Cinci to Columbus, IN (6-14)

Today was a rough ride for me. I ended up with a flat, a kinked tire, and two screwed-up cleat incidents leaving my hopes of getting in early in the dust. Though I wasn't "chilling with the bros" (as Kareem has affectionately dubbed our group), I fell into a pace line with Brandon, Natan, Andrea, and Courtney. Our group was large enough and had enough strong riders that we were able to average about 22 for 50 miles which I didn't anticipate. Indiana isn't all that interesting but I sure am loving these gradual inclines and declines. We also watched a movie last night that involved a scrawny cyclist kid pretending to be Italian so Dennis and Snyder adopted Italian accents for the entire day. Although I didn't see them after my series of unfortunate events in the morning but their legacy trailed behind them at gas stations and bike shops all along the way to Columbus...

Portsmouth to Cincinnati, Ohio (6-12)

The tail end of this 8-day riding spree has been kind of getting to me, hence the break. However, not much to say here – Ohio is pretty, I don’t know, roll-y. A few adventures as of late though! We (Mike, Ryan, Snyder, and I) did stop at a traveling fair on the way in though! Talk about a blast-and-a-half. The guy who ran the carnival happened to have a sweet spot for cyclists and let us ride for free. The airplane-shaped clunker flipped us more times than I can count and I still have no idea how I escaped sans vomit seeing as Ryan and Mike inhaled a deep-fried candy bar of sorts about two seconds before we loaded on. That tied for best cycling break with when we pulled over for a Cliff break and 2 stray puppies adopted us for a few minutes. They loved Cliff Bars too. We also saw an Arabian (!!) horse show in Georgetown which was actually pretty darn creepy (still, beautiful horses). That night’s shower also involved real towels (not quick dry). Simple pleasures.

Today was a much-needed Build (/REST!) Day in Cinci and I was on Dick’s team at the Habitat site. Although Dick was not particularly fond of people or speech, we did build half a porch (which was the goal, after all) AND I got to spend an entire day using power tools. Sorry for the epic-ness of this post, by the way. WiFi is touch-and-go so I just do what I can. But for now, I am hitting the hay! We are putting in about 90 miles tomorrow so I suppose I need to be rested up. The rain is supposed to let up for a while so I’m looking forward to getting some more pictures soon! C: Until next time.

Charleston to Huntington, WV (6-9)

A shorter 50-mile ride and escape from the Appalachian climbs meant waking up half-an-hour later! Such joy. It was such a chill day – we were three-quarters of the way there by 10:30 thanks to a pretty decent pace line we had going so we had time to stop at Goodwill, have a 2-hour lunch at a campsite with a lake filled with epic giant inflatable man-toys, and watch the freshman football boot camp at Marshall University (as in We Are Marshall! Who knew?). We also had a mail drop today! Thank y’all SO MUCH for all the food and I am happy to say that my pack is now overflowing with goodies (literally, I had to give some of it away).

My body is finally starting to adapt to all this riding (and, come to think of it, all the basketball, Frisbee, and Mike’s ab-ripper workouts I have been indulging in once I get off the bike for the day). On a scale from 1 to A Lot, butt pain is down to “Dull Roar” and I finally have the energy in my legs to bounce around as I usually do (though I usually have to wake up in the middle of the night for fourth meal)! Additionally, my flexibility now ranks at awesome – not sure how or why that happened but it is probably better now than it has ever been. Keeping a high cadence on higher gears is also getting easier and I am really looking forward to getting a little bit fresher so I can see what my new legs can really do!

Marlinton to Summersville, WV (6-7)

Last night was a rough night for everyone. We got the news that a SC to SC leader, Christina, was struck by an SUV and killed yesterday. She was a close friend to several of our leaders and it was difficult to watch

Lexington to Marlinton, VA (6-6)

