Headwinds & Hills: Des Moines to Atlantic

On Friday, Team Portland had what most of us agree was our hardest day of the entire trip! Amazingly enough, we actually thought it topped Day 2, when we rode 75 miles on stiff legs, scaling 2 giant mountains and tons of Pennsylvania's rolling hills.

We left the Marriott in the morning feeling well rested but super bummed we had to leave the awesome hotel. We were to bike 82 miles to Atlantic, Iowa. Coming out of Des Moines, we were on some sweet, flat trails with lots of curves that were really fun. They were shaded, and trees on both sides left us blissfully unaware of what we were in for the rest of the day.

About 20 miles in, we were off the trails and were on roads for the rest of the day. That's when we were introduced to a little thing we call 20-30 mph headwinds. The winds were half headwinds and half sidewinds. So basically, we were riding into the wind and being pushed into the road at the same time. A great combination! 

It LOOKS like a pretty day.. but looks can be deceiving!! You can't see the brutal winds.

Riding with the winds was extremely tiring and cumbersome. Not to mention that Iowa was getting extremely hilly: we had constant rolling hills. The wind was so bad that we still had to pedal going downhill or we'd slow to almost a stop. This means we never gained any momentum to help us up the next hill, so it basically felt like we were going uphill the whole day. 

Also, the whipping winds made it nearly impossible to hear anything around us, and I was scared the wind would knock me off my bike! It certainly felt unsteady, and gusts of wind would blow me around quite a bit. I was worried about going into traffic, but I was able to keep pretty good control of my bike.

Our extremely slow progress caused us to take frequent breaks and set up the water and food stops closer together than usual. We were expending sooo much effort and covering very little ground! We were burning more calories than we're used to, and the food van was such a welcome sight when we pulled up to it that I had to give the drivers hugs.

We stopped in the tiny town of Casey to play on this old playground.

....Another playground stop, this time in the town of Adair.
We dared Chris (6'4", nicknamed Thor) to go down this slide.

...Yes I promise we do sometimes bike and not play on playgrounds all day.

We passed through several REALLY small Iowa towns along the way. I mean so small that the entire town did not have a single stoplight. One or two stop signs and that's it. However, the small towns were a welcome sight for us because it meant some buildings to break the wind for us for a half mile or so. The towns had some interesting slogans on their signs.

Anita: A Whale of a Town.... pretty sure there aren't any whales within 1000 miles.

STUART: Home of 1700 good eggs... and a few stinkers, apparently.

To say the day was tiring was an understatement. Every mile just dragged. My group usually got way ahead of me on the hills. Luckily, Nitkin hung back with me to keep me company on the hills. I was happy to not be left alone to tackle them myself. 

With 20 miles left, Nitkin also decided to motivate my group in an unusual way: "Just pretend these 20 miles are communism... and you are Uncle Sam. BAM!! Cold War!!!" The reference was so out of the blue that we were cracking up hysterically getting back on our bikes.

Jen, Nitkin and Chris in the final few miles of the ride.

Finally making our way into Atlantic.

A bank called Rolling Hills in Atlantic. You can say that again!!

We finally rolled into our host about 6:30 pm, after 10.5 hours on the road, but not before climbing a huge hill right before getting to the host. It seems that every host is located at the top of a hill!! 

Our host was a YMCA, which was a first-time host but they were amazing. They had a great dinner waiting for us and cooked us breakfast in the morning also. Also, we always like YMCA showers because there are plenty of them and they're sure to be hot!

Everyone gathered around dinner to rehash the memories of the day and discuss our hatred of Iowa. It had not been treating us very nicely, what with the terrible storms earlier in the week, the huge rolling hills, and the ridiculous winds. The consensus was that Iowa was nearly as bad as Pennsylvania, and we couldn't wait to get to Nebraska!

With that, we hit the hay and prepared to leave Iowa once and for all the next day.

Stay tuned for a post on our first two days in Nebraska!

