Today’s Ride
The Stats
67 miles
2,865 ft. climbed
Challenges: We're still in Kansas!
Highlights: PIE!
Miles Completed: 1,717
Miles to Go: 1,679
States Visited: 6 of 15 (still in Kansas, but not much longer!)
Total Climbed: 56, 962
The Ride
Simply one of (if not THE) best rides yet. Could’ve done it all day (which sometimes we must, but would rather not) but it was only 64 miles with ideal conditions, and I easily could’ve gone longer! Cloudy and cool to start, chasing the rain (better than being chased as we never caught anything more than some wet pavement), smooth roads with little traffic, rolling hills, and lots of animals to mo/neigh/baaaa at (and yes, they do seem to hear me, though none have talked back...at least not yet!).
Did I mention there was pie? Really good pie? Nostalgic strawberry rhubarb pie?
We were in Dover at the Somerset Cafe (apparently a regular stop on the tour and now I know why!). But a digression to explain the nostalgia part.
Briermere Farms, Riverhead, NY
For much of my time growing up in Wantagh, we either travelled to the North Fork of Long Island to sail or, later on, kept our boat there. I have vivid memories of our Long Island Expressway (LIE) rides and in my ultimate geekhood had even memorized all the exits between Exit 53, where the Sagtikos Expressway joined the LIE, and Exit 73, where it ended in Riverhead.
Along the country roads that were then potato farms and now tourist-attracting vineyards was Briermere Farms, known most notably for their pies. Strawberry rhubarb was my all-time favorite. We routinely stopped on the way out to the boat to collect a pie. Within minutes of stepping off the dock onto the boat, hunger roared, and pie appeared. We savored it, perhaps because we could only get it there. After the weekend, the dreaded ride home and inevitable traffic on the LIE was eased only by the promise of more pie -- and though the "farm" was closed by the time we came through Riverhead, my dad apparently had magically arranged to prepay for another pie and pick it up from the milkbox by the side of the store. It made it feel really special. And I tasted the memories of that special feeling in the strawberry rhubarb pie of today.
The State Capitol
So, it seemed fitting to pay tribute to the state in which we will have spent more days than any other on the tour. As the short day and favorable winds got us (even me!) to the hotel early enough, I Ubered into town and paid a visit to the state capitol. My timing was impeccable, as there was a tour of the dome starting at 2:15, within minutes of my arrival. In fact, my Uber driver had mentioned the ability to climb to the dome and enjoy the view from outside, so I was in! The building is grand and rife with historic displays I didn't have the time or wherewithal to fully explore (I was shortly becoming very hungry, despite the aforementioned pie!). But I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity for a view from above, to see where we had been and where we were going.
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| If there's a dome to climb, I'm going to climb it! |
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| Penny, my tour guild for the Capitol, a former school teacher who didn't want to retire from teaching people. |
At the fortuitous Facebook recommendation of a former law firm colleague who had been following my ride and saw I was in her home state of Kansas, I landed at the Brew Bank, conveniently located just a few blocks from the Capitol. I enjoyed not only a delicious Asian salad (still craving those flavors!) and self-serve beer (the first allowed in the state--they passed a special law to govern this practice), but an inspiring conversation with Chad, a local who overcame a difficult and impoverished childhood who now works giving back to the community with the federal government's "weatherization program." The program provides home improvement services to help persons in need reduce their energy costs and therefore make more funds available for food and other essentials--the benefit of which Chad was so acutely aware given his personal experience with poverty. He also had a "beshereit" (meant to be) experience meeting his current wife which I can't do justice to at the moment, but perhaps will recount on a later reflection. His experience and ability to turn around his life was inspiring overall.
The view from my seat included a great view of some renditions of Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Straw Man. It was only when I went to take a selfie that I noticed the Cowardly Lion behind me overhead (see the Liberal KS post for the lion connection). Though I don't generally believe in this stuff, I'm starting to feel that my parents, in whose memory I ride, are oddly with me on this trip, looking over me at every step of the way. I'm just going with it!
Soundtrack(s) of the Day
This was a big day for the Route Rap Rappers. Knowing that we'd reach the halfway point of our trip in mileage, it was the perfect time for Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," modified as follows:
Dododododododododo
Paula leads the Crossroads crew,
Each and every day, there's so much to do for Saaaa-ag
(that's no gag)
Riders ride their bikes all the day, mile after mile,
We eat all the Gu and stuff, it's not enough….
We've got to hold on to what we've got,
It kinda a makes a difference if we make it or not,
We've got each other, and that a lot for us…
We'll give it a shot
Ohhhh, we're halfway there, oh, oh, biking on a prayer,
Take my hand [hold hands], we'll make it I swear,
Oh, oh, biking on a prayer...
Biking on a prayer...
It was a good one...and we even had international (Canadian) groupies filming the show, who I had met at breakfast and most generously donated to my ride!
Employee of the Day
Today was the prime example of not allowing first impressions to negatively color your views. Mary was responsible for the breakfast service at our hotel. While I didn't have much interaction with her on our rest day, this morning when breakfast wasn't scheduled to open until 6:30 (later than usual), we were all chomping at the bit by 6 a.m. Mary was around, seemingly disgruntled as the crowd was getting restless. But really she was just focused on doing her job, getting everything ready that needed to get done before the "official" opening when she turned on the lights and unlocked the yogurts and other items in the breakfast pantry. In just moments, I learned that she and Steph had shared photos of their grandkids the day before, and that Lee heard her tales of being unable to afford a Starbucks coffee and subtly presented her with an envelope during the breakfast service. She made special efforts to find extra bananas and offer them up to each of us, and clear our plates so we had enough room for our water bottles and other gear. She was even excited about our "Route Rap Rapper" performance and wanted to post it on Facebook. I promised to share my selfie with her here.
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| Thanks, Mary! |
I'm sure I'm missing something I've meant to say, but it's too late, and I must to bed!
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