Stop and Smell the Roses

When we were creating our team charter at the beginning of the trip, one of the things listed was to stop and smell the roses; basically to make sure that we were not just focused on getting from point a to point b, but instead taking the time to try new things, see the sites and meet some new people.

 

The roses I have on my hydration pack come from Jay, a fellow NY rider. Every time he gets something DM'ed he gives the person a small rose as a thank you. After I crashed and on my birthday he gave me a couple for my hydration pack. They also help to serve as a reminder to take some time out on the road to do something new and crazy and maybe even scary.

 

One of the great things about the past few weeks is that there have been very few real world distractions. Due to a much simpler life out on the road, the biggest problems of the day are do we open a crunchy or smooth peanut butter. Similarly our standards are so low (peanut butter and ranch sandwiches and thermarests) that when we have small upgrades our minds are blown. For instance while in Elm Grove the host offered us real towels to use which was MIND BLOWING.

 

The other thing about being disconnected is that you are able to appreciate parts of the trip so much more. Seeing the country at 17 miles an hour gives you the time not only to take everything in, but also time for sense introspection. On tonight's ride into the host we had a ten minute conversations about clouds. When is the last time you had a conversation about clouds? I know for me it has been quite a while and the last time was while I was out camping.

 

Life becomes more about the relationships we form on the woad, both with fellow riders but sometimes more importantly with the people that we meet on the road. This experience has given me some insight into how diverse the United States is and although io might not agree with someone's politics or religious beliefs, I can definitely take something away from the experience. A running joke with the team is that I have a ranking system for hosts based on a variety of criteria. One of the biggest factors in the ranking decision, hands down, is the relationships formed with the hosts.

 

Anyway long story short I have heard a lot of people say that deciding to sign up for Bike and Build was one of the best decisions they had ever made. For once they are doing what they love and intern love what they do - what more could you ask for?