Atlantic & Omaha

The past two days were two of the hardest of the entire ride so far! Today we made it to Nebraska and we are in our first home stays tonight. Due to an amazing steak dinner I didn't have time to write today, but stay tuned for a full report tomorrow! :)

Grinnell & Des Moines: Iowa's hills and the Marriott

Greetings from Des Moines!

Yesterday we rode from Iowa City to Grinnell, and it was one of the toughest days of the ride for me mentally.

The first 20 miles went okay, but they were hard. It got hot very early in the day, and every pedal felt like work. The rolling hills were wearing me out quickly. It seemed like every time I crested a hill and was about to feel relieved, I saw the next giant hill looming in the distance. 

Iowa rollers

The route was very straightforward and involved staying on the same road for most of the day. It was also a road where we definitely had to ride single file, so I couldn't talk to my teammates. It got boring fast. 

After the first water stop, things really started to go south. (Not literally, we're going west). First, Paul got a flat. No big deal; we stopped and changed it. Then, around mile 40, I got a flat. It was only my second flat of the trip -- the first being on Day 1! I was really annoyed to get a flat because my inner tube had held up for over 1200 miles and I was worried that once I changed it I'd start having the bad luck that some of my other teammates have had (i.e. multiple flats in one day, 10 total so far, etc).

There was also no opportune place to stop as we were in the middle of nowhere, so we pulled off the road into an open area that was not shaded and was muddy. We had been expecting the water stop in the next few miles, so we were all low on water, hot, and hungry. A recipe for hangriness!

I changed the flat with the help of Porter, our mechanic. I can do it all myself except for getting the second edge of the tire around the last part (you have to really muscle the tire and actually stretch it a little to get it back on the wheel). Changing the tire was frustrating because I got all muddy, dirty, and even more hot and sweaty. Then to top it off, we found out the water stop was set up another 9 miles away.

As we were JUST about to roll back onto the road, we heard the dreaded HISSSSSSS of a flat. We all groaned in unison. (This happens at least once a day and we all know what it is as soon as we hear it). It was coming from Sarah's bike.. she had gotten a flat while her bike was not even being touched. Porter said it was probably because of the heat- that it cooled down while it was not being touched.

I wish I had pictures to show you but usually my mood correlates with how many pictures I take, so I have none!

As our levels of hangriness escalated, Sarah was a good sport and changed her tire. But...while Porter was helping her with the last step, he accidentally popped the tube. Flat #3 at the same stop!!! It wasn't even over then. The exact same thing happened a SECOND time to Sarah, and she was on her third flat of the stop. With mine that made 4 total, and we had been there for about an hour. Sitting in the hot sun on the side of the road for so long was really frustrating. We were all low on water. 

When we FINALLY got back on the road, we were so far behind that the water van was able to finish giving the other groups water and come back to us, but we were all in such bad moods that all we could do was glare at the van drivers (it's okay, the van drivers are used to getting glared at). 

Then we were in for something that picked up our moods at least a little bit. We came across two cross-country bikers going in the opposite direction! Their names are Owen and Allison and they are biking from California to New York. Their route for the day was basically ours but in reverse. We talked a bit about our trips, and let me just say one thing... I am SO GLAD we have our support vans!!! These two were carrying ALL their gear, including tents, on their bikes. They said they each had 80 pounds of gear. That's ridiculous!!! I can't imagine going through these hills, or the mountains, with 80 pounds of gear. They were really cool, though, and we wished each other luck on our journeys and went on.

The rest of the day involved several more setbacks as Paul got another flat just half a mile from our lunch stop and then Paul and Sarah had to replace their rim strips at the lunch stop, so we waited while they did that. Luckily we had lunch in an air-conditioned church. I laid down on a pew and immediately fell asleep for about 20 minutes. It was great except for the dream I had about my team leaving without me.

