BikeLoud.org

Day 28
Ellsworth, ME- Quoddy Head State Park, ME
90 Miles
Matthew Hawley

I had a very bad sleep last night and woke up at least 10 times probably because of the anticipation. We all woke up for real at 4:30 and popped out of bed after having the lights turned on and getting flash banged. We all started packing up and doing morning things to get ready for what felt like any other day.

We all left the church in one group riding into the sunrise until we got to a path that we were supposed to be on for about 60 miles. It absolutely sucked and was insanely bumpy and after 10 miles of almost falling over, we had enough and decided to go on the road which would mean more elevation and be a bit longer but it was definitely worth it.

We rode on the road until our gas station stop where we had some microwaveable food and snacks. Also a ton of ATV’s came to the gas station which was kind of cool. After that, we headed out with high morale because the trip was almost over. This part of the ride was not very memorable and I don’t really remember what happened but it was a quick 20 miles to the next stop.

Upon reaching the Circle K, which was 35 miles from the finish, everyone was hit with the same realization: this was the last gas station of the trip.

We knew we would be waiting for a while, so we took the opportunity to recharge. For the last time, everyone was scarfing down granola bars, having conversations with curious customers, or catching some sleep. Nobody would be bonking on the last 35 miles of the trip.

As we started biking again, there was excitement buzzing around the group. The next 35 miles would be fairly uneventful with the exception of one mile. “Jackhammer Lane” was a mile-long stretch of unpaved dirt road that shook our bikes so hard that Blake’s flashlight fell out of its holster. Thankfully everyone made it through and continued on with their arms feeling like Jello.

Just before finishing the ride, the crew pulled into a restaurant on the bay. The view was amazing, and everyone got their first taste of Maine lobster. Some guys went down to the beach to skip stones, but most just sat there, anxious for the big finale.

The crew finished out the last 5 miles to Quoddy Head State Park, biking two wide down the road. Despite our injuries, mechanical issues, or anything else, we were all ecstatic as we came down the final hill. Most of the guys were seeing their families for the first time in a month, so there were endless hugs and smiles. Everyone was more than happy to take a couple hundred pictures.

Once everyone had regrouped, the crew and their families finished out the trip with a dinner and celebration!

Thank you for keeping up with the blog! And thank you for your support!

Day 27
Camden, ME-Ellsworth, ME
60 Miles
Max Hird

Today we had a luxurious wake-up at 6 at the Country Inn in Camden, the town that we stayed in for our break day.  We had an easy pack up and were on the road by 7.  We had an 18 mile ride to breakfast that blew by in no time.  The groups were split up for breakfast because the original spot was too crowded.  Our group went to a cafe and I had a breakfast burrito with a hot chocolate.  It was very good, but a pretty small portion of food.

After breakfast things got a little wild.  We had a 20 mile ride to the next gas station for a break and decided to try and take a shortcut from the highway and stay off of the busy road.  We hopped on a dirt trail and blew past the dead end sign.  A bad move on our part.  Because of the severe rainstorms from yesterday, the trail had eroded into chaos.  We flew down a steep downhill dodging big rocks and sinking into the heavy mud.  We quickly arrived at a no trespassing fence blocking our way.  We called the number on the sign and the owners thankfully allowed us to keep moving past the fence.  We walked our bikes around the fence through some bushes and kept moving.  We found the trail quickly becoming denser with trees and wildlife until we were completely surrounded by a jungle.  There no longer was a trail, and the almost unrecognizable path in front of us had turned into a swamp with water going about a foot deep.  With no other choice, we waded our way through the swamp with our bikes, submerging our legs in the water.  Truly a miserable experience.  We eventually passed through the swamp and finished out the last of the trail finally arriving at the road once again.    

One mile out from the gas station we arrived at Hancock Bridge.  Because it was so early, we decided to go to the observatory and ride the elevator up to the top of one of the bridge towers for a nice view.  We went through the 30 minute line only to realize we needed to buy tickets to go up and were empty handed.  Mr. Hawley went back to get some while we waited at the bottom.  We eventually made it to the top and had some amazing scenery.  After our excursion, we went to the gas station, had some snacks, and kept on moving.

We had a pretty easy 20 miles to finish out the day.  The uneventful miles went by pretty fast and we arrived at the church we are staying at for the night.  We set up our sleeping stuff and hung out for a bit before dinner.  We went to a pizza place for dinner which was really good!  We finished the night out with some ice cream and returned to the church.  

