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Published: June 14th 2018
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This morning I woke up early at 5:30am and peeked out my window to see if some of the clouds had cleared so that we could see the sunrise. With a little bit of pink shining through, I took it as a hopeful sign and packed up my bag and met sunrise crew downstairs to walk across the street for the sunrise. Not much of the clouds gave way, but we did appreciate watching the sky light up by the ocean water and having a slower start to our morning. A man named James Randazzo chatted with us for a bit and we told him about our organization—the typical Bike & Build spiel and he asked some good questions. After chatting with him and with each other for a bit, we went back to the host to help with packing and cleaning up and for host breakfast.
The kind people of Sunrise Pres cooked us eggs, bacon, biscuits, black bean peppers and onions, grits, OJ, and coffee. We love southern hospitality! They wouldn’t let us clean up but insisted and were able to help out a little. NJ shared with me that she lost her wallet and I asked the
hosts if they happened to see it and I searched around for her, but to no avail. We finished up getting ready and had our route meeting with Kristi on town facts and NJ on route info duty. We bid are farewells and love to Annie & got fired up before heading out.
I rolled out with Aiden, Beth, & Vance (the church pastor who cycles!) which was helpful since he knows the roads and we had a last minute cue sheet change due to his and Aiden’s family & other locals recommendation. I was able to chat with him for a bit about his son who golfs, the local cyclists, and the roads we were riding. He’s a very kind man who’s working his way towards “local” status—he’s been in Charleston for 27 years (I think) and I think he said you’re considered a local when you’ve been there for 34. Not much farther to go! He’s also gifted in fitting bikes and such so he tried to help me with my cleats bc of my foot pain and moved my clip up. I haven’t noticed any difference but his willingness to help was much appreciated!
Around
mile 20 he turned around and Aiden had dropped back with sweep (Jana & Jess) so it was just me, Beth, & Raffi, who we obtained just after the first bridge. The three of us rode steady, stopping only for Beth to pee and self proclaimed herself to be a mess—though I disagree! We arrived at lunch where I was able to enjoy my much anticipated chipotle burrito (thanks to Chris’ DMing skills!), a banana, and some left over cookies from the church. Carly helped me film a scene for sweep challenge (reinact the bike & build video), but not before my feet and cleats got attacked by killer red ants! ?
After lunch, Beth and I rolled out with Kristi & Amanda and we enjoyed a nice ride together as we turned off the main road (17) and onto back country roads where we passed by plantations and could enjoy riding two abreast. We talked about Kristi’s boyfriend Josh, Beth’s dog, sports we used to play, Beth’s family. We saw NJ along the route and she stopped to give us some sour skittles ? We rode on and had a bit of a busier road towards the end
of the route, which caused us to miss a turn and while waiting to cross back over traffic, we saw the downpour rain move in on us. We rode into the host in it, laughing that if we didn’t follow NJ as she was turning around and miss our turn that we would have avoided the rain—however it was refreshing and funny so we didn’t mind ☺️
Sweep rolled in through the downpour and we all smacked on bagels, though we had trouble with the toaster and then the power went out and we feared it was because we messed with the toaster ? Luckily that wasn’t the case and we all piled into the van to go take showers at the Y. Awaiting the children to clear the locker rooms, we chatted and some feel asleep before heading in to take nice, enjoyable, warm showers. I worked on putting together my video for sweep challenge—I finally figured out how to sync my GoPro to the GoPro app!—and I was getting excited on how it was coming out! We went back to the host and we were all excited to have everyone off the road and clean, dry, & free by 4pm! Noah, Magpie, Raffi, Sarah, Carly, and I all played Clue—which got pretty tense and stressed us all out when we still didn’t know who did with what in which room by dinner time at 6.
We enjoyed lasagna, salad, zucchini lasagna, and dump cake (!!!) with ice cream on top for dinner from the kind folks at Victory and we were so happy! We met the pastor and his wife, picked up a copy of her book, & chatted with him about his various mission trips to Cuba, Mexico, and others to name a few. After dinner we got back to our game where Raffi cracked the code on the first go around since putting it the game down. Most of the group then walked to Walmart to pick up some things, but since I don’t really need anything and would be tempted to spend money I don’t have, I stayed back and worked on my blog/the journal since I was in charge of my team journal for our ride into Charleston and our build day there (to check out our team blog, go here: https://keystocanada2018.wordpress.com/portfolio/key-largo-speaker/). I was kept company by NJ as she plugged away at some work too and then when everyone got back Jess and I redid our safety Nav sheet from the ride into West Palm since apparently the last one was not submitted ? Though it didn’t take long and Jess just rubbed my head as I worked so it wasn’t terrible. I guess we’re getting to the point on this trip where we’re comfortable enough with each other for massages and whatnot—I don’t mind! Love the family feels going on here!
Aiden, Sarah, and I got a tour of the newly renovated church sanctuary where Sharon shared her story of how she came to Victory church, how she was/is the greatest skeptic though can’t deny God’s presence in her life, and about her missions trips and heart to love & serve people through cooking them food. It was beautiful to hear her share her story and I was thankful to be in the presence of someone so open and willing to share about their faith. What a testimony!
Carly, Kristi, and I shared the library room (Ellies!!) and got ready for bed, but not before getting a special delivery of Magpie wrapped in her own sleeping bag, courtesy of Noah & NJ ?? The girls drifted off to sleep as I finished up my blogs and sent the journal entries to Beth. Very tired, I drifted off the sleep wishing my 5 hours of sleep would feel like 20...
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