The remaining 15 miles of the day had even more fun in store for us. On top of the continuing rolling hills, we appeared to be riding straight into another storm. We subconsciously rode faster as if trying to race the storm. The winds picked up and the skies looked threatening. Luckily, no lightning. At first we just got drizzled on, but when we were just 5 miles out from the host it started pouring... and possibly hailing, we're not sure. Someone saw lightning so we pulled over and stayed under cover (standing up against a farm building was the best shelter we could find) for 10 minutes.... The rain cleared and the sun came out. Iowa weather is crazy!!!

Rolling into Grinnell after the rainfall.

When we finally got into Grinnell I was in for a special treat. My grandparents and cousin Deborah had driven all the way from St. Louis, Missouri to see me! I was so excited to see them :) My team was jealous of Deborah's awesome pink hair. I quickly showered and then we went out for dinner at a really adorable place in the also-adorable town of Grinnell. I got seafood chowder and pasta because, well, pasta is awesome and seafood is something I'm probably never going to eat on this trip. It was great!! 

Afterwards they took me to Wal Mart and bought my team a ton of food for our breakfast and snacks for the next few days. We loveeee fresh fruit & veggies!!! The team nearly drooled upon seeing the selection in the morning. I also left my grandparents with some things from my bag that I haven't used at all yet. I figured if I haven't used them by now I'm not going to use them the rest of the trip (with the exception of some warmer cycling clothes I expect to use in the West).

After that I rejoined my team, which was at a lady's house eating dinner. Apparently they also had a great dinner and I arrived in time to get a fancy iced tea and chat a little with the host, who was super nice. We then went out for ice cream, and then went to bed at the awesome dorms of Grinnell College!

In the morning my grandparents came to watch our dedication circle and see us off. I was sad to see them go but very happy I was able to see them!! 

Today's ride, a 54 mile ride from Grinnell to Des Moines, was also a tough one. 

Casually posing with an owl painted on the side of a barn

Luckily we didn't have any bike problems in my group, but we did have some TOUGH hills, the likes of which we have not seen since Pennsylvania. The hills were long, steep, tall; you name it and I guarantee we saw it today. Even though it was only 54 miles it was very physically tiring. The day started perfectly sunny and ended very windy and raining... again! Iowa weather has not been very nice to us. 

You can say that again.

Getting into Des Moines was relatively painless as it was still pretty early in the day. All groups were in before 2 pm... to our host, the Des Moines Downtown Marriott!!!! It is a 4K first to have a Marriott donate rooms for everyone, and this Marriott is crazy nice. We are very lucky and so grateful :). Half the team went out for lunch for Dave Wolfe's 22nd birthday, but I stayed back to hold down the fort and sort things out at the hotel. Aka I enjoyed a glorious shower. 

The view of Des Moines from our rooms on the 30th floor!

Kiera in our room

Fruit-infused water?!? We are so spoiled!!!

Marriott Lobby

Marriott Lobby Take 2

The team then gathered together at 3:00 for a reception the Marriott was holding for us. As if giving us rooms wasn't enough, they fed us fruit, cheese, crackers and cookies and 10-12 staff members showed up to enjoy the free food and chat with us. Andrew and Dave gave a quick presentation, and then the manager of the hotel came up to thank us for what we are doing. The cause is important to him as he is a cancer survivor himself, as is his executive assistant, who coordinated our stay. 

The Marriott has been amazingly generous to us and I must say that all this luxury has made us realize how much we've forgotten how to be real people! After the reception some of the girls and I decided to turn ourselves into girls again so we put on dresses, straightened our hair with Gina's mini hair straightener, and did our nails. It was fun!

We then headed out to longtime 4K supporter Shelly Argumedo's house for a dinner. Shelly hosted a few of the riders last year, but as homestays didn't work out this year, she agreed to cook us dinner this year! She and her friend Birdie had a ton of great food prepared for us and Shelly had a bunch of great stories to share with us. Unfortunately her life has been very touched by cancer: she has 8 ribbons tattooed in a spiral on her lower leg, each representing a family member that has been affected by cancer. As she said, "if you guys can bike 4400 miles, I can feed you a dinner." She even let us do multiple loads of laundry and sent us with goodie bags.

