In the first few miles of the ride, we came across a turtle in the middle of the road. Since we are good people, we decided to "save it" by moving it to the side of the road. Of course, we also had to take pics of it... and we eventually realized by "saving" it, we were likely torturing it. I learned this the hard way when it decided to pee on me. Awesome.
Jen, Daniel and I came across a thrift store and decided to play with as many things as possible. This included kids bikes, mismatching bikinis, strollers, pool floaties and many other items. We also decided that we should get a picture of us being the horse/rider at each horse crossing sign we saw. Lunch included leftovers from last night's dinner... aka spaghetti... and toast from that morning's breakfast. Hence, I had a spaghetti sandwich. It was actually quite delicious!
Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's house) was on our route (after an extra short uphill), so we decided to stop and play tourist. We DM'ed a discount on the ticket prices and went exploring. The house is located on top of a huge hill and had amazing views - definitely a worthy detour!
The ride was much hillier, but Jen, Daniel and I rocked the uphills and flew on the downhills. I LOVE going downhill, and there were some amazing descents today. I try to take the lead on these kind of rides because I love flying down the hill and hate braking on them (unless necessary for safety). Every time I brake on a downhill, I feel like a small piece of my heart breaks. I climb hills mainly to enjoy the downhill :) After our Monticello stop, Jen, Eduardo, Julia, and I conquered the last 5-6 miles together. This included a large hill... which I decided "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was a good motivational song. It definitely helped me get through it and Julia also said me yelling it out helped her too!
Other notable things from today's ride: frolicking in a field with Jen (Love this girl!!), and getting a 10% discount, free cookie, and watermelon at a super cute cafe along the route.
Our host in Charlottesville is a beautiful old church in downtown... right by an awesome mall. We had showers in this AMAZING fitness club, and some of us headed out to enjoy the nightlife. A couple alum met up with us and we had an amazing, hilarious night. Shawna's B&B rap was incredible and hopefully I'll be able to share it at another time.
Quotes from today: "Virginians are judging you" - Jen
"Most good things in life - you don't think you have time for" - Derrick
We have two build days coming up and then its off to Washington, VA, on Friday.
Acting out the sign
On the stairs in front of Thomas Jefferson's house
Night out in Charlottesville!
View from the road
Hopefully build day will be a tad cooler than 100°F asphalt rides. Remember, quality means hitting every nail squarely.
ReplyDeletewow. I was thinking about your ride last weekend when I went for an early morning ride, and it was "only" 81 with 100% humidity. Wishing a few cool breezes and beverages for the rest of the ride.
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