After a restful night's sleep in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, I awoke at 5:10am to “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochran, a very fitting selection of music. After a solid breakfast of cheerios and banana's provided by our gracious hosts, I was well fueled and ready to tackle the day.
Still tired from last days ride, I searched for a riding team that wanted to enjoy the scenery at a slower pace. I found five others who shared these ideals, and we decided to call ourselves, “Team Take It Easy.” However, the day was anything but easy.
The day started off well enough. On the first stretch, we encountered several rolling hills that provided us with good momentum. Living up to our team name, we took several interesting scenic breaks including one where we stopped at a school playground where we played on swings and slides. We contemplated replacing our highly uncomfortable saddles with the wider, ergonomically shaped swing seats but decided that the idea was probably not the best and continued biking on. I regret our decision – my butt is feeling the pain.
Reaching the base of our first major “hill”, my team mates and I encountered our first major challenge. Since my fellow riders were moving at a faster pace, I found myself separated from the group. As I pushed up the hill, I felt my legs throbbing in pain and had fleeting thoughts of quitting. But I found the inner beast within me, gave a couple of grunts, and pushed on. I took several breaks to catch my breath but made it to the water break at Tuscarora Summit at an elevation of 2123 feet. There, I was greeted by enthusiastic 4kers who cheered and yelled. The team has been great and certainly great motivators.
After a refreshing and somewhat scary downhill ride at 40+ miles per hour, I met my team for lunch and had, what was probably the greatest ever turkey sandwich. The team pushed on and met our next hill which was longer than the first. This hill was even more painful than the first, but yells from other riders and a keep going attitude helped me reach the Sideling Hill Summit at 2195 feet. There were several smaller afterwards and my teammate, Andrew Telzak, had an interesting experience with a flat tire, but overall, the rest of the ride felt a lot easier (other than the mad amount of fatigue settling in).
Battered and owned, we arrived at our hosts at 4 something PM and were later treated to a wonderful dinner filled with pasta, desert, and “awesomeness.” So far, this journey has certainly been painful, but emotionally satisfying. I hear tomorrow will be even harder.
- Ankit Sharma
5 comments:
My thoughts and prayers all with you.
With lots of love,
Ankit's Dad
Anki and all,
You got this!
Rosy and Mohi Bauer
All the best! Keep up the high spirits! Leaving for Korea
Keep it up, when it gets hard remember why you're doing this...
Hey ankie i am very proud of you...i was looking through some articles, trying to find urs and like umm i was reading like the first words and all of a sudden i read hello 4K suporters, family, and friends, and i was like this is absolulty urs and like i checked, and it was! anywho...i am extremly proud of u, and if i was there, i would give you a massage! O yeah, i know this is though but dont ever feel fatigue! LIke that book that i got for mohi....from taco bell...Todd and The Talking Pinita Talk Perserverence (if i spelled that right) yeah well just dont be like tod(in the beginning) anyways i love u, and i am now going to be ur official talking piniata! Love you......MAYRA!
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