Shelly welcomed us with this sign in her yard :)

Dinner at Shelly's

Well, Des Moines has a lot of cool things to do -- some of the team went to free swing dancing lessons on the lake, while others went to look at art, and some are enjoying the hot tub in the hotel -- but honestly I'm so low on sleep that the only thing I feel like doing is curling up in the extremely soft bed waiting for me on the 30th floor. So I'll leave it at that for the day. 

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Atlantic tomorrow as well as our entrance into Nebraska on Saturday :).

Van Duty

Today I had my first van duty. 

I somehow managed to be the last one on the team to do van duty for the first time. At first I didn't want to be in the vans because I wanted to ride every day and not have the responsibility the van drivers carry, and then it became more of the principle of the thing, that I wanted to see how long I could avoid it. I somehow managed to make it to Day 24, but today I was chosen to be Water Van Passenger. We were headed from Davenport to Iowa City.

Porter was the water van driver, and he was a great partner. I especially liked riding with him because the music he listens to is awesome. Along with listening to music in the car, we also blast the music at water stops to pump up riders.

Unfortunately the only picture I got of Porter was when he was blinking... promise he wasn't driving with his eyes closed :)

In the morning, it was our job to pack the water van and fill up our giant water containers. 

Porter filling up the water...promise I helped and didn't just take pictures all day :)

The day started with rain and the forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms, so we were kind of worried about whether we'd be able to stay on the roads. The band of storms we've been dealing with threatened to meet up with us again. 

I actually had a really easy day to be in the water van. What makes the water van's job difficult is complicated directions, long days, and groups spacing out a lot. None of that really happened today. It was a 54-mile day, so we only had to do two water stops, and the route stayed on two main roads, US Historic Route 6 and County Road F44, for most of the day, so minimal chalking was needed.

My view for most of the day

As soon as the riding groups started leaving, we started driving. We saw a lot of leaves and sticks on the road, several downed trees, and cornfields that were blown over. Yesterday's storm was pretty serious!! For the first 20 miles we had Ashley in the van with us - Ashley's the one that broke her hand and has been a permanent van driver for the last three weeks. She was going to ride today for the first time since the fall! She was going to sit in the van and scout out the roads to see if she felt comfortable riding, then ride with the team after the first water stop.

Very ready to ride :)

We found a good place for a water stop at mile 22, then went ahead a little bit to continue chalking, but we didn't have much time before we needed to get back to the water stop to wait for the first group's arrival. We were stopped in the employee parking lot of a bank in the small town of Wilton, IA, so Ashley went into the bank to ask if it was okay for us to set up there.

As we were waiting for riders to arrive, we were in for a surprise! A lady approached us and introduced herself as a reporter from the local newspaper. The bank had alerted her to our presence, and she came to interview us. We answered all her questions and told her about the ride, and then she took a picture of the team when everyone had arrived.

Before groups arrived, I put out the high-demand items: bananas, fruit, bread, peanut butter, granola bars, and sunscreen. As I've mentioned before, people become animals at water stops. They dive in and eat everything in sight. Key word: in sight. If something isn't in plain sight it will not get eaten. So I tried to make it easy for the riders, keeping in mind what I'd want to see if I were riding. 

Bananas and peanut butter are a very popular water stop snack so I tried to set them in very plain view.

After all four groups left the first water stop, we still hadn't seen any rain and people put their rain jackets in the water van. We left Ashley on her bike to ride -- yay!! -- and continued on to chalk and find a good second water stop. 

The superstar in her first mile back on the road

It wasn't long before we came across a sign on our intended road that said "Road closed: water over road." We knew the first group had already plowed through the road closure anyway and made it through, so we chalked the turn and drove through the road closed signs (hashtag responsible decisions). There was indeed water over the road! Due to flooding, there was water just rushing over the road. It was a good 4 inches deep. However, the option for a reroute was a gravel road, so we had the team continue through the river...I mean road?

