Miles this week: 134; Miles to date: 1870
Weekday Commuting
I did my normal weekday commuting, nothing out of the ordinary. On Tuesday, I did the last
Tuesday Hills before the ride. Four laps (thanks Tria!) and then to the Italian Store for a
pretty good corned beef sandwich - almost up to my exacting New York standards.
Saturday - Magical Mystery Tour III
What a fun ride! For the past three years, Team Love has sponsored the Magical Mystery Tour,
a bicycle scavenger hunt around DC. And after the horrible, wet training season, we had a
typical DC summer day - hot and humid. I was the first one there (not surprising) and Anand,
the event organizer and MC, told me that I was too early and that the ride wasn't starting til
9a (it was 8a). Apparently there was a mix-up because the schedule said the ride started at 8:30a
so I wasn't the only one there early. So we all hung out until
it was time to start.
I ran into Lisa, the girl who organized the date auction fundraiser
I participated in last year. So when it was time to start, we all congregated in Dupont Circle.
The rules were that you had to find or accomplish everything on your list by 2:30p. They picked teams
and somehow, we managed to finagle 4 Agrodolce members on the same team (thanks Schuyler!). I was
nominated cheerleader, which proved useful as we went up Wisconsin to Georgetown.
It was such a fun day and the things we had to do were really neat. Creativity counted so we got
extra points for wacky or unusual interpretations of the clues. Here are some of the things we
had to do and how we accomplished them:
- Take a picture of your most patriotic team member with an American flag doing something patriotic
- we biked down to the White House since clearly there would be flags there and found a shirtless (yummy!)
Coast Guard with an American flag bandana. We got Tria (a Brit) to kiss his head.
- Find a take out menu with the words "Take Out" on it - you'd think this would be easy, but
it wasn't. Apparently, there's a conspiracy theory among all restaurants that deliver to use "Carry Out"
instead of "Take Out". We went into just about every restaurant in Chinatown with no luck. Amazingly
enough, at lunch, Dean and Ken find a restaurant with a mini flyer with the words "Take Out" on it. Success!
- Find something with the word "Italy" on it - After visiting every Starbucks in downtown DC,
we stumble upon the idea to go to a liquor store and by a bottle of Italian wine. And if it scored us extra points
with the judges, so be it.
- Take a picture of your entire team in a phone booth - As everyone knows, except for the movie with
Colin Farrell, there are no real phone booths anymore, just stands. Enter the British Embassy! So
we bike to the Embassy and stuff ourselves into the real phone booth and snap a picture.
- Take a picture of a teammate with a security guard saluting - Again at the White House we ask a very
stern looking security guard if he would be willing to have his picture taken. He agrees so long as we move
far enough away from the security cameras so they don't capture him having his picture taken.
- Take a picture of a construction worker and your teammates doing a pose from the Village People - This was
great! We were riding downtown and spotted some construction workers. We asked one to pose with us and
he good-naturedly agreed. So we have a shot of them doing YMCA!
- Make a product you could sell using 5 items - Well, I was the only one who got a flat and I was
excited to have been able to change it so quickly. Who knew the busted tube would come in
handy? I took the tube, patched it with glue and a patch, and stapled a Power Bar wrapper around it. Tah dah -
the latest in biking jewelry chic!
- Write and perform a rap - Funnily enough, Nirali used to do this exact thing in college so we used her
talents to write a rap song to "Baby Got Back". If you can imagine something starting off: "I
like spandex and I cannot lie..."
- Take a picture of your team doing something you all agree is fun - On our way into Georgetown, we
biked past the sand volleyball courts. So on impulse, we stopped and asked a group that was playing if they
minded us taking their court for a minute to play in our cycling gear and if they could take a picture. Classic!
- Take a picture of your team in an unusual location - After lunch, we ride to the end of Georgetown to
the Exorcist stairs - literally the stairs where the filmed the Exorcist. They are very steep, but we climb up
with our bikes and get a great shot of us all heading down, looking scared.
The ride lasted til around 4p and our team won! Thanks so much to my team - Schuyler (captain),
Jeff, Russ, Tria, Nirali, Melanie, Ken, and Dean. I had a blast!
Sunday - Team Brunch and Bike Drop-Off
On Sunday we had our team brunch at Agrodolce. It was so great having everyone there. We
sat outside on the patio and just chatted. We performed a team
building exercise to get us in the right frame of mind. Our fantastic
team leaders did a fantastic job all spring and we love them for all the hard work they put
into making this event successful, and for building such a strong team. Glenn gave a speech
before lunch and then we had a team photos. I got two shots: shot 1 and
shot 2 (the first one is better). Not all team members are there,
but they will be photoshopped in by Glenn!
One of the most exciting parts of the day was an announcement that on Father's Day, one of our
teammates found out he was going to be a father! Alexandra and Jonathan announced her pregnancy at
the brunch. Congratulations to the both of them - we're so happy for you guys!
So I drive down on Wednesday for the ride. I promise to take tons of pictures and document my
journey for you all to read when I get back. If you can, send me strong leg thoughts on Friday (the 115 mile day)
and pray for nice weather. If you're planning on going to Closing Ceremonies, there are more details
available.
I also wanted to say thank you - thank you for opening your heart to this fantastic cause,
thank you for supporting me, thank you for joining me on this journey. You will all be in
my thoughts while I ride. I look forward to sharing the experience with you when I get back.
Rachael
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