Day 7: Charlottesville, Virginia: "Wahoowa"

Today was an insanely long day. This was, like, 3 days worth of events packed into one day, so I apologize in advance for the length of this entry.

My biological clock is really starting to adjust to Bike & Build. This morning I woke around 6 to the sound of chirping found myself lying awake, alone with my thoughts, reflecting on all the awesomeness that’s been packed in the last week. Soon enough the rest of the team stirred awake, and the day got rolling at breakneck speed inside of about ten minutes.

It was Raleigh’s birthday today, and in celebration her fellow tarheel and friend Laura prepared an exquisite playlist for us to pack up to. I found myself rocking out before 7 to the Avett Brothers, Girl Talk, and Bill Withers among others. As I tossed my whole life back into my duffel, I couldn’t help but allow my mind to drift in Charlottesville’s direction to ponder all the fun that would/will be had during our stay.

With thoughts of Gus Burgers and Steam Tunnels and general Wahoowa on my mind, I packed in record time and set out on my bike with the first group as soon as we finished our morning route meeting.

Thomas Jefferson probably said something about patience. As I write this I don’t have any internet, but this is where I’d include that quote, and you’d feel a little wiser having heard it. I feel like such a quote is appropriate for a few reasons. First, Thomas Jefferson is, of course, the founder of the University of Virginia, my college and the cultural centerpiece of Charlottesville. Second, I needed to work on my fraking patience toady.

First my group got mad lost, which is surprising considering the size (or lack thereof) of Dillwyn. When we finally found the right way out of town Texas Sarah, riding ahead of me, started laughing and pointed out to me how her camelbak was leaking on her. I made some snarky comment about how that just meant it liked her, but then immediately froze, realizing that I’d left my own camelbak back at the church.

I rolled back, and lo and behold Alyson was standing in the front yard with my pack in her hand, laughing. I thanked her profusely, and started rolling with JC and Scott, who were sweeping that day.

And just when I thought I was ready to blast through the hills and into Charlottesville, my derailer started freaking out. Every five feet it would pop, and I decided that this was not a good thing. Closer inspection revealed that a kink had formed in my chain, most likely from me having not cleaned it since Sharif showed me how back in Suffolk, because hey, I like to live dangerously. We couldn’t fix the problem, however, and I wound up having to sit the first leg of the ride out until an experienced cyclist could look at it and assess the situation.

So I wound up riding the first 20 miles in the van with Alyson. I was bummed at first, but made the most of it. We surfed the radio, ranted about how inhospitable Virginia is, and I hollered encouraging words at the rest of the team as we rolled by.

We set up lunch and greeted the other bikers as they rolled in from the hilly but beautiful countryside, and Noah, one of the people on our team who, like, is actually a cyclist, looked at my chain, prescribed a lot of lube, and assured me I could ride it to Charlottesville if I greased up the kink and worked it out.

So with the news that I would in fact get to roll into Charlottesville, I stuffed down a PB&Banana&Pretzels and started grinding my way up the road.

The second half of the route was equally beautiful, and riddled with lots of awesome downhill sections as we rolled into the bowl of Charlottesville. Each downhill seemed to get better than the last, but perhaps that was more due to how quickly the hills we actually had to climb took a toll on our muscles.

Even though I only rode about 10 or 12 miles today, it was pretty grueling. However, I kept pumping, and when we rolled onto Jefferson Park Avenue I started grinning from ear to ear. Being there really gave me tangible physical evidence by which to gauge my accomplishment. I had biked there, with my team, all the way from the ocean. Back to UVA, my own personal Hogwarts.

Naturally we stopped on the Lawn and got lots of pictures riding around on our bikes in front of the Rotunda. After that we hauled off to the Sigma Sigma Sigma house, our home for the next three nights. After a much needed shower I led a crew to the Corner for our first coffee in a week at Para. Following that we walked to a soup kitchen at the Downtown Mall where we received an exquisite free dinner, and I talked up APO with Leena, the women in charge of the kitchen, because it immediately struck me that they would be an awesome future project for APO to help with. Over the course of the day I actually ran into 3 of my APO friends, which made me look really cool in front of my new BNB friends so, you know, thanks guys!

After dinner was a tour of Charlottesville and all its goodness. Gelato at Splendora’s. Hookah at the Twisted Branch, along with mint tea and a tea called Macha, which Florida Jenn ordered. It looked more like pea soup than tea. It was thick, green, and served in a large bowl. As for the flavor, it was like warm liquid seaweed. I understand how nasty that sounds, but it was delicious. Jenn, Jesse and Kathryn and I soaked in the Bazaar’s atmosphere and started into those conversations where you could feel real roots of friendship forming.

We took the trolley back to Grounds and I enjoyed a great conversation with the driver and a man visiting from UC Berkeley along the way. I then showed off our library. We strolled back to the corner, hit up Michael’s Bistro to allow Jesse and Jenn to enjoy a beer whilst we admired Charlottesville from the second story porch, and then finished the night with what was easily the most satisfying gus burger of my life at the White Spot. For those unaware, the White Spot is a UVA institution, and the gus burger, a great glob of greasy cheeseburger with a fired egg on top, is their claim to fame. I had a double. After a week on the Bike & build diet, this was tremendously satisfying. The guy working the grill actually laughed at how fast I wolfed down my gus. I had no shame. I thanked the universe for this moment, along my glorious journey, where old experiences and new friends were mingling and making sweet music.

…and that was only night one of three is sweet sweet Cville.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading out for our first of two Build Days with Habitat For Humanity in the city. After that, who knows what else we’ll get up to.

As for now, I’mma slip into a food coma.

Wahoowa.