One Day More
Almost to the coast!! I’ll be sure to update later but for now I need your help! If you’d like to donate one last time I would be forever grateful. There are lots of end-of-the-trip expenses I have to pay for- mainly gear charges and my plane ticket home! As always, anything helps.
see you back in the East!
Ride on,
Hawa
2,000 miles and COLORADO!!!!!
Good day friends!
Sorry this blog has been a disappointment. The daily grind of waking up at 4:45AM and biking 80 miles before dinner doesn’t really allow for much free time. But I wanted to let everyone know that I am doing well!
We made it to Colorado yesterday and are spending the day in Trinidad. After the piercing humidity of the South, the grueling crosswinds of Oklahoma and the merciless Texas heat, we finally said adieu to flat lands and have arrived at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Seeing the purple mountain majesty rise above the fruited plain really lifted the team’s spirits. We are ready to tackle the state and climb every mountain.
After over 2,000 miles, my bike has seen some considerable wear and tear. The Oklahoma roads were filled with debris and granted me a 5-day streak where I woke up with a flat every morning! Our ride into Spearman, Texas was by far the most challenging one of the summer- I got to enjoy it with 4 flats and over a dozen falls on 15 miles of gravel roads. Never a bad time to ride!
I am hoping to tune up my bike next week in Colorado Springs. I am accepting any and all donations to be able to do that. Please consider donating! Everyone has been so good to me thus far so I have little doubt that we can do it!
Longest and Strongest,
Hawa
Day 8: One Mile More
Day 8: Columbia, SC to Newberry, SC
45 miles
Today we rode to Newberry, South Carolina. We met a really kind man named Octavio as we were leaving Columbia. He was from Angola and made for some intriguing conversation.
We rolled out around 6:15. The van had some issues so we rode unsupported. Josh and Brian’s role of sweep was crucial on our van-less day.
The sun was not giving in and we COOKED on our easy mileage day. It’s important to stop often and refuel.
As Chris and I were rounding out a 12-mile stretch of highway, we ran into Laini an Cassie as they were leaving a gas station. Chris rode ahead and ended up getting lost on his way to the church!
We passed a sign that said Newberry was in a mile so I started singing “One Mile More” from Les Mis to Kendra..hopefully it was good motivation!
Newberry’s a tiny little town in the burbs. The hosts were incredibly sweet and made us some baked pasta with salad and tons of sweets- red velvet cake, brownies and amazing peanut butter pie. I talked with Helen, an older lady at the church. She was the most precious and loved chatting with us.
I went I WalMart with Melanie, Nyx and the leaders..got some much needed bungee cords for my ever-exploding bin. The leaders needed to have a meeting and use wifi so they stealthily told us we had to walk home! It was nice though, Mel and Nyx are two ladies I’ve been wanting to get to know better. Nyx is allergic to both gluten and lactose and has been such a trooper finding nutrition on this trip. We burn thousands of calories a day!
After dinner we just kinda lounged around, trying to mentally prepare ourselves for 72 miles tomorrow.
Over n out,
Hawa and Dinah
Biking & Building & Blogging & stuff 