The remaining three (days)

Well, as you all know, the 2009 rivalry ride has officially come to an end. But since I might be de-friended by John (in life, not just on facebook) if I didn't blog about every single day of my journey, here comes the recap...

Day #5

Was probably my favorite day as far as scenery goes. We jumped on some bike paths for majority of the day. These babies were relativel flat, quiet and not crowded. They also traveled across bridges, alongside rivers and streams, and under towering trees. It was beautiful! But even better than the ambiance (pronounced aaahhhhmbioonce) was our two games of going-on-a-picnic played during our travels. Apparently we plan to bring a lot of unnecessary items on our picnics, so please see WJC's post for a full recap.

We stumbled across a minor road block (literally) when a section of the bike path was being repaved. We were definitely yelled at by a backhoe operator, but also managed to make friends with a shirt-less, spandex-wearing native gentleman who uninvitingly joined our journey for several miles. However his random conversation definitely made it worthwhile.

We also stopped at a cute little coffeeshop where I schooled Will.i.am. in checkers while Timy taught John the fundamentals of abacus (definition: also called a counting frame, it is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for performing arithmetic processes).

On a personal note, about 3/4ths into the ride my right knee started aching. It felt like I was developing possible tendonitis or ITB syndrome, but it could also be residual pains from an old college injury (no comments if you witnessed this injury first hand at QU circa 2005. Yes it was at the 80's party and involved frozen hotpockets. No I will not give more details.) But I managed to tough out the rest of the ride, and treated myself with some good food (Thanks Liz!!!), good wine, and an excellent albeit painful massage later that night.

Day #6

Was my let-down day. First of all, I woke up with some pretty intense right knee pain. I thought it would have subsided with some rest and relaxation, but apparently wine really can't cure all things. Secondly I knew that this day would be the most demanding physically, with the highest mileage count and most intense hills of the entire trip. I was in pretty poor spirits from the start.

We attempted to make some breakfast, but quickly realized that we had no other ingredients besides two ripe tomatoes and a carton of eggs. So we put the eggs away, Johnny fed tomatoes to the wildlife, we followed an extensive to-do list for closing up shop at Aunt Debs, stretched some of our muscle pains away and got on our bikes to find food.

It was fate! John somehow managed to find the perfect breakfast spot- an All-Organic diner with fresh-squeezed juices, nationally recognized blueberry pancakes and all homemade muffins and breads. Does that have my name written all over it or what?! We made our way to the counter, ate a ridiculous amount of food, took some pictures of John's gigantic pancake (chocolate chip, not blueberry... and yes I ate half) and continued with the ride.

We got about 20 miles into it, when I started to really feel the hurt. Each pedal around felt like something was going to snap in my knee. Now I'm thinking this is NOT tendinitis... maybe I tore my meniscus? maybe I had a stress fracture from falling on the bike on day #2? (...and yes, the fact that I do this for a living wasn't helping the matter. Overanalyze is my middle name)

I got so far as a random trading post company when I physically couldn't go anymore. I was literally falling off the bike in pain. Billy, being the wonderful boyfriend/bikeride companion that he is, stayed with me through my struggles. We called about 15 cab companies but no one could accomodate our two bicycles. Finally after it stopped raining and I was able to rest for some time, I decided I could make it to the town where John and Tim were eating lunch. It took some time, but we did make it. When we arrived, I was lectured on the importance of 'safety first, safety always' by John, and how he and Billy both didn't want to be yelled at by my mom for permanent damage. We ate some lunch and attempted to continue the ride.

We made it so far as Spencer when we decided that I could definitely not continue because that would be stupid, and that even if they rode their fastest, they couldn't make it to our destination before nightfall. A lot of trial and error options were attempted, but ultimately Billy just bought a bike rack, Tim picked us up and drove us back to his parent's place. We ate some bbq (excellent veggie skewers by the way!), drank some burrs, listened to stories about Scott's best friends... and passed out.

Day #7

What a bittersweet day! I couldn't believe this day had finally come. I was still in a ridiculous amount of pain and after a brief test-ride in the morning, knew I couldn't make it the full distance. We planned it out that Tim would drive me to the starting line of the boston marathon route and the boys would ride the full distance. Since the marathon route had fewer hills we thought I might be able to handle it. And if not, it had a ton of opportunities for public transportation!

I played around in the public library for about 45 minutes until we all met up at the starting line. We all rode the last 25 miles together, definitely at a slower pace due to my bum leg... but nevertheless it was together. We made a few pit stops along the way- at the delicious Linden (sp?) deli where we finally had a real picnic under a tree (side note: we brought nothing of what we spoke of on day #6, besides lemonade-iced tea mix), at the Happy Swallow bar for some beers and keno, and a rousing game of "I'm goin' ta Fenway Paahhhk, and I'm gonnna bring..." en route (I'll let Billy blog the details.) It was a tough couple of hills at the end, and my left buttcheek was totally on fire... but we made it through.

We ended our trip just as we started- with a picture outside of the stadium each one with a hand touching the wall outside. Only this time we had a few more scrapes, bumps and bruises on our bodies. And courtesy of Johnnyboy, cups of Jamo in our hands for a celebratory cheers.

It was a LONG journey, but we did it. All four of us. Billy's Dasani bike. My stupid knee. John's cut up elbow and leg. and Tim's... well,.... Tim really didn't have anything wrong with him. haha. but in the end you kicked ass on those hills! So... good for you Tim!

I learned a lot about myself on this trip, but also I learned a lot about each of you... things I don't think I ever would have seen or experienced in any other setting.

This was an incredibly challenging journey- mentally, emotionally and of course physically. I'm happy to have shared in it with you three.