This is not a lake.....it's a field. Floods!!!

We chalked the turns up until the second water stop, but there weren't many to chalk. We decided to do Water stop #2 a bit before mile 40, because the sun had come out and it was close to 90 degrees. We had also come upon lots and lots of rolling hills. It turns out Iowa is not flat. It is rolling hills!! These were definitely the most consistent hills we've seen since Pennsylvania. So we went for mile 37.

Cows wading in a muddy flooded field... and Porter looking very concerned.

Setting up the water stop off the side of the road under a tree (and surrounded by annoying bugs), we were setting up just as the first riding group was already arriving: they were fast! And they were very eager for water. As people were at the water stop, I made a few calls to hosts that I needed to make.

Porter trying to explode an inner tube at the second water stop. Hashtag mature

We were at the water stop for almost an hour and a half, because two groups had made a wrong turn and were way behind the first team. Leaving the water stop, we cheered on all the riding groups as we passed them, and headed to chalk the turns to the host.

We encountered another road closure but were able to chalk riders to get on the sidewalk and go through, because it was some road construction. In the van, though, we couldn't get through, so we had to find a reroute of our own to get around the construction. We almost went down a dirt road, but it was really muddy and had a sign that said "Caution: Category B road maintenance" (no idea what that means) so we opted not to get the van stuck and found a different detour. It was gravel roads, so we were glad the riders we were able to get through on the sidewalk.

The gravel detour we had to take... Iowa roads.

The rest of the day went without problems and once we finished chalking we just drove around cheering on riders until the last group rode in. Being in the water van was actually fun! I did miss being on the road but at the same time I liked taking care of the riders, making sure they got everything they needed, and cheering them on.

Oops...when we pulled over to chalk the road we accidentally stopped in a bus stop...

Once we got to the host, Porter and I spent a solid hour and a half cleaning out the water van. It had gotten pretty gross and it was bugging me all day. We unloaded everything and reorganized all the food into labeled bins, throwing out old food that had expired. One of the things we need to do better from now on is making sure the older food gets eaten before the newer food. While cleaning we also discovered some awesome gear given to us by 4K HQ that we had no idea was there because it got buried on Day 1. That led me to decorate the van's windows with window paint. I forgot to take a picture though!

Evening activity: Jared getting interviewed for local news!

Evening activity: Straightening hair with Gina's new mini hair straightener

In the evening, half the team went to another Hope Lodge visit while the other half went to a horticultural museum in Cedar Rapids. Jared aka Princess's family has been in the horticulture business for generations, and they have connections with this very successful nursery in Cedar Rapids. I don't exactly have an interest in horticulture but I figured this would be my only opportunity to go to a horticultural museum in Iowa.

The nursery and museum, Hughes Nursery & Landscaping were very impressive. The first thing I noticed was that it was immaculate. Perfectly trimmed grass, completely clean driveways, and flawless landscaping everywhere. The interior of the museum, a small museum on the family history of the nursery, was spotless as well. Dwight Hughes Jr. was the man giving us the tour. The tour turned into a Jared & Museum photoshoot because he was so excited that Jared was visiting that he took pictures of Jared with everything in the museum and all of the nursery machinery. It was cool though, and we had no idea Jared was so popular in the horticultural world ;)

Gina loved seeing horses!

Dave feeding a horse

Beautiful sunset as we were leaving 

Tomorrow we head to Grinnell, Iowa, a 73 mile day. We are following the route done by RAGBRAI, an annual bike ride across Iowa. It helps because they know what roads are gravel and what are not! There's a chance of thunderstorms, so here's to hoping they miss us like they did today.

A Day in the Life

So what's day-to-day life like?? I get asked this a lot so I decided to do a post on it. It's going to be boring aka no pictures but hopefully it will give you some idea of how we live. I'll start by describing it as a whole and then describe a typical day, trying to cover all the emotions that go into a day of riding.

