped off a little earlier in the day after waking up at 7am. we all aspire to be like ramona). we passed a sign that said ruth (and took a picture with it, of course), talked about the potential state of our lives in the next 25-50 years, and before i knew it, we saw charles in the distance with the van. joseph eventually catches up to the rest of us after leaving last because he is slow to get ready in the mornings but refuses to get up earlier to compensate, instead resorting to putting in high intensity first legs (had to call you out on it…sorry not sorry). i had the absolute PERFECT combo of snacks—salty cheez-its and half a cheese stick, a few sweet strawberries, and some refreshing lemonade to wash it all down 😮💨 and set off in a wonderful mood to start our 1st summit of the day!
hey girlies!!!ruth 👀
for my non-nevadans (which are probably all of you besides my family and friends—hello!), the title of this blog is a reference to nevada’s state anthem, “home means nevada,” with the first set of lyrics from the chorus going “home means nevada, homes means the hills”! and boy…they were not wrong writing that. pretty much all of our days in nevada have been up-down, up-down, and today was no different. after a decently comfortable climb to the top of robinson pass (elevation 7,607 feet), we reaped the lovely reward that is the downhill to cruise into rest stop 2, which was the side of the road (like usual these days). while i hadn’t wanted to get my hopes too high, by this point i was confident in saying that the winds today were MUCH better than my 1st day back home. the wind is probably my biggest mood-killer: the turbulent ride into nevada a few days prior made slow climbs even more painfully drawn out, turned speedy, fun descents into tedious balancing acts courtesy of some intense cross-wind and gust action, and constrained flat sections into a constant, agonizingly slow push against an invisible wall. if my vocabulary doesn’t give a good enough indication, i was NOT a happy camper.
moving on from the pessimistic though, i left rest stop 2 maintaining my good spirits for the next climb and the rest of the ride. i passed by some lovely lavender fields and flocks of sheep 🪻🐑 stopped by a historic marker talking about the silver rush of the late 1800s (and the ghost towns that followed), and pulled into rest stop 3 (sadly, the desolate nature of northern nevada has led to some plain naming and placing in rest stops for our rides). i was happy to see ramona for the 1st time that day, but i was even more curious about what she had strapped creatively to her bike bag—an abandoned nevada license plate she had found on the side of the road. i definitely did not start scheming of ways to get it off her hands…i guess i already have my own, though (even if its attached to the back of my car back in vegas). i ate some of the yummy sandwich ruth had made me (thanks ruth!) before setting off for legs 4 and 5. these weren’t too eventful, besides two more summits climbed, named little antelope (elevation 7,438 feet) and pancake (elevation 6,517 feet) summits, respectively.
country roads (highway 50) take me home (nevada)
what a find
naturally, the highest summit to be climbed that day was in the very last leg. our route planning site says it was almost 1400 feet over about 8.5 miles, but i think our garmin bike computers said something more like 1100 feet over 5 miles. no matter the exact numbers, it was a slow and steady one. the REAL strategy i have realized that works best for climbs is actually NOT trying to drown out your miserable thoughts and aching legs with loud, hype music (while that does work pretty good)—it’s actually distracting yourself by yapping with someone else! since the shoulder was too small for pairing up with one of my fellow spokies, i called one of my friends from back home (who actually goes to college in northern nevada! go pack) to catch up on life. after she kept me distracted for a solid 30-40 minutes (even amongst the occasional gust of wind that made me unintelligible—bless your soul, farrah 💗), greta and ruth caught up to me with about a mile to go. with loud downhills and the end in sight, i let my friend go, and the trio yapped our way to the top. at pinto summit (elevation 7,376 feet), we met up with joseph, took some pictures, and got ready to make the final, speedy push into eureka!
while our route for the day ended in eureka proper, our actual destination for the night was diamond valley baptist church—about 18 miles north, or COMPLETELY out of the way and off our overall route. ishaq was speedy enough to do the extra mileage before dark, but the rest of us decided to at least partially shuttle in stages via the car. ramona had went up with the grocery crew of charles and tian earlier, so joseph, greta, ruth and i chilled out in front of a convenience store while we waited for the car to return. joseph and i got snacks, and in the meantime greta and ruth decided that they wanted to bike the 18 miles…you go, girls! 🔥 after trading lights to appear as bright and visible as possible on the road, they set off, and eventually tian showed up for me and joseph. we gladly racked our bikes and hopped into the tian biker uber :))
the climb…
…and the summit!
hello eureka!
after arriving at the church, joseph realized and informed tian that the car had about 20 miles of gas left, the nearest gas station was 15 miles away, and closed in about 10 minutes. oh, and greta and ruth (who went on an escapade involving rodeos and quesadillas…quite the shenanigans) should probably be picked up since it is now DARK, and the road is a bit sketch. thankfully, all parties arrive at the church safe and sound (if not slightly traumatized). for dinner, charles serves…questionable fried rice (which some of us flamed a little too hard, sorry charlie), and BOMB ramen and potstickers. we all shower in the girls bathroom (since that is the only shower in the building), and lay down to sleep on the PADDED! PEWS!!! i slept not only SUPER comfortably, but peacefully knowing that i would be taking a break and behind the wheel the next day!
