Yesterday I decided that I was ready for a brief respite from the constant socialization that is Bike & Build and the best way for me to do that was to ride by myself.
I've been riding casually since I was fifteen and have always trained on my own so getting to be solitary for a couple hours on the road was a nice reminder of my cycling experience at home.
Additionally, yesterday's ride covered a lot of rolling hills that were decorated with pine trees, a North Carolina sight if I ever saw one.
A lot of the rest of the route was speckled with cool sights that I appreciated doubly because I was riding on my own and not having to dedicate as much energy to ensuring that my riding companions were safe and well-informed of what was happening around us.
I embarked on yesterday's ride without an odometer or speedometer which was fine riding to lunch because I just had to look for the van and trailer parked in a parking lot off the side of the road. Riding without any gage of distance was actually marvelous because I was able to enjoy the moment rather than focusing on the distance left to ride. However, post lunch, I was dependent on chalking to find the host site.
So what is chalking? First things first, before we depart for the day, everyone receives a cue sheet of the day's route and some sidewalk chalk. The first group to arrive at a turn/direction listed on the cue sheet marks it on the road with chalk, that way the groups behind have an easier time of following the directions.
I made it safe and sound to Natchitoches thanks to my teammates and now I am reinvigorated and ready to spend some more time with my amazing group.
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