Life on the 4K is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. I’d be lying if I said I’m not out of my comfort zone at least once per day. And that’s not a bad thing! There’s some truth to the saying that life begins where your comfort zone ends.

4K life is nomadic. We bike from place to place with all our belongings in a single duffel. We wear the same clothes day in and day out and no one cares. Eating is borderline barbaric: at breakfast and lunch, food is set out in boxes and we just dig in, no plates, no silverware. And we eat a TON.

Although we have our schedule, our riders couldn’t tell you off the top of their heads where we’re going to be two days from now. I say “our riders” because I could tell you, but that’s because I’m a leg leader.

Each day is a new adventure. New faces, new scenery, new challenges, new accomplishments. It's pretty cool. We rarely get bored. We have a saying on our team, "do it live," (taken from SNL) that basically means that we try not to have expectations and just go with the flow. Things are much easier that way, since every day at least one thing usually goes wrong. Example: "We're making much better time than we expected.... what if the host isn't there to let us in?" Answer: "We'll do it live."

Team dynamics: We don’t all get along perfectly, but I think overall we are doing a great job. I think every person on the team has a good attitude and is honestly looking to improve both themselves and the team as a whole. As today was the end of leg 1, we just had a really productive 2-hour meeting where people aired their complaints and constructive criticisms. I think it was really helpful in keeping our team dynamics moving in a positive direction.

Team strength: Team strength has improved dramatically over the past three weeks. The gap will between the strongest and weakest riders will never disappear, but it will get smaller, and it certainly already has! The hills are really what set us apart; when we are on flat land we can all keep a very fast pace and come in very close together.

Aches and pains: On a daily basis, what do you feel like?? Well, as far as physical aches and pains go, my knees have been hurting a dull, achy pain since day 1. It helps to remember to push and pull with the heel instead of the toe, but that doesn’t alleviate all of the pain. I’m not too worried though because it definitely isn’t so bad that I can’t bike on it. Also, leg muscles.., obviously. Quads and hamstrings are constantly pretty sore and after a water stop or lunch stop they feel very stiff and achy for a few miles until they warm up again. But, as the ride has gone on, it now takes a lot more for the soreness to linger! So that’s a good sign.

Finally, your hands can go numb if you’re not holding them in the right position. If you’re supporting your weight with the middle of your wrist, it constricts blood flow and suddenly you’ve lost feeling in your hands. I notice this happening from time to time and I just shift my hand position until blood flow goes back to normal. The other thing is that our butts always hurt. Mine is actually okay because I have a women-specific seat and I haven’t had much trouble at all. It still doesn’t feel great after a long day of riding, obviously, but it’s not terrible.

Chafing is also an issue; many people have issues with this as well as saddle sores. We have chamois butter, which is basically a lubricant you can put on the inside of your shorts to reduce chafing. It freaks me out so I don’t use it, and I haven’t had any problems, but some people on the team swear by it and would never go a day without it. I think it’s because I don’t have very sensitive skin. On the issue of skin, though, I do have a rash just below the bottom of my shorts. It’s red and bumpy but it doesn’t itch. Meredith has the exact same thing and we are trying to figure out what it is. It went away on our rest day and then came back. It may be heat rash, but I’ve never had a problem with being out in the heat before… but of course I’ve also never biked across the country before.

A typical day, pretty much covering all the bases of things that could and do go wrong.....

Morning:

Alarm goes off (usually 6-6:30 am)

Some people pop up immediately; others hide under their pillows (I may be among the latter)

The more proactive riders wake up the less proactive riders

People roll up their sleeping stuff, and make moves toward the bathroom like zombies

Change into biking clothes

Pack duffel and bring it out to the van

Eat breakfast (usually means pulling out our leftovers and people digging into them)

Round up people that are being slow and bug them to get their duffels packed

Help pack the vans

Help clean up the disaster zone we’ve usually created at the host, take out trash, etc.

