Today was our first day of riding through the Appalachain Mountains, which means I was finally able to try out the granny gear of my brand new mountain cassette. I love my granny gear and my Surly. The riders on this year's team make me proud every morning--they wake up, pack their bags, eat breakfast, enjoy the Mosher, and get on their bikes and ride. They have so much positive energy and they are so confident in themselves. I am truly one proud "momma g."Today I was also given a very wonderful gift that was organized by Brad Topol--a package of letters from the 2010 team that was filled with love and support. Those letters mean the world to me and I can not believe all of you did that for me. I am truly fortunate to have such kind and amazing people in my life. Kyle, I sensed a bit of sassyness in yours (just kidding, CPFL). THANK YOU.Shortly before I started to write this post, and after I was done balling my eyes out from reading all of those letters, I read through my emails and learned some devastating news. Rudy Butteri, a man we interviewed in 2010 for the Portraits Project, passed away from cancer on August 3, 2010 (right around the time we arrived in San Francisco). After finishing Rudy's interview, it was very evident that his words and his story impacted those who interviewed him. Tomorrow is going to be a very hard day, so I will be riding for Rudy and for the 2010 riders that were fortunate enough to spend time with Rudy. I'm also riding for your cousin, Mairbear.I still haven't named my bike yet. I would like to reuse the name of my old bike, George "Georgie Boy" Costanza, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate to reuse a name. So since I am feeling a bit hesitant, I think I will let the name come to me. Maybe something to do with Ranch, because I have the biggest Ranch tooth in the world.So right now I am just going to list off a few things that have made me laugh really hard these past few days:
- Ellie's climbing face (mouth open because she is breathing so hard, glasses down to her chin because her sweat makes them fall off)
- Dory's "We need to leave before I sneeze" mentality.
- Connor "Bones" Ramsey's screaming of gap
- Greg Bopp's sassyness and funnyness.
- Yesterday's gas station hang out at Sunoco (we had a massage line because we all have a ton of knots in our backs/shoulders, Divya becoming the chosen one, etc.)
- That one time I ruined the "let's all be quiet, relax, do some yoga, and meditate Mosher" because I could not stop laughing.
- There's always more and that's what makes every single day of this ride feel like a lifetime of experiences and memories.
I'm excited for tomorrow! Hope Mt. Pleasant can handle my granny gear.