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This morning was nice because I got to wake up and put real people clothes on. It felt strange since I’ve never vanned before, but I was excited for a change of pace and to serve my team in a new way.
We had a 4:30am wake up call and after not getting back from the Wanninkhofs until late the night before (the other van was in a minor accident), we were working off of 4 hours of sleep and anticipating our biggest ride of the trip to date. Some people were pretty concerned about the weather and wanted to just van it to Miami, but I told them the night before to just mentally prepare to do the whole thing and then if we have to shuttle then it will a bonus for them.
We were pretty efficient at getting our stuff together and cleaned up and ready to ride faster than expected. We had our route meeting where NJ announced that there was a State of Emergency declared with Alberto about to roll through. We voted as a team (eyes shut!) and decided to ride it until it didn’t seem safe since it was only lightly spitting
outside. We had a pit stop at mile 7 for Raw Juice bar where Annie was able to DM us a bunch of juices. We decided we would ride to there and then reevaluate after.
After all the riders took off, NJ, Aiden, & I drove off and attempted to follow the cue sheet. It was a bit tricky but we made some notes and figured it out and were able to street park the van and trailer (V&T) in downtown Miami—not bad for a Sunday on a holiday weekend, but I’m thinking the fact that it was 8am had something to do with it. The groups started to show up and NJ, Aiden and I hung out at a Starbucks while the rain started to pour down more heavily.
The leaders decided to let the riders ride and agreed to pick them up if anyone felt unsafe. Carly, Jess, and I packed the copious amounts of juice into their lunch van and then me and my van were off. While sitting at the Starbucks, I was able to email the president of my university and download Spotify so I was hopeful for some good road tunes on
this 86mile day.
We decided to just follow the lunch van, but they got on 95 instead of following the cue sheet. We called & directed them back to follow the cue sheet—part of the support vans is going ahead of the riders to see what the route looks like and to alert them of anything to be aware of (road closures, flooding, etc). We saw some of the riders and they seemed to be doing okay so far despite the rain. Nora Jane and I chatted while trying to follow the tricky cue sheet, and despite needing to turn around a few times, we had a good time getting to know each other and listening to some good tunes.
We eventually made it to lunch—South Beach Park in Fort Lauderdale (my suggestion)—where there was plenty of palm trees, picnic tables, & beach side views to enjoy. We dropped off Aiden, Noah, & Sarah (sweep vanned from the juice bar to lunch) and took off immediately to try to get to the host. The riders were 44 miles into their day and would definitely want to shower as soon as they got to the host instead of waiting
on us.
The two of us got back on the road and enjoyed a less tricky ride straight up A1A where we were able to talk, listen to some jams, eat some candy, and splash the van through giant puddles. The weather turned and was nice and sunny so we were able to ride with the windows down as we passed by the beaches I used to ride while training for my first Bike & Build.
We got to the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church right in downtown West Palm Beach around 2:30pm. I was so pumped to be back in West Palm on Bike & Build! Talk about worlds colliding! We met some of the nice gentlemen from the church, who were mixing lemonade and Gatorade for us, and they showed us around the host. We chalked to help direct the team and then took off to go sweep the team and shuttle anyone who wanted to be or needed to get off of the road bc of time (we usually are supposed to all be at the host by 4).
On our way back down A1A we saw some of the riders, tried to DM some
food (I scored us a $50 gift card from the Fresh Market!), and picked up Jana and Aiden. They were grateful they were able to ride a bit today. I too planned on trying to get on the road today so I could ride into West Palm, but at this point it unfortunately seemed too late in the game.
However, as we caught up to the other groups after heading back up north A1A, we were able to cheer them on as we passed, stop & play “Timber” as they rode past, and cheer them on. I got some good GoPro footage and pictures of them and it was so awesome to see them riding the roads I used to ride and call home. In addition to deciding that this day wasn’t about me, my perspective changed from wanting to ride in to enjoying cheering them on and watching them ride in. I’ve gotten to ride those roads numerous times and this may be their only chance to ride them. They all pushed through such a hard day with 87 miles, rain, & heat so to see them finish well in Palm Beach was incredible and made my heart
so happy!
We all made it back to the host, helped Mandy & Michael with the finishing touches for dinner and running around with their 3 year old son Luke. They made an incredible dinner complete with cheese and potato casserole and chocolate mousse cake. After dinner I was eager to go out and meet up with Kristin (one of my roommates from college) so waiting to go last in the shower line (there was only one shower) seemed silly after waiting past 8pm. At least I was able to paint my nails & go for a sunset walk with some of the girls while I waited!
I told Kristin to just meet me at the host, where I introduced her to everyone and we started to walk downtown to Clematis. First we went to O’Shea’s where we hung out together and watched the Cavs vs Celtics game. Then Kristin, Kevan, & I went to Respectables for a bit since there was an 80’s theme party going on where everyone was dressed in their best 80’s garb with the appropriate tunes. I then wanted to meet up with my team so I met them at Roxy’s where we
enjoyed dancing on the rooftop. Raffi, NJ, Beth, Chris, Aiden, Kristin, Kevan, & I enjoyed a great night of dancing—which was so fun to do with everyone!
Chris, Aiden, Beth, & I grabbed some delicious pizza before heading back to the host and crashing for the night. A long day again but so well spent with such wonderful people ?
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