The crew has decided to combine our last 2 riding days into one which means tomorrow is the last day of the trip!!!  We are getting super close to our donation goal and would love any support towards our cause!  I would say go to bikeloud.org but if you’re reading this blog you’re already there!

We have an early 4:30 wake up for our last day of riding so everyone is going to bed pretty early.  Until tomorrow!

Day 26
Camden, ME - Break Day
0 Miles
Jacob Summers

Hey guys! It’s Jacob again this is my final blog of the trip. Today was an eventful day! I woke up around 7:00 (I know, super late!). I played a bit of Clash Royale until 7:30 when Tai woke up. We then departed our spacious Lodge to the main hotel for a hearty breakfast. Tai and I sat down with Cole, James, and Hugh and we feasted on Waffles and Egg English Muffins. I then ventured back to our cozy cabin. I took a nap and began to prepare for our Clash Royal tournament we had planned for the afternoon.

Quick side note: Clash Royale is a mobile phone game nearly everyone on the bike trip plays. It’s a card based strategy game. It’s very convenient because we can play it during breaks while biking. We sometimes just sit around and play together so we decided at dinner last night to do a tournament with a bracket as well.

1:00 rolled around and we all decided to head to the pool to start the tournament. In total we had 12 players competing. I personally did pretty well. I lost my first game agains Max but then came back to beat him 2-1 in a best of 3 match. I then proceeded to crush Daniel 2-0. After that I played Blake and beat him 2-0 as well. The three winners of the tournament were Myself, Matty, and Hugh. After the tourney we decided to burn off some steam and play a little game of Marco Polo. We did this for about an hour. I walked back to the lodge and took a hot shower and hung out with Sawyer and Tai for a bit.

At around 5:00 Tai and I left to meet up with the boys at a Mexican Restaurant. It was pouring so I had to run there as fast as possible. I ordered a cheese quesadilla and we had plenty of laughs as we reminisced on the day.

For the rest of they day I just settled into my pullout couch and got ready for the 75 mile day ahead.

Day 25
Brunswick, ME- Camden, ME
81 Miles
Wyatt Benjamin

Hello all!

Today we had the usual 4:30am wake up. We were encouraged to pack up quickly, because we thought that there was going to be rain coming at 11am.

In the morning we decided to go 26 miles to breakfast at a gas station. For me this is the perfect middle ground. It is the perfect balance between being hungry and getting miles in.

After a quick pack up, and a pretty fast pre-breakfast we got on the road.

Today I was in a group of five. I like riding in smaller groups, because it makes me feel like I am contributing something when I am pulling. We started cranking the miles. We got to mile thirteen, and stopped right before the bridge. There was a half mile bridge across a river. Our group decided to take the sidewalk, while the other group decided to take the shoulder. We met up with the other group at a gas station, and got going.

At this gas station we decided to go to a Dunkin Donuts at mile 16, instead of going the 26 to a gas station. We got rolling, and made it to breakfast. For breakfast I got an iced coffee and a sourdough breakfast sandwich. This was absolutely delicious.

We got back on the road again. We had 39 miles to the hotel. Our group decided to split this into a 23 miler and a 16 miler.

We were sorely disappointed. The shoulder was the worst shoulder I have ever ridden on. It was plenty wide enough for us, however there were bumps every second. With these bumps it was impossible to get momentum and to get speed. Our group decided to stay on the shoulder the whole time. This made the next 23 miles feel like an eternity. After what felt like a millennia, we had to pull over at 21 miles. The group behind us had gotten a flat and a minor crash. There was nothing to worry about with them.

We took our gas station stop , and were off to the races again.

We grinded out the next 19 miles. We had a place to be, because we are going to be in a hotel. The group behind us had another flat. I was extremely excited to avoid the two flats.

There was a mini golf course right across the parking lot. We decided to get a round of mini golf bumping. It was as fun as I remember it being.

Signing off for now
Wyatt

Day 24
Conway, NH to Brunswick, ME
81 miles

Today we woke up at around 5:30am due to the pizza disaster the night before, causing everyone to not be able to get to sleep till around 11pm. Therefore we had to move the wake up way back. We left the house a mess the night before, because we didn’t care to clean up our food at 10:30pm so we were greeted with that in the morning, which delayed our departure until about 7:00am.

Fortunately we had amazing weather today, so the 20 mile ride to breakfast at a diner called the Sugar Shack went by quickly . We all enjoyed the first diner breakfast we have had in a while until about 9:30am, when we left for our second leg of the day. Without much elevation mixed in, we were able to knock out another 30 miles in good time which left us at a Walgreens in north Winthrop.