Wander around looking for one thing you’re missing

Ask entire team if they’ve seen your missing white sock; no one has

Give up

Remember your tires need air; pump them up

Fill water bottles

Help round up straggling team members

Put on cleats and congregate in circle for dedication

Dedication (where we say who we’re riding for that day – popcorn style)

Painfully awkward team cheer (our cheer does not flow together at all and is in major need of help)

One person (chosen the night before) “breaks it down,” aka says a few motivational words, and then we all cheer on a count of 3

Separate into ride groups

Realize you have to use the bathroom

Run and use the bathroom

Put on helmet, check wheels, check brakes

Get on bike & get going

Realize you didn’t know which way to go out of the parking lot

Stop and check directions

Leave: Take 2 (8 am)

The ride:

Become acutely aware of aches and pains from yesterday: leg stiffness, butt soreness, etc

Realize it’s really hot outside

Realize you have a lot of miles ahead of you

Legs begin to warm up and bike starts to feel good

Talk to teammates

…. Many miles later…

Realize you’re hungry

Wonder where water van is

Check GroupMe (our group text) to see where the water stop is going to be (what mile marker)

Get slightly annoyed that the water stop is not exactly where you thought it would be

Realize that was stupid and try to be patient

Arrive at water stop

Throw down bike, begin devouring some snacks

Refill water bottles

Attempt to round up teammates to leave; realize one teammate is just starting to eat something/off finding a makeshift bathroom/fixing their bike

Wait around and chat with water van drivers and other teammates

Finally round up riding group to leave; get back on road

Realize you are lost

Wonder where the chalking was

Realize there was no chalking because the water van is at the water stop

Call out for teammates to stop; check map

Deal with teammates being annoyed that we’re lost

Figure out how to get back on the route

Begrudgingly trudge back to route

Encounter gravel road

Hold on tight and hope you don’t fall

Get back on route

Grumble because now your mileage will be off from the cue sheet

Realize you’re getting sunburnt

Ride through large hole or bump and get annoyed with teammate for not calling it out

Legs start feeling awesome and riding group is going a solid pace

Group member gets a flat

Attempt to find some decent shade; wait for them to change the flat; help if needed

Continue rolling

Pass a few dozen cornfields

Feel a few raindrops

Really really hope it doesn't rain

Starts pouring; make sure phone is in Ziploc bag

Rain stops

Get barked at by a dog

Get chased by a dog

Take in some nice scenery

Realize you’re biking across the country and that’s awesome

Bond with teammates

Realize you’re hungry

Wonder where food van is

Tackle huge hill

Arrive at next water stop; food van is nowhere to be found because they haven’t found food yet

Begin to get hangry; attempt to curb emotions

Fill up on snacks from the water stop

Continue riding

Arrive at food van

Devour food like animals

Lay down on grass and wait for teammates to finish eating

Doze off

Awakened by someone stepping on you

Take some pictures while you’re waiting

Round up team to get back on road

Continue riding… more of the same until we’re close to the host

Begin counting down miles to host when about 10 miles out

Cheer when we see the host and ride in

The evening:

Help unload van if we’re the first group in

Claim a good sleeping spot before other people take the good spots

Collapse on floor for 15 ish minutes

Greet another group coming in, cheer for them

Flock to showers

Realize all showers are taken

Wait for someone to get out

Take best shower of life (every day)

Realize shower is cold

Make the best of it

Dry off with unsatisfying quick-dry towel

Set up sleeping stuff; for me this means spending a few minutes pumping up my air mat

Graze on snacks

Sleep/check internet if we have wifi/read

Dinner time!!! Devour more food

Help clean up

Plan route for next day; email to team

Relax with teammates

Blog

Eat late night snack

Realize you’re exhausted

Sleep!!!! (10 pm)

And that's a day in the life!! Notice it does not involve spending money, and it involves very few worries other than normal stresses of riding, getting from point A to point B, and eating. 4K is pretty awesome :)