“but sarah, where’s the philosophical spiel? you’re in your home state, after all!” and you’d be right! while i am technically back “home,” the north is a bit different from the south. they share similar climates and scenery—hot, dry, and mostly barren—but the northern mountains i was complaining about earlier do provide ideal conditions for the occasional flora and fauna, which i much enjoyed while flying down the other side of these climbs. surprisingly, though, it was in the more unassuming, recognizable valleys in between where i felt the most awe. i grew up surrounded by sights like these, yet seeing them in this totally new context (and slightly different location) made me feel a fresh appreciation for their simplicity. after weeks of stunning scenery including lush forests, vast fields, towering peaks, and vibrant canyons, home, in its simple familiarity, has become a comforting mental palette cleanser. i found a sense of peace and beauty in the seemingly plain and boring, in how the landscape didn’t demand too much of your attention with complex intricacy or mind-blowing sights. the scenery was content to be just what it was, and i was content to exist in it—simply. just me and my bike, in the valley of my thoughts and nostalgia…
how’s that for a mental tangent? well, if you thought that was bad, get ready for my next blog…which will also be my last official spokes 2025 blog…totally not feeling a LOT of feelings about that….hahaha…💔💔
with that, i’ll see you on our LAST RIDE before we head into san francisco!!! 💗
(This blog was written 3/14/26 from what I remember, with the help of our shared photos album, the route for the day, the day’s Strava captions, and a few other Spokies’ recollections. The details I do remember, I remember like they were yesterday. The details I don’t; well, they’re lost to the cold-hearted machine that is the passage of time. Let’s all pretend they aren’t as important as what I’ve documented here).
The biking Spokies had a bit of a staggered start today. Ruth and Ramona left early, per usual. Greta, Joseph, and Sarah, our resident coffee stop fiends, ate a lighter breakfast and went for coffee at the town’s only café (also Baker, Nevada’s general store and inn) right around the corner. This part of Highway 50 in Nevada is desolate. Not a single viable coffee shop rest stop on the route until our final destination.
Yay… the loneliest road in America yay…
The past few days, I’ve been coordinating with Evan, my roommate-to-be in San Francisco when I move there at the end of Spokes. He’s been apartment touring and filling me in with his thoughts on the places he’s checked out. My service has often been spotty in rural Nevada but we’ve called briefly a couple times at rest stops so I can weigh in. I’m trying to be helpful, but I’m completely incapable of figuring out my apartment preferences through just photos and videos. I think I lack object permanence or something, because I’m convinced I need to actually be there to have any clue about what I want in a prospective apartment. And biking across the country, especially this part, is certainly not helping me with apartment visualization. So I’ve been reduced to thanking Evan for doing all of this and happily deferring to his judgement. The best I’ve offered in the way of preferences has been a “windows are nice… I guess?”
This morning, I responded to a few more apartment tours Evan had done and I was the last of the bikers to leave. I swung by the café and he rang me, so I sat on the porch outside and he filled me in on our apartment search. Our call was starting to run pretty long as we spent some time catching up and I remember looking inside the café window to see if Greta, Joseph, and Sarah were still there. At one point, Greta left the café on foot running back towards the church where we’d stayed. I thought it was odd but she came back with a backpack so I figured maybe she’d had some work she needed to get done in the morning.
When I wrapped up my call, I was in good spirits. It looked like I wouldn’t be spending the first part of the day biking alone! But these spirits quickly came crashing down. Joseph filled me in. Sarah had had an allergic reaction to a bite of Greta’s lemon blueberry muffin. When she had immediately realized something was up, the servers at the restaurant had looked up the muffin in the recipe book and saw that it used almond flour. It was pretty bad so Greta had run back to the church to grab Sarah’s EpiPen and gave her the shot. When I walked in, Sarah was beginning to do better and was recovering in the bathroom. I felt awful as we sat around waiting for Greta and Sarah to emerge. Greta appeared and let us know Sarah was OK and she and Joseph helped Sarah out to the table.
It was a relief to see Sarah was going to be alright but she looked rattled and was definitely not herself. She said her throat still felt tight and her breathing was shaky, but it had reduced a lot since the initial reaction, which had been the quickest ramp-up she had ever experienced with her nut allergy. It was the first time Sarah had used her EpiPen. I learned that the EpiPen is a temporary treatment; you’re supposed to go to urgent care afterwards. Ishaq and Tian pulled the car out front while Sarah called her mom. The nearest hospital with an urgent care was about 45 minutes away. So, the plan became: Ishaq and Tian would drive Sarah to the urgent care. They’d leave a water jug behind at the rest stop for Ruth and Ramona. After dropping Sarah off, they would come back to meet us at the rest stops and perform their driverly duties, until Sarah was discharged from the hospital.