Everyone enjoyed their snacks and drinks for a good while before we took off for our last section of the ride. The last 30 miles seemed to fly by with reoccurring scenery and flat paved roads. We arrived at the church where we are are staying the night at around 3:30. Everyone was quite tired from the insufficient sleep the night before, so most of the guys took a nice nap until around 6pm. From there the crew split up to various eating locations around Brunswick, but everyone started winding down around 8:30pm. Hopefully, tonight we can all rest up and be ready to knock out more miles tomorrow.

Day 23
Lincoln, NH - Conway, NH
38 miles

Our day started out with a 6:00 wake up, because we thought it would be raining until then. However, it did not rain at all during the night and it was supposed to start raining any minute for a couple hours. We gathered at a Dunkin Donuts where we discussed our plans for how to deal with the rain. The rain started but was not very hard so we decided to start riding. The first 15 miles of the day were the Kancamangus pass. The pass was quite long, but it wasn’t too steep which was nice. After reaching the top, we hung out for a bit until we got cold and started the descent. The descent was fun, with a long 7% grade and some fun curves that weren’t too sharp. The descent was super pretty, with vistas of mountains as far as the eye could see. During the descent, we were told to look for a covered bridge, as that was the marker for our turn. We missed the turn, so we extended our day by around 2 miles.

Tonight we are staying at a house that some of the Hawley’s friends just bought. We arrived to the house at around 11:30, so we were responsible for lunch and dinner and getting a snack for pre breakfast. Max and I left around 12:30 to go to a Circle K to get the food we needed and some cold drinks. Around half a mile away from the house, one of Max’s spokes popped out of the wheel. This meant we had to bike 5 miles to an REI instead of the 2 miles to the Circle K. Max’s rim also had 3 cracks, so the wheel was retired. However, the adults wanted us to bring the wheel back so we could repair it under warranty. Max and I strapped the rim to my rack, then went to Subway for lunch.

For dinner, a lot of us ordered Domino’s at 6:30. At around 7:30 they said our order would take around 45 minutes more. At 9pm, they called to say we were out of the delivery range, so they couldn’t deliver to us. We offered to meet them somewhere in their range or to pay them extra to go outside their range but they have not budged.  Finally we got a taxi to pick up our food!

Day 22
Montpellier, VT - Lincoln, NH
65 Miles
James McAdams

Today we started off with a nice late wake up at 5:30! Getting out of the nice warm hotel beds in the morning was definitely not an easy task. We managed to stumble out to the hotel lobby at around 6:20 and leave a few moments later. 

It was a chilly morning with the mist that would accumulate on us as we rode, only making it feel even colder. There was a 14 mile pass in the morning, it was nice to have hills to warm us up but the downhill section was freezing. We got a chance to warm up about 26 miles into the ride at a general store with warm English muffins and cold Spaghettios for Sean (gross). 

We continued up the road for 8 miles to a gas station to stock up before the second pass. Just a mile down the road was the New Hampshire border, there were two signs so we put a bike loud sticker on both. I was expecting the pass to be much harder than it was, it was about 16 miles uphill but it was not extremely steep until the last 5 or so. There was a gorgeous view at the top of the pass just off the road with a lake and many mountains all around. We stopped there for me to get a knee brace out of my bag and for Evan to replace his inner tube which had been slowly leaking all day. We met a group of nice people there and explained the trip to them.

We then rode the next 6 miles downhill to our campsite. The other guys arrived soon after and we all went to get ice cream. There were a few kids working at the ice cream store, around the age of 11 I would say, the serving sizes were huge though, so we let it slide. We all finished our ice cream and took naps. 

A few hours later we headed out to dinner at a local restaurant where we enjoyed watching hot dog eating contests and dog racing. After dinner, we headed back to the campsite where we are now. Most of the guys are sitting around talking and some are in their tents resting. We have decided to probably do a later wake-up because of the weather which most of us are excited about. Some people want to knock it out early and suffer through the rain but I personally am in no rush to shiver through the cold rain all morning rather than sleep in my nice, warm sleeping bag. 

We are all looking forward to supposedly having a pool tomorrow which will be nice when it gets warmer later in the day. 

Thank you for reading!

