Day 10: Sweepin the Beach

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Hooray today I get to be sweep (back of the pack) with Amanda! Amanda is another radiant rider that I’m excited to get to know. She has killer dance moves and knows all the lyrics to all the songs. I think she may be the new Rally...!

This morning our chore groups rotated so me and the Ellies are now in charge of helping clean up the host site, aka overnight crew. After packing up, sharing bagels and coffee, and vacuuming up the host, we had route meeting outside with a view of the intracoastal peeping through our parking lot. I threw it out there that we would be near the Loggerhead Marina and to check it out bc “I like turtles” has been a running joke, though no one took me up on it since it was on US-1 and not A1A (which we didn’t realized until riding).

Since Amanda and I were sweep, we back tracked two blocks to PBA so I could take some photos on me by the chapel and outside the caf. They looked amazing! And then we went to Subculture so I could enjoy my favorite smoothie coffee drink before riding out the day. At Subculture, we met a guy in charge of Urban Planning for West Palm and he was very interested in what we were doing and wants to interview us for the Palm Beach Post (ironically I reached out to them about a month ago to inform them I/we would be riding through). He took my card and we told him about how Jess still needs sponsors so she can finish in Canada instead of Richmond so we are hopeful for some publicity and donations to Bike & Build!

So we finally started to actually ride our bikes up Flager Drive—which is a beautiful ride that I know all too well—and it was so sweet to be there with Bike & Build! We enjoyed beautiful views of the water, palm trees, bridges, and the beach and I was just loving soaking it all in! We stopped at the beach in Juno to record a video to “Let’s go to the beach beach!” and it was perfect!

We continued on only to stop for a snack and Lee break at Oceanside Treasures where I bought some post cards and turtle tattoos. Mine went on my bicep and hers on her calf muscle and man did we look good! We also stopped for a photo opportunity to the quote of “If you can’t see the sunshine, then be the sunshine” which was wildly ironic bc at that point it was raining lightly and it was the only time it rained all day! K2C=we get wet everyday! We only stopped another time to adjust my seat since I’ve been having issues with my bike fitting properly since sending it down to Key West—annoying!

Eventually we made it to lunch at a covered pavilion park complete with pups and swings. We ate PB&J, cranked out some push-ups, and chased a crazy tail, push-up doin lizard. The rest of our ride was smooth sailing and the last stretch of 10 miles was busy with US-1 traffic. We got to the host and rested on the floor/carpets while awaiting showers. Man there’s nothing like ditching your bike & gear for some AC & a floor!

I FaceTimed Celess & the boys and showed off my “tattatoo,” showered, chatted with Aiden for a bit about our mutual loss of a parent, and then tried to blog briefly before heading out to dinner. At dinner we were welcome by a round of applause, lots of food, and kind folks from the Unity Church. They have some interesting theology, but an admirable love for people & connectedness.

After they bestowed plenty of left-overs, blessings, and songs (not to mention newspaper articles!), we vanned it back to the host where we went back to our respective rooms. I attempted to upload my GoPro footage and it was giving me a hard time and annoying me. Usually I’m great with technology so this was annoying!

I shared an interesting conversation with Aiden, Jess, Kristie, & Amanda about church and our exposure to it and their take on religion and outlook on the Unity’s Church’s beliefs. We agreed to continue this conversation on the bike and head to bed...

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