The mood had lightened a bit so we joked that this was Greta exacting her revenge on Sarah for attempting to kill Greta’s grandmother, Cathy, back in Glenwood Springs. Sarah swore off lemon blueberry muffins forever. Greta, Joseph, and I bid Sarah well and said bye before they drove off.
Hitting the road for a full day of biking after one of your fellow Spokies almost dies (not to mention biking alongside her almost-murderer) made for a sobering ride initially. But I was proud of how everyone handled the situation with their thought, care, and preparedness. Kudos especially to Greta and Joseph for their response at the café and Ishaq and Tian for stepping up as drivers! I was pretty tired since I hadn’t slept well the night before, so I trailed Greta and Joseph as they shared their first (!) yap ride of Spokes.
At the “rest stop,” we found the water jug tucked under a bush. We snacked and refilled our waters. I took a 20 minute nap under the beaming sun. When we were ready to leave, we realized we had a problem — the water jug meant Tian and Ishaq would have to come back for it if we didn’t want to litter. We all tinkered with how to bring it along with us until Joseph came up with a fantastic solution:
Joseph’s genius solution
Highway 50 was super boring. Worse, the wind had picked up and turned into a treacherous headwind. To keep morale up, we jammed out to music on Greta’s speaker. Finally, we busted out my ultimate pump-up music for biking — white-girl hardstyle. Immediate pick-me-up. We were bopping, we were swerving, we were cruising (like 11 miles an hour into the winds lol).
Joseph probably burned himself out or he simply wasn’t feeling it after the events of the morning, because when we reached rest stop 3 at the base of the day’s big climb, he had nothing left in the tank. After resting up for a bit, he decided he didn’t want to finish out the climb. Since there were already 3 bikes on the bike rack (Ishaq, Tian, and Sarah’s), we had to take his rear wheel off to make his bike fit in the car. That left no room in the back for Joseph to sit. I jokingly suggested Ishaq could bike instead.
Innovation that excites
Boy when I tell you this man’s eyes lit up. “Charles you’re a genius!” Can you tell Ishaq really loves biking? What a stunning turnaround for the man once known for his heart not being in it. Ishaq changed into his biking gear, took his bike off the rack, and traded places with Joseph. Greta and I groaned because now he was going to push the pace of the climb.
Ishaq promised he would stick with us for the climb. After about a half mile of calling us slow, he gave in and dropped us. We met up with him again at the final rest stop of the day and chugged some Sprites with him.
In the final leg of the day, we caught up with Ruth and Ramona, who had ditched their bikes on the edge of a pullout on the side of the road. Our confusion quickly gave way to understanding when we saw a narrow path leading down to the lake, and then, two bobbing heads swimming. Greta, Ishaq, and I pulled over as well. Ruth and Ramona swore the water wasn’t cold (it was frigid) and convinced us to go for a swim. It was very refreshing, though, and we were dry pulling into the town an hour later.
As we arrived in Ely, Nevada, ready to put this cursed day behind us, Greta, Ishaq, and I decided to celebrate. We thought it’d be fun to take our bikes through the McDonald’s drive-thru and get McFlurries. But their ice cream machine was broken. Classic Mickey D’s. Ishaq got an iced lemonade. We hit the Carl Jr’s drive-thru next. I got a cookies and cream milkshake, which was simply heavenly. Vibes were great.
Ramona, meet American high school football. American high school football, Ramona.
Our place for the night was White Pine County High School. It was so surreal sprawling out in the empty lunch hall of a high school to lodge for a night. For many of us, it had been years since we had stepped inside a high school. Our hosts had ordered us pizza, which was super nice of them. Sarah was doing better, but was a bit sleepy when we arrived. Good thing we all weren’t biking tomorrow!
There was a pole vault pole in the cafeteria, so I asked Sarah to show us proper pole vaulting form. There wasn’t an actual pit, so a few of us gave it a shot on the grass outside, rather unsuccessfully. Ishaq and I also took turns hurdling each other (pinky promise that’s what’s going on here)
Some of the Spokies set up the projector and watched the Princess Bride. Joseph, Sarah, and Ramona went to bed early. I filled out some apartment applications and ID verifications Evan sent my way. I ended the day like I started it — in a small, rural town in southern Nevada trying my best to figure out the logistics for starting the next chapter of my life, a painful reminder that Spokes must eventually come to an end. Thankfully, no one had a serious allergic reaction while I was off doing my apartments thing this time around.
MIT Spokes 2026 