After a very cold night our tents were wet as we got up in twilight and prepared to depart. I almost missed breakfast because they told us to drop off our gear first, but most people just went for the food. Chrissy, Christa, Jen and I set out with Paul from Alaska and Alan from LA. I couldn't help but laugh when we said their names together Paul Alan...Paul Allen. I'm such a Washingtonian.
Anyway, the second day I really established my role as navigator. We had a water stop in Lambertville, NJ, which was nice. Then we walked across a bridge and into Pennsylvania. Lunch was in Doylestown, PA. I sent my first text update from here. All of the towns were very cute.
Most of the hills were in the morning, but it was very hot in the afternoon. We stopped at Whole Foods at mile 42 to have a snack and some water. The last water stop was supposed to be at 53 miles - we weren't sure why it was so close to the end. As it turned out, we missed the water stop when trying to figure out how to enter a trail. In the process of negotiating, I took my second fall (and luckily my last). I scraped up my knewe and was bleeding. Jen gave me a bandaid, but it fell off with the motion of pedaling.
We were with Mike, a rider from Pennsylvania who knew the area. He took us on a packed dirt trail that cut out several hills - we were appreciative! I wasn't exactly in love with riding my road bike on a dirt trail, but I was also exhausted and just wanted to be done.
The dorms we stayed in were gorgeous brick buildings. Chrissy and I were sharing a room. We had beds, linens, and our own bathroom! I laid out my tent to dry, showered, sorted some things, and got to dinner just about on time. They made a mistake and thought they only had about 4 vegetarians on the ride, when actually there were twenty something. Whoops! The people running the place were really nice and fond us something to eat.
I was feeling really frustrated at that point. I was upset about the communication and it bothered me that there were so few new riders. We kept hearing about the hills increasing, and I just didn't know how I would get through that. I also tried to get some help with my bike because the rear brake was rubbing, and I felt upset when the staff weren't very helpful. They had bigger problems, so mine was low priority. I ended up opening my safety release and dealing with it.
I decided to go to the talk - I thought it might help. Wood Turner from Climate Counts was very good, as was Mike Eckhart from ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy). I talked to Dave and that helped, too. I still felt afraid for Monday - it would be the longest miles yet at 66.
At least I had a comfy bed and a warm dorm to sleep in!
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