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Published: February 3rd 2020
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Two States Lines Day!!
This morning the sun is shining and its a great day to ride bikes--unless you're Carly and you're bonking before you even leave the parking lot and are acting like a drunk person. Though we are almost to the end of the trip, getting ride groups together and who is going with who is still an awkward endeavor. I opt with ride with Raffi and Mora and we ride out of the parking lot and right into morning commuter traffic where I learn about "Massholes." We ride on, getting lost a time or two and pulling off to snack and reroute in the shade.
We arrive at lunch around 11am, which is at a cute, circus-like beach town called Salisbury Beach--complete with Merry-Go-Rounds and boardwalk games. There's picnic tables on the incircle of Broadway so lunch is set up for us there. Since we're by the beach, I waste no time stripping off my jersey and running for the water with Jana, Aiden, and Noah. Noah is a wise man and brings his Go-Pro along for the adventure, which includes chicken fits, wave jumping, and lots of splashing. Feeling like kids again, we are all
smiles and joy and boy does it feel good 😊
Aiden asks for backup so he can try to sneak a moment with Jana, so I walk ahead with Noah back to the lunch picnic tables, where we discover that our team is getting interviewed by the local news. We grab some grub and a seat and enjoy our seaside, sea salt air, warm and yet a little chill lunch. Some folks walk around and grab food or lemonade from nearby vendors, and I can't decide if I want to get back on my bike or back to the beach. My morning ride group decides they want to ride, but I decide I want a little more seaside time.
Eventually I begrudgingly put my socks and cycling shoes back on my sandy feet and gear up for our two, yes TWO (and final 😞 ) state lines. I ride out with Carly, Noah, and Dillan around noon and we are met by the state line sign for New Hampshire--"Welcome to New Hampshire--Live Free or Die." This gets a lot of laughs, especially by Kristi and Jess who join us from the lunch van. We take lots of pics,
have lots of laughs, and roll on. Our short 20 mile ride through NH is met by thunderous crashing waves along the rocky seashore and ominous, looming storm clouds overhead. We sing our chant and merge tightly with cars, stopping often to let the beach-goers cross the street in their exodus from the stormy beach. Despite the dark clouds overhead and windy & rainy conditions, the views are spectacular, the sea, sky, and water showing off their best and the grand mansions to the left only compliment their beauty.
We receive word that lighting was spotted, which means we have to seek shelter. We meet up with most of the rest of the team that is still on the road (my team from the morning made it to the host already) where we seek shelter by a hotel awning and the Sandpiper Cafe. Which means its time for second lunch (pizza) and snoozes and chats. I decide to give in and lay down and chat, and as soon as I decide perhaps I'll a nap, we get the go head that we can get back on the road. Isn't just life for ya though?
Not an hour later
we are met by the Maine state line sign--OUR MAINE GOAL!! Of course we stop and take lots of pictures--the group is me, Noah, Carly, Dillan, Jana, and Aiden. We act like lobsters, we sing, we dance, and we experience some mad, true JOY in the rainy welcome to the northern most east coast state. After our photo op, we continue to ride into Kittery, through the cute downtown, and to our host--Second Christian Congregational United Church of Christ. This host played host to the old Maine to Santa Barbara Bike & Build trip for years prior to K2C--including when Chris participated in 2014 and Patrick in 2015, who was fatally struck by a distracted driver on his trip that he lead (Don't Drive Distracted!). K2C has rode some of the old routes of the Chris Weber Memorial ride (which was typically in Florida during the holiday break), the ME2SB ride, while also paving our own way and riding in cities and states that have never heard of Bike & Build (The Keys and Delaware, for example!). Outside of the host is a Bike & Build brick, which of course I have to take a photo of, and have some
feelings about the fact that Patrick stayed here once.
The rain continues, but so do the celebrations of reaching Maine. We played "Winnebago" and dance and jump and sing in the rain! Its pretty cold up here, so after everyone arrives, we grab our things and bundle together in the van to shuttle over to get out showers. It may be mid summer, but this rain in the Northeast brings some serious chill. After we get back to the host, Sarah and I make our feeble attempt at the Sweep challenge--impressions of a team member. I try to be like Aiden, with his care and concern for others and excellent listening skills. It's a bit silly, but aren't all Sweep challenges?!
I take some time before dinner to try to catch up on some of the blog, as well as read through the Grant proposals, which we will be discussing in a few days times. Some friends opt for naps, other opt to read, or go explore the town. We enjoy a nice potluck dinner with the congregation and they share some of their past experiences with Bike & Build with us. After dinner, we play some games
and then I join NJ, Beth, and Dillan downtown for a local IPA. I feel a bit weird, like I don't belong, but I wanted to see some of the town and left most of the team back at the host playing games. The girls are almost don their beers when I arrive, but they gracefully await for me to finish mine before we walk back in the chilly, dark night air.
When we return, laundry crew returns with our somewhat damp clothes. We start finding every surface possible to try to hang them to dry. The GroupMe text comes through and looks like I am assigned to the lunch van with Raffi and Jana to leader van with NJ. I am feeling some kind of way and ask Jana if she would mind switching vans with me. She asks why and I say, "I think NJ hates me" or something along those lines, which is obviously not true and a major misspeak. What I meant was that I wanted to talk to her about some things, but had a hard time putting it into words since I didn't fully understand it either. Bike & Build living is weird
and its hard sometimes (& amazing too!) when you're constantly surrounded by the same people day in and day out.
After hanging all our clothes up and packing away the ones that we could, we snuggle into our sleeping bags, grateful to have made it this far--WE'RE IN MAINE!!!
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