Day 21
Montpelier, VT - Break day
0 Miles
Tai Kark

Hey again, it's me, Tai. Today we didn't do a whole lot. We had a break day at a Comfort Inn about 3 miles away from downtown Montpellier, which sounds like a nice location. However, those 3 miles to the hotel are straight uphill and brutal, so going to Montpellier and back was unfortunately not an option.

The day was still pretty nice though. I woke up around 9:15, around which time Jacob and I left to go eat breakfast. We had a pretty normal hotel breakfast with most of the crew. Next, we went back to the room and relaxed. I hit a short workout in the hotel gym, then went back up and slept some more.

Some of the guys cleaned their bikes while they were here. Being too lazy, I did not take part. Hugh, Max, Daniel and Ben converted their shower into a bike cleaning facility, which ended up covering the shower and bathroom floor in grime and bike grease. I walked in their room and saw someone's socks sitting in the sink (the water had turned black). I promptly left.

The rest of the day went by quickly. We watched some Harry Potter in the room, then went to Applebee's to feast before this next week of riding. After that it was back to Harry Potter, then to bed. Overall, it was a pretty chill and nice day, and we got a lot of rest.

Day 20
Middlebury, VT - Montpelier, VT
50 Miles (APPALACHIAN GAP)
Sawyer Tremaine

While you’d think that a 50 mile day would provide a good chance for the crew to recover and regroup after yesterday’s hellish ride, today was anything but easy.

Because we were forced to split up yesterday, my group had the good fortune of a slightly later wakeup and a relaxing departure from the campsite since we had a 30 mile head start to the destination today. Our ride began very unassumingly with a relatively flat and completely dry 10 miles. However, immediately following this stretch we faced a daunting challenge in the form of Appalachian Gap - our first bona fide pass of the trip, lasting nearly 10 miles with somewhere around 3,000 feet of elevation gained.

As it was my dad’s first day with the Bike Loud crew, we had planned in advance to stick together through the 10 mile climb. The first 6 or so miles of App Gap were brutal, but not impossible. The climb was relatively gradual and steady, with a few flat areas mixed in where we could catch our breath. After a brief downhill, we gritted our teeth for the final 3 miles of the pass and a whopping 1,300 feet of climbing remaining.

The pain and suffering my body went through over the course of these three miles was far and away beyond anything I’ve ever experienced on the bike. I don’t ever recall shifting out of my easiest possible gear for the entire section, and even then, pedaling was no easy task and standing up in the saddle was often required. It was absolutely necessary to maintain an acute level of focus throughout the entirety of the climb, or else you’d promptly fall due to the incredibly steep grade of the pass. All I could think about was keeping my front wheel rolling. It didn’t have to be pretty. After what seemed like an eternity my dad and I finally emerged into a bit of a clearing after being surrounded by trees on both sides prior to this moment. I’ll never forget the celebratory sound of crazed whooping and screaming from some of the guys who had already made it to the top that I heard then. The end was finally in sight, and that gave me the energy I needed to crank it up a notch and power my way to the finish. Reaching the top was an unbelievably rewarding feeling and a reminder of the reason I decided to embark on this amazing journey. Our accomplishment called for high fives and fist bumps all around, not to mention an astounding amount of pictures to commemorate the moment.

Amazingly, we hadn’t even completed half of the day’s miles after reaching the top of App Gap. A steep descent of 7 miles to breakfast followed, which would have been much more enjoyable if we weren’t so cold and wet. We dined at an upscale, bustling diner called Toast and Eggs, where I chowed down on a delicious egg sandwich and a pancake. After enjoying the fruits of our labor I even had time for a quick power nap. Unfortunately, the rain outside really started to pick up while we ate, which made leaving the restaurant, and its cozy heat lamps, that much more difficult.

We rode the next 20 miles through a miserable onslaught of rain and chilly temperatures. After riding in conditions that were the opposite of ideal both yesterday and today, our bikes were beginning to fall apart in almost every way imaginable. As a result, we decided to head towards a bike shop in the heart of Montpelier. There wasn’t much to highlight from this chunk of riding as it was not enjoyable in the slightest, but Max completed a TWENTY mile pull for the ages (his derailleur wasn’t functioning properly so he couldn’t stop pedaling for even a second of the ride!) and lead the group all the way to the bike shop.

In the town of Montpelier, the crew was finally able to warm up, solve the issues with our bikes, and eat a filling lunch. Rejuvenated, we blew through the remaining 4 miles to the Comfort Inn, even though they were almost all uphill. As always, we hit the hot showers immediately and changed into clean clothes. Heading into a break day tomorrow, I’ve never felt better and group morale is at a record high. We’re looking forward to another hearty meal tonight, and a late wakeup tomorrow. Thanks to the readers for following us on our journey, we love and appreciate the support! Signing off.

