Day 3: Shake It Off

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Today we woke up at 6am and got all of our stuff together as if it was a real ride day.

We ate a hodgepodge of fixings and then Aiden sat down and thanked me for sharing about why I am on Bike & Build (decided to do it after losing my dad) and we had a great discussion. He lost his mom in March too (cancer) so we were able to chat (and hold back tears!) about this, unfortunately, shared experience. We then had a bike maintence presentation from Ryan. We broke up into small groups and practiced changing a flat (holla for other groups changing my new tires!).

After that we got our bikes ready and put them in the trailer so we could shuttle to a larger parking lot to go over safety drills. And we ended up at a closed down, drum roll....Burger King!!! We broke up into our chore groups (Ellies ?!) and practiced making sudden stops. This time around Carly was the first to embarrass herself and take a tumble in the parking lot! (On my last trip it was Christine!). We then practiced looking back, calling out obsticles, & merging into the left lane to make a left turn.

We then enjoyed lunch in the parking lot complete with PB&J, Gatorade, apples, & cookies—bc what else do you eat on Bike & Build?! We then had our first official route meeting and Nora Jane gave some fun town facts full of chickens and affordable housing info.

We rolled out with our chore group & Aiden and he stopped us every approx 2 miles to go over safety and give constructive feedback. We took turns leading and it was a casual pace and 15 miles ride around Key West. We stopped at the Southern Most Point and took advantage of the photo op—so glad we did!

On our way back to the host I realized my front tire was getting flat but just decided I would fix it at the host. We got back, showered, and walked across the street to Waterfront Brewery. Jana, Carly, Annie and I enjoyed sampling beer that our waiter Mickey brought us, a few appetizers, and one $3 beer each. I had the Lazy Day IPA and it was great! Kristie and Chris ended up joining us so we stayed for another round, I took a Polaroid on the boat dock, and then we headed back to the host for dinner.

For dinner, Nora Jane’s parents hooked us up with some fish tacos, bruschetta ?, salad, rice & beans, & breakfast food for tomorrow! We then had a group discussion about our tram’s purpose & mission. We were able to split up into small groups and highlight things we value in a successful team. See the pic for what we landed on 😊

Though we planned on walking around Key West a bit more, we ended up just getting our stuff ready for tomorrow & going to CVS (of course) to get some last minute items & free chips! No wonder we love CVS so much! I was able to chat with Celess briefly and catch up a bit on the blog. After some bag rearranging, I again was the last to hit the sack and attempt to get some sleep—since I haven’t been sleeping very well/very much already. We’ll see if that can change...!

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