3:15am Alarm goes off.
4:00am Jon begins pressuring me that we have to leave.
4:15am It's a monsoon outside.
4:30am I get onto a bus in the middle of Downtown Crossing in a ridiculous downpour.
5:15am Start freezing because I am on an air conditioned bus wearing only a bike shirt/bike shorts and American Idol visor.
5:30am Turn on the Ipod and lay back.
5:45am Must pee.
6:30am Must pee again.
8:00am Arrive in Pittsfield after having frozen to death in the iceburg bus after having not slept a wink and having peed at least 10 times.
8:15am Check-in
8:20am Gather my stuff for the day (only after having gone into my bag about 6 times for something or other).
8:30am While eating breakfast, I realize the trucks with our bikes in them are nowhere to be seen. Shocker.
9:00am AAC welcomes everyone. The Mayor of Pittsfield welcomes everyone. We rejoice!
9:01am Then talk about the fact that the people who left their bikes with the trucks have to decide between making everyone else wait to ride out, or let those who have bikes leave.
9:04am We let them leave.
9:15am Get word that bikes are 10 minutes away.
9:25am Bikes arrive! Yeah!
9:30am Bike comes off truck, still wet, but in good condition. Let's go!
9:40am To the tune from Chariots of Fire we head off on our 75 mile day to Amherst.
Now, lets get one thing straight from the get-go. I have never used a "cue sheet" in my life, nor am I good with maps. So, guess what? About 2 miles into the ride, a pack of us realize that about 2 miles back we went the wrong way. Hey, I was just following the leader. So, not only were we 40 minutes behind the first pack of riders, some of us are now 2 miles out of the way have to tread UPHILL (word of the day) to get back in the ride. Too funny, or is it?
The hills on Day 1 were hellish, in a word. In another word(s), so far from a friend of mine. Me and the Hills, not talking so much. Now in a town that should next be nuked, SAVOY, we had a 3.5 mile climb. It took me almost 45 minutes to ride that thing. As much as I love Robbie from AIDS Action, I was cursing him every peddle of the way, up that "hill." Every time I got to what I thought was the cruel joke of a top I was greeted by another bend that held yet more climbing. When all 3+ miles of it was over, I was listening to the wind for a feminine voice to yell "Sisyphus!"
After the hills in the town that shall not be named, I was fading fast and couldn't wait to get to lunch... I was HUNGRY. "Oh no more yanky my wanky, the donger need foooood!"
Lunch. How is it possible that when a health food store known as Wild Oats is catering an event like this, they forget to bring the healthy meal known as a VEGETARIAN MEAL? Douche bags. Needless to say that when I couldn't eat anything at lunch, I was ready to cry. I needed food. I downed 3 bags of chips and 2 Lemonzest Luna Bars and got in a van to the next pit stop. I needed to sit, and let my body calm down. My blood sugar dropped lower than Monica Lewinsky on her knees and I was beat.
So, after skipping 15 miles of the ride, I got back on the bike and kept on keeping on (is that from some hippy song... I cant stand dirty hippies).
East-North Hampton. Shirley (one of a pack of folks I'd been following) gets a flat. I have to pee for what seems to be the 100th time today and its now sprinkling. My good friend Starbucks and I shared a moment in the loo.
6:11pm Finished the day strong after riding some beautiful areas of Western Mass. Got my single dorm room, showered. Ah!
6:40pm Call Jon to update him on arrival and tell him I am going to dinner.
6:50pm Call Jon back after discovering that for some unseen reason I missed dinner! Don't ask... Can you imagine my pleasure?
7:11pm I am in a SUV on the way to China Banquet in Amherst with Tim from AIDS Action.
9:40pm After gorging on Veggie Lo Mein and Tofu I pass out in Cell Block 402, UMASS Amherst.