Day 19
Long Lake NY- Middlebury VT
90 Miles

Today was easily the most difficult day of riding so far on this trip and maybe even one of the most physically demanding days of my life. We woke up at 4:30 am in Long Lake, New York expecting rain all day. By some miracle, the rain didn’t come in until we were well packed up and gone. If it had been raining, I don’t know if we would have survived. We had our longest stretch of riding to breakfast so far - 41 miles of New York forest and nothing else. Almost immediately everyone was completely soaked. By the end of the day, I was wetter than I knew possible. Not only were my fingers pruning, but my entire hand and arm. Our breakfast stop was a small gas station that was supposed to mark the halfway point for the day. The original plan was to bike another 20 miles and take a ferry across the river to stay at camp with a total of 81 miles for the day. Group 1 took off for the ferry as Group 2 rested at the gas station. By sheer luck, Blake mentioned to a customer at the gas station that we were planning to take the ferry and we found out that the ferry was closed for the day. The spotty cell service and weather prevented us from contacting Group 1 until it was too late and they were stuck at the river. Group 2 took a separate route going around the planned meeting spot but it added an additional 10 miles to our total distance.

After we finally found cell service, we managed to communicate with Group 1 and settle on a plan. For the first time in recent bike trip history the full group would be split, and we would have two separate camping locations. Group 1 would stay at a hotel around the 66 mile mark while Group 2 pushed on to the planned camp spot at 90 miles. Most of our riding involved massive climbs while getting pounded by wave after wave of freezing cold rain. After 25 miles we reached a diner for a lunch break, and everyone was incredibly disappointed to find that they were out of hot chocolate.

At this point the route wasn’t completely confirmed and we thought we only had 8 miles left until camp. Oh boy were we wrong. Turned out to be 22 miles and over 1000 feet of climbing. My soul has never been closer to falling apart than on these final 22 miles. Every corner we turned we were faced with a hill that rivaled man's greatest architectural achievements. It felt like riding a bike with two flat tires, while a fire hose was sprayed directly in your  face. Me, Wyatt, Blake and Matthew had the “wonderful” experience of getting coal rolled and splashed by a truck right before the steepest hill of the day. We eventually got so wet that the rain didn’t really bother us. It even got to a point where it was refreshing and kind of fun. That changed when we hit a stretch of gravel road that immediately doused the group in waves of mud. We rolled into camp around 4:30 covered in mud and morale at a record low.

The camp we stayed at gave us a great spot with a pavilion and quick access to the showers. A few of us took a dip in the pool to wash off the dirt, and we had chili prepared for dinner. Tomorrow is only 45 miles but still shaping up to be another miserable day of riding. This break day coming up just keeps sounding better and better.

Day 18
78 Miles
Boonville, NY - Long Lake, NY
Cole Malinchock

Hi all! It's Cole again and I'm excited to tell you all about day 18!

This morning we did our usual wake-up at 4:30 AM, but luckily we didn't have to pack up that much since we slept in a hotel last night. I had a nice pre-breakfast of an egg, cheese, and ham biscuit which got me ready for the 27-mile ride to breakfast to diner.

With food on our mind, we rushed to get on the road. Unfortunately, rushing caused James to forget to pump his tire and Evan wasn't able to double check his rack which fell midway to breakfast. This set a bad tone for the rest of the day, but we were able to grind out the rest of the miles to breakfast.
Disappointedly, the diner was closed, but being that we're in the US, there was another diner just down the road! With a lot of hills ahead of us decided to order "The Challenger" but little did I know that the already massive meal would include a gigantic pancake that was bigger than my face!

As we got back on the road we quickly got on to a gravel path that would shorten the route by about 4 miles, but it was a long path with loose gravel. It definitely slowed down our pace, but it was pretty fun trying to dodge all of the massive potholes and get to experience some pretty big descents. Right when we got used to the gravel, a large construction truck started coming straight for us on the other side of the road, but with our group’s great communication (which was mostly screaming) we were able to dodge it. Although it was a pretty tough trail to ride, it was beautiful riding through a lush green forest. And being the lucky group we are, none of us got a flat on the many potholes or gravel!