Today was the best ride yet. Ryan and I did sweep together today, meaning we were responsible for riding in the back of the pack to make sure no one got dropped or left behind on the route. We started the morning with a stellar cup of coffee and were greeted with the most beautiful river ride possible on God’s green earth. Our first 30 miles followed what was literally a breathtaking river; really, I just can’t describe how much I loved those miles. However, we knew we had 3 big climbs and when they hit, they hit hard. Our first (and hardest) climb ended up being about 3 miles and contained the steepest stretches I had ever done and we were both beaming when we cleared the top of the mountain and collapsed onto a beautiful overlook for lunch. We caught up with the last riders by that time and spent the rest of the day moseying in the back, leaving us plenty of time to spot coyotes, decorate our Camelbaks with wildflowers and American flags, and just generally lolly gag and cut up. Unfortunately, the leaders decided to van the last group of riders in so dinner could get started, which also meant that Ryan and I had to be vanned in as well. It was frustrating not to be able to finish a ride (especially when our legs were so. darn. fresh.) but I there wasn’t much we could say about it. The dinner spread, however, was to die for and the Marlinton congregation was hilarious and made for really great company to share dinner with.

Charlottesville to Lexington, VA (6-5)

B&B alums fixed us some legit breakfast this morning (Eggs! Pancakes!) and proceeded to scare the living daylights out of us about how tough the ride was going to be. We put in about 85 miles, most of it on the Blue Ridge Parkway (UP!). Before getting on the Parkway though, we stopped by the house of “The Cookie Lady”, a 91-year-old lady who is known across the country for her hospitality toward cyclists. Her house was decked out in things bikers had sent to her and left behind to commemorate their visit or brief stay. We even found past B&B riders who had signed the log book. 

It was really cool to see everyone work so hard today. I rode with Ryan, Mike, and Kareem and they were warriors; it was really got me through the day to see how high their spirits were despite an awful climb and everyone who finished the +10 hour ride today was smiling ear-to-ear and really proud of themselves (or maybe that was just a leftover chemical high from the 6-mile descent at 45 mph that concluded our ride?). Now, collapse and repeat.

Charlottesville (6-4)

My legs were toast during our last ride day. I was totally wiped from the longest ever “final kick” into Dillwyn so I was really looking forward to the two build days to let my legs recover.  The sorority house we stayed in was pretty cozy, two bedrooms for our whole gang, but Charlottesville is beautiful and we have had a glorious time (AND haven’t had to wake up until 7 and 10 instead of 5!). We have been working the past two days on a project called Sunrise about two miles away from where we are staying. Basically, it had been a trailer park that had been sold and was about to evict its residents before Habitat for Humanity bought it and promised duplex spaces for all the residents, should they choose to stay – a really, really neat and unique project. They were also constructing several Habitat Homes for people new to the area and selling half the land to contractors for general public homes. My team assembled the entire second-floor flooring panels/first floor roof and got up about three-quarters of the walls. The progress was awesome! Other B&B teams got the foundations for several other homes ready to be moved into.

I also had the pleasure of eating dinner with my Papa Spradlin, Carolyn and my Uncle Steven – such a treat! I had been craving actual vegetables for 4 solid days and was able to get my fix in as well as spend some much needed time with family. It will be a long time before I get a chance like that again so tonight was such a blessing. Now I have finally got my things gathered and am attempting to prepare myself for tomorrow’s 96-mile trek onto the Blue Ridge Mountains and descent into Lexington – should be a beautiful day. Oh, a side note: mail drops were an epic fail this week. Apparently mail must be addressed as follows:

General Mail

Bike and Build

Lacy Schmidt

*Address*

Love to you all.

Blackstone to Dillwyn, VA (6-1)

Last night in a 1AM zombie fury, I threw my sweat-inducing sleeping bag outside. At 3AM I woke up shivering as the temperature had dropped off sharply in the wee hours. Reluctant to wake my tent-mates, I slept unsoundly for an hour when I finally bit the bullet. Of course, my sleeping bag was wet with dew and proved an ineffective source of warmth so I just went ahead and got up – 4:30, 5:30, what’s the difference?

Today was by far the hardest and most frustrating day yet. I rode with Michael, Jake, and Kareem in the morning and we absolutely killed the first 20 miles until we had to stop to chalk the turn and stifle Kareem’s nosebleed using my epic wolf bandanna. We mellowed out a bit after that, stopping a few times to stifle some more nosebleeds and, most importantly, get in some rope swing time. 

