Some more stories:
The team took a rest day in Pittsburgh. Four
generous families hosted us and made our stay there very comfortable. We found
housing through a friend of mine from Pittsburgh. It’s always hard to leave the
families we stay with on rest days, because by then I’ve had two nights to chat
with wonderful people and two nights to get to know very warm and welcoming
families.
This past week as been an adventure—the day we rode on the
Great Allegheny Passage path from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD was one of my
best days of the Ride so far. The second half of the day was awesome. During
lunch in Rockwood, I walked into a bargain clothing store and chatted with the
owner, her daughter, and her granddaughter. I learned a lot about the area from
the owner, including the fact that at the time I was standing only 15 miles
from where Flight 93 crashed on September 11. The family then proceeded to give
me fresh peaches and grapes grown by nearby Amish. The rest of the day’s
90-mile ride was fantastic. I rode with Gabi and we stopped every couple of
miles to take pictures of rural Pennsylvania wilderness, the “Welcome to
Maryland” sign, and of the Eastern Continental Divide. The last 20 miles was
smooth, scenic, and best of all, downhill. I felt connected with nature,
peaceful, and happy on the bike for the first time in a few days.
Then next day was an adventure as well—we rode out of
Cumberland that morning with the intention to ride 90 miles to Williamsport, MD
but encountered very rough trail on the C & O Canal Towpath and lots of
thunderstorms. All of us had to stop riding in Hancock, and after we learned
that our campground in Williamsport was closed due to flash floods and that
more were expected for the following day, we decided to shuttle to Washington,
D.C. a day early.
I had three rest days for my first visit to D.C. and did
plenty of sightseeing; yesterday we rode to Flannery’s home in Baltimore. The 50-mile
ride was gorgeous, hilly, and short. During lunch I met Angela, who stopped her
car when she saw our red van parked with “Ride Against AIDS” painted on the
side. Angela told me that she was proud of the team, and that it made her happy
to see a group of young people trying to start a conversation about HIV/AIDS
because so many members of her family are affected by the disease. We also had
a well-attended and productive event at a law firm in downtown Baltimore
yesterday evening.
Today is August 14, and we roll into Boston on August 23. That
means I only have a very surreal 9 days left of this journey with my teammates.
While it’s healthiest for this adventure to end at some point, transitioning to
normal life without my friends will be difficult at times and I expect to be
nostalgic when I’m back at school for the routine we’ve settled into.
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