Once we made it off the gravel path we had to face some big hills which also included some great descents. Evan kept telling us about a huge climb at the end of the day which got us all psyched up, but right before it, we took a nice break by the lake. James and I decided to go for a quick swim to cool off right before the climb.

While we were having a great time in the lake, Max and his group were not. One of Max's spokes broke and in the process of trying to fix it, he cut his finger (lots of blood, but not too serious). They remembered a bike shop they had seen from earlier and were able to get a ride to it.

As we saddled back onto our bikes, we faced a never-ending hill, but we decided to take it slow as a group. Evan was on this same road in his cross country 2019 trip so he pointed out a great museum to stop at. We were able to meet a very kind museum worker who was actually from Durham, NC, and has been to Carrburitos in Carrboro! We were able to use some chalk and write BikeLoud.org in huge letters on the sidewalk to spread the word! After getting some drinks and free cookies from the cafe and enjoying the view of the lake below, we got back on our bikes and enjoyed the beautiful descent.

After we got to camp, we enjoyed the amazing lake by our campsite and did some chicken fighting in the lake (Blake and Tai were unstoppable). As we dried off, we ordered some sandwiches for dinner. After munching it down, we got a bear canister to store our food since there's been a black bear around the campsite.

Looking back on the day, it was much better than we all expected but we've been stressing about the conditions of tomorrow with hills and constant rain. I've learned to just bike one day at a time and not worry too much about the next day.

Day 17
Break Day - Booneville, NY
0 Miles
Sean Hankins

Hello, it’s Sean Hankins again. I hope you enjoy this calm break day blog.

I woke up this morning around 10 am. I had kept my hotel room completely dark by using the blinds of the room. I did not even realize that I had gotten over 11 hours of sleep. Most days of the trip, we wake up around 4:30 am. This means if you want 8 hours, you have to be in bed before the sun goes down, and before the weather cools off. Even when it “cools off”, it’s usually only in the low 70s, which is still too warm if you ask me for a good night’s sleep.

After watching Phineas and Ferb for close to 30 minutes, I began packing my stuff to move my gear into a room with Cole, Evan, and James. We all ride together and could spend less on hotel rooms, so it made sense for me to move.

After admitting that we were all bored, we ended up playing cards in the lobby for about an hour as thunderstorms roared outside. At seeing the weather, we were all very happy to know that our purchase of a hotel room was well worth it.

Some of the guys headed to a local pub to play pool. The remainder of us watched a horror movie on TV and began getting ready for dinner. This is around the time I was reminded that wrting the blog was my responsibility today. It is always a scary feeling to do a blog on break days. This is because break days tend to be a break from anything super eventful to our cause. Luckily, I was still able to get some cool photos (that will hopefully upload to the website this time).

We made our way to dinner. We had ordered takeout at a highly rated pizza place online (I know, I know, pizza again! What a shocker!). We took this as an opportunity to get some snacks and drinks for the tough day of riding planned tomorrow. Nobody wants to be called a “food goblin” for leeching off of others people’s snacks tomorrow. It was going to be one of the hardest days of the trip.

We ran into the group who went to the pub at the pizza place, where they were enjoying their meal. We grabbed our food and walked out the door. Here came the absolute hardest part of the bike trip: carrying food back from the grocery store on a bike. It’s never easy, and we always have to be careful biking. I was able to carry my burger inside of a bag, but Cole had to bike slowly holding his pizza. This is not something that our crew is unpracticed with (If possible, I will include an image of James carrying pizza on the back of his bike previously), and I was luckily able to get a couple pictures of Cole on the empty street back to the hotel.

We came back to clean up our room at about 7 o clock, and I could hear Hugh coming up to the hotel not sounding happy. In fact, he had gotten a flat tire. On a day where we were riding less than a mile, this was a very annoying maintenance problem to fix. Evan was already falling asleep in bed, pushing his head between two pillows to cut out the noise (hopefully he isn’t suffocating). We have our usual wake up at 4:30 tomorrow, and I don’t think anybody is excited. We are all winding down for sleep now.

Overall, today has been a great break day. Our choice to stay in a hotel to avoid the bad weather was excellent. We are happy to have gotten some time off before some of the hardest days of the trip, which always tend to become the most fun and memorable (in my opinion). Even though our day was uneventful, days like this tend to be amazing since no plan shifts happen and we get a chance to relax. I am excited for another night of sleep in a bed and looking forward to a good day.

Thank you for reading!