After we finished our lovely swim, I thought I would get my butt back up and pull the last few miles. 3 miles on the cue sheet, however, turned into 7, then 10, then 12 as my soul slowly leaked from my body and our mph dropped. Jorts, Ryan and I finally decided to just screw it and stop at a sign promising fresh apples where an extremely interesting and truly kind farmer gave me the best apple of my life and some fresh squash for dinner (which I ended up lugging another 20 miles to our church). Basically, we got within 200 meters of the correct church, were told to turn around, asked around until we found an awesome guy who escorted us to the church in a beat-up Comanche, we told the name of the church was wrong, and turned around once more.  I am still fuming but no longer cursing under my breath or mentally threatening to leave. However, we did meet some really neat people we would have missed otherwise. I guess.

Waverly to Chesterfield, VA (5-30)

Today’s ride was hilarious, period. We rode through some beautiful back roads, talked a gas station owner into letting us hang out in their “state’s coldest beer cave”, and stopped for a pb&j lunch around mile 50. After lunch I cruised with what has become my fairly regular riding crew: Mike, Ryan, and Kareem. Around mile 30, Dennis discovered via GPS that the road we were on was going to spit us out in the lake. It turns out that of the four roads in the tiny town through which we were riding, two of them were named River Road and we, of course, chose the wrong one and were facing a 15 mile detour. Ehhhh.  The group grudgingly turned around and I fell in with Kyle (a kid from Nebraska who is possibly the most hilarious person on the planet). Toasted and in denial, we decided to detour to a boat launch about a mile off the road for a quick dip. As fate would have it, we ran into two fellows, Leron (who introduced himself  as “Leron, L-E-R-O-N”), our best puppy dog faces about a cross-country trip, a detour, and a flat tire and sure enough, they obliged. We later found out that they were fairly racist. Once we got across, Kyle helped me change my flat and we continued on our way.

5 miles later we found a fellow cyclist sitting alone on the side of the road. She had been dropped by her group and was feeling pretty crappy. (Some of our cyclists have been dropping the “B” word [“bonked”] to the point of hilarity and it has pretty much become The Running Joke amongst riders. Kyle, for example, bonks every time he watches an emotional drama. On another note, I am not sure that any extreme bonking has taken place and I hope our team will soon learn to use a slightly less-dramatic “I am tired. I think I would like to take a short break.”) We picked her up and kept her company until we made it to the park. Once in Pocahontas (!), we set up camp (all four tents), found a water park, and proceeded to enjoy ourselves immensely. After our showers with easy-off 2-second release buttons and 0.5˚C water we played a few hours of 4-square as we waited for the most epic donation magic ever. (Donation Magic basically consists of telling businesses that the less we spend on food, the more money goes to affordable housing. We haven’t paid for a meal yet and have eaten like royalty.) Abby has that nights contributors as:

-Domino’s Pizza
-Soprano’s Pizza
-Ledo’s Pizza
-Starbucks
-McDonalds
-KFC
-Applebee’s
-Johnny Rockets
-Red Lobster
-Little Caesars
-Food Lion
-A local Chinese Restaurant
-Chipotle (They donated 33 burritos. One for everyone!)  

So epic. We are now rolling seven deep in our tiny tent. Should be a fun night.

Suffolk to Waverly, VA (5-30)

A +50 mile Tour de Farms brought us to a/the church in Waverly, VA (though it has mostly been referred to “The Middle of Nowhere” or “Maybe Someone’s Driveway”). The cue sheet was off and we therefore got lost multiple times and finished off the last 10 miles on a gravel road. It wasn’t too big of a deal as we knocked out the first half of the (at the time thought was going to be a) 42 mile ride. From there we rode a three mile stretch three times (and found some work horses to nuzzle us) and then proceeded to ride past a billion roads that we later found out would actually take us where we needed to be. Finally I realized that nobody knew where exactly we were going so “Jubilant Jacob” and I pulled off to snack on some delicious peanuts that a nut store donated to us (apparently Waverly used to be the peanut capital of the world “until the government got involved” as the little old lady at the counter explained). We also found a small lake but decided against swimming once we saw a snake worthy of a Britney Spears video. 

Once we finally got to our host sight, we all got decked out for a hose swimming/bathing party and got clean. I am not really sure what happened after that as I went into a five-hour coma. However, I did wake up to clean laundry (which was fantastic) and a pot luck dinner (even better, obviously). Now we are curling up for another good night on these (fairly useless) thermarests in anticipation of Pocahontas State Park tomorrow!