Day 3: Suffolk, Virginia: "Nothing To Get Hung About"

Last night ended in what can only be described as pure unadulterated ruckus. About six or seven other participants and I stood out in the front lawn of MANSE House playing guitar, drumming on coolers, and singing Avett Brothers songs at the top of our lungs. Two of our girls are from North Carolina, and naturally both are huge fans. We screamed lyrics until we were politely advised by one of our trip leaders to shut up.

And of course there was this morning. It all started with the leaders blaring Lady Gaga at 6am. We packed like fiends, we sucked down breakfast like vacuums, and then proceeded to the beach for our wheel-dipping ceremony.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MARK MANNING, my college friend and fellow pledge brother in Alpha Phi Omega, who took time off from substitute teaching to roll down to the beach with a camera to see me off proper.

Derrick said some inspirational words which are a little too PG-13 to be reprinted, we dipped our wheels in the Atlantic, and then, just like that, we hit the Road. I hopped on my trusted steed, Fritzelicious the Love Machine, and we hauled our way down Pacific Avenue towards the outskirts of town.

We didn't make it maybe 4 blocks before people were yelling at us from cars asking us to explain what we were doing. There were smiles and waves from everywhere as we rolled out of Virginia Beach.

Weird Landmark of the Day: A giant (like, 40 foot tall) gorilla in a hawaiian shirt overlooking our team from an amusement park on the side of the highway.

I was shocked by how easy the first ride was. I'd been building it up in my mind for, oh, like 3 months, wondering if I could make it today. But, honestly? Pretty easy for being 55 miles long.

The roads were almost entirely flat, the only exceptions being various bridges leading over the bays outside of town. We rolled past some swamp and forest, and eventually started working our way out to the fields and farms.

The highlight of today's ride was easily at about mile 40, when I started to feel like I was crashing, since I forgot to pack a snack. I was feeling my tank running low, wondering what to do about the situation, when BAM! Those angels delivered us to a pick-your-own strawberry farm.

Heather, the LA girl who worked for the record companies, immediately squeeled "OOOOH STRAWBERRIES" and peeled off without a second thought into the parking lot. I followed suit and we found about a dozen other participants out in the field. I bought a quart of fresh strawberries and wolfed them down as soon as I got off the field. They were some of the best I've ever had, probably due in large part to the mileage I put into my bike to get there.

We pulled out of the farm after we were satisfied with out frolicking and pigging out, and cranked out the last 12 or so miles to our host in Suffolk, another church, only this one was air-conditioned (!) and noticeably larger.

After dinner we popped in a DVD (Disney's "Up", one of the very best). The lights in our large room have been dimmed, and we're all enjoying our movie on the projector screen.

Sleep will undoubtedly be incredible. hopefully I get enough to do all that biking all over again!