Today I rode with Hayden again but we decided to ride sweeps today which is the last pace line in the group, we bring up the back with reflective vests over our uniform that say "cyclists ahead". I was trying to avoid it for a while but after yesterday I was feeling ok with going slow for this ride and Hayden is fun to ride with. We had to stop and wait a handful of times for people at crew stops or for guys fixing flats but it was a lot of fun we got to hang out and chat with more people than if we were just cruising ahead on our own. The views were pretty much the same, more rolling hills but Spokane is more north so the last 10 or so miles we actually saw some forest! Best part was that we got everyone through rack point to complete the ride today!
Today we are just relaxing at lodging which is the salvation army, they opened up two gyms for us so we are sleeping in one and using the other one for games, also have a giant projector screen that we are trying to watch the documentory Crash Reel on. Our next few rides are in really small towns so I took my bike to a shop here to get the derailers fixed before it is too late, we also almost cleaned them out of tubes, everyone is stocking up for the next wek incase we don't find another shop for a while. Tonight we had a team meeting which was much needed to get our spirits up after missing some rack points and some disappointment from guys about behavior at events, nothing major just not focusing enough on the generous people and sponsors that are feeding and lodging us. It went really well, KT a Push staff member who has been with us since orientation went over some things for us to improve on but the greatest compliment from him was that we are the first team he has seen that doesn't have a problem with complaining and forming cliques that are the number one thing that brings a team down. I totally agree, every single one of us is working hard to avoid those things and I am very happy about how we are coming together as a team. We also had a chance for everyone to say something about how the trip has gone so far and everything was positive and a lot of good advice. The bad news we got unfortunately was that one of our drivers is no longer eligible to drive because of insurance issues and we have no other crew members eligible either so right now 21+ cyclists are going to be switching off driving days until we can find another 21+ crew member to add to the team or we keep switching off until Washington DC. It was a big disappointment at first but I am really fine with it, im still proud to be part of this team in any capacity and help in any way I can, being crew for a a few days this summer will still be a blast and just another way for me to encourage and help my team members.
Tomorrow we ride a total of 0 miles!!! It's our first day off the bike! We have a friendship visit in the morning and im not sure what else after but some guys want to go play some mini pitt putt or do something in downtown. Im glad we have a chance to rest our legs and sleep until 7:30!
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