Day 16
Bouckville, NY- Boonville, NY
49 Miles
Matty

We woke up at 4:30 and felt good because it was a short day today. About 49 miles into a break day at a lodge, so everyone was pretty excited to get there. It was unfortunately super dewy when we woke up and all of our stuff was soaked, so that was fun.

We had a small pre-breakfast before our 24 mile ride to a Denny’s. It was a nice sunrise over some farmland and it wasn’t too hot so it was pretty good conditions. I also saw a hot air balloon which was kind of cool. The ride to the Denny’s was pretty uneventful, although I did hear about one of the groups getting stuck at a light for a while.

We got to the Denny’s in Rome just before it started to get hot. I got the Grand-Slam Slammer and it had pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast. The food was not amazing, and quite expensive so Denny’s is not a preferable choice for another breakfast. Once we finished breakfast and left it was still only 8:30.

After we left, we went through the city of Rome, New York and got stopped at basically every light we went through. The ride was also somewhat uneventful, the only thing keeping me awake was the horrible roads with millions of potholes which were threatening to give me a less than pleasant fall or jolt if I wasn’t paying attention.

We rode past a lake, and through some mountains which made it a little hilly, but was still mostly smooth sailing until a mile away when we went through an old mining place on a gated dirt road which ended up turning into a field of grass. But after a lot of doubting Google Maps we found an exit off the trail which happened to be a sketchy wooden bridge which had its own difficulties such as a gate, bending wooden boards, missing wooden boards, and wooden boards that would make a fun seesaw, not a fun bridge. However we made it through and arrived at the lodge where we put our stuff out to dry and took naps. Unfortunately we woke up and frantically ran outside. It started raining and all of our stuff got soaked including a couple sleeping bags which sucked. We put our wet stuff away and went back to resting in our rooms until the new group of parents came who are subbing in for Mrs. Hankins and Mr. Malinchock. Also Mr. Hankins brought some ribs and they were very good. We snacked on some food for a while longer and then went back to our rooms where we currently are.

Day 15
Harpursville, NY - Bouckville, NY
54 Miles
Max Hird

Today we had yet another 4:30 wake up to beat the heat.  We packed up quickly and started our very hilly ride to breakfast.  The first 12 miles had lots of elevation and many of our legs have started to get pretty sore after a few consecutive riding days.  After 28 miles, we arrived at our breakfast spot.  I had some eggs, toast, and bacon.

Because of the low mileage today, we only had to ride another 25 miles to finish out the day.  We rode through a beautiful valley without too much elevation and arrived at a gas station a few miles out from camp.  Wyatt and Mattie both got an unreasonably large slushee and somehow managed to drink all of it.  Truly a shocking moment.  After getting breakfast for the next morning from the gas station, we finished our last 5 miles and made it to the campsite.

We spent our afternoon showering and taking naps under a pavilion.  Around 4, a sudden downpour occurred sending a few of the guys sprinting across the field to fix their tents.  For dinner, half of us got pizza while the other half got BBQ.  I went for the pizza.  After dinner we hung out and argued over who’s dinner was better.  We eventually wound down for the night, eager for Break Day Eve tomorrow.

Day 14
Scranton, PA - Harpursville, NY
76 miles (81 miles for those of us who went to the wrong fire station)
Jacob Summers

Hey everyone it’s Jacob! I am a new rider this year. This morning Sean woke us up at around 4:30 on top of East Mountain Rd which overlooked the city of Scranton. The night before everyone except myself and Sawyer was suddenly woken up by the sounds of fire truck alarms blaring around 11:00 pm. While a majority of us were tired, we still wanted to get a jump start on the day. We knew it was gonna be a hot one!

We descended from our home for the night to a wonderful gas station right at the bottom of Mountain Rd and I snacked on my pre-breakfast chocolate chip muffin and a Redbull. We were officially ready for the day but we had to wait an extra 10 minutes because Blake had to go to the bathroom.

Today my group consisted of Tai, Max, Hugh, and Mrs. Hankins. We only had to bike 25 miles until we got to breakfast. I pulled us 10 miles out of Scranton and onto our first bike path of the day. Tai then turned on cruise control and pulled the rest of the way to Shirley’s Family Diner in Forest City, PA. Today I switched things up from my usual french toast or pancakes and I decided to get two bacon egg and cheese bagels. We feasted on our hearty breakfast and we were on our way.

