Even laundry day is an adventure

Written by: Melissa Safran

I’m writing this afternoon with a perfect view of the beautiful Mississippi mountains … of laundry.  Laundry day is such a special time on the bike adventure; everyone’s opportunity to fully give into the adventure and throw their smelly bike clothes into a pile with everyone else’s smelly bike clothes and trust it all comes back a little cleaner.  And the Bike Adventure’s true saints shine – the laundry team, who hauls it all to the laundromat (extra heavy today – everything is soaked from two rainy days in a row) and loads it into the machines with their bare, saintly hands.   

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A great story day

Written by: Pat Heck

I love listening to others tell stories. Sometimes those stories are about something fun or adventurous. Sometimes it may be a tale of accomplishment and– at my age – it is often the accomplishment of a child. If I classified all the stories I’ve told and heard, the category with the most stories is the one with stories that are about overcoming adversity. But there is another category that I particularly love; stories about Amazing Service. Things such as a time when someone came to our aid unexpectedly or maybe a call to customer service where the company went above and beyond to take care of us. And for the riders today we’ll be sharing about this day for many years to come because we experienced both on our ride from Duck River, Tennessee to Collinwood, Tennessee. We received amazing hospitality from two different churches and we rode on a day when almost all experienced riders would have just said, “Nope!”

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Right Time. Right Place. Right Everything.

Written by: Crystal Anderson

There is that split second at 3am when I ask myself, “Why am I awake right now? What is going on?” Simultaneously, I realize that I need to make an early morning trip to the restroom (per usual) and that I’m shivering a bit because I may have made a poor choice of sleeping spot.

There is that follow up split second when I ask myself, “Did I really just drive nine and a quarter hours to sleep on a floor and to turn around and bike in frigid temperatures? Why didn’t I just find the closest volunteer build location and go build for a day? My work in the office and at home will pile up. And I have to break away from the ride early to get home to another commitment. Why do I have to always choose the most challenging path? Can I do this? Will I have the will to do this? What was I thinking?”

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