The next 15 miles were on a pretty rough bike path. It had mostly gravel patches and a bunch of bumps. I’ve had pretty bad lower back pain this trip and this path most definitely did not help with that. After the 15 mile back pain fiasco, we stopped for a quick Gatorade break. I didn’t know this at the time but we had just finished our second pass of the trip. We had a massive descent. The next 20 miles were filled with rolling hills. It was tough but this part of the day went by really fast. We arrived at the Mirabito gas station for our final break of the day. During our break, I talked to Sawyer about the final 13 miles. He told me we only had a measly 200 ft of elevation. Mrs. Hankins googled the Harpursville fire station and threw it into the GPS. We eagerly got on our bikes for the “easy” 13 miles.

Let’s just say these 13 miles were not easy at all. The first 6 were a breeze. Hugh was pulling and Mrs. Hankins told us to “take a left on Dolittle Rd.” Little did I know we just turned onto the hardest hill segment of my entire life. We then proceeded to suffer up a 500 ft elevation climb and then another 500 ft in rolling hills after that. After the most painful 6 miles of my life, we pulled into the fire station. We were surprised to see zero bikes at all. Max gave Blake a call and we realized that we were at the wrong fire station! There are TWO fire stations in Harpursville and were at the wrong one. We checked the GPS and, sadly, we had another 5 miles to go. It was actually all downhill from there though. We bombed our final hill of the day and arrived at the actual destination.

We took our hose showers at Cindy’s Crossroads Corner Store ‘n Deli and feasted on an assortment of foods like subs, wings, calzones, and pizzas. We basically stayed there until they closed around 9:00pm. I was exhausted at the end of the day and snuggled into my tent and fell asleep excited for the 50 mile day ahead.

Day 13
Slatington, PA- Scranton (the one from The Office), PA
71 miles

Today was one of the hardest days yet. It was hilly, hot and we officially did our first pass. Buckle up because this going to be a wild ride.

This morning we had an extremely late wake up of 5 am. This felt weird as it was already light outside when we woke up. Blake and I slept in for another 15 minutes, but packed up extremely fast. Even with the extra 15 minutes of sleep, we were still not the slowest people to pack up. We hung out for another 15 minutes, and were finally on the road.

This morning we had the choice of riding 16 miles or 39 miles. We chose the option of 16 miles. This was a very smart choice on our part. We had three 5ish mile pulls on flat trails, and we made it to breakfast in no time. The town of Jim Thorpe reminded me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. We had an absolute slammer of a hill up to breakfast. 

For breakfast we had an absolute Greco Roman feast. The pancakes were the size of my head, and the coffee refills were unlimited. Everybody feasted, and we were on our way.

We had 23 miles to our next stop. This was the place where we would have had our original breakfast. We had lots of climbing into the break. We were going up for 100% of the time. This reminded me of doing the Gap that we did last year. There was a river on one side and there was a railroad on the other. Either way it was a slow slog up the mountain. I was very tired with the 23 miles, so I was super happy we did not do 39 straight.

After this, we had 33miles to the end of the day. An under exaggeration of these miles would be crazy.

For the next 15ish miles, we finished the pass we were working on. Once, we thought that we were done and going downhill, we hit an absolute wall. It was not a very long hill, however it was probably 15° grade. We then hit hill after hill after hill. Finally we got to the top of the pass. 

We had a bomb descent. It felt so good being rewarded for the hard miles that we did earlier in the day. Unfortunately, we did not hit our turn, so we had to go up a hill to get back up to where we needed to turn.

In the next part of our downhill, Mr. Malinchock got into a minor crash. He fell and hit his shoulder. Fortunately he is feeling better now.

We then had 15 miles to our camp. The next 13ish miles were hilly, and we were ready to be done with the day. The last mile and a half we had 460 feet of elevation gain. This was as hard as it sounds. Finally, after the heat, and all the other bad things that happened to us, we made it.

We are staying in the world famous Scranton from The Office. 

We are going to bed early because everyone is tired. Until tomorrow!

Day 12
Yardley, PA - Slatington, PA
79 miles
Blake Hird

Hey everyone it’s Blake!

Today we had an early 4:30am wake up which after a break day felt rough, but everyone pushed through the drowsiness and got on their bikes by around 5:45. Early in our ride, Max got a flat that took about 45 minutes to change because he got a pinch flat seconds after we put in the new tube. This delayed our ability to get into a groove, so it set a melancholy vibe for the 27-mile ride to breakfast. But it all worked out once everyone was eating. Most of us got combo breakfasts with eggs and pancakes, but Sawyer got the most massive omelet I have ever seen in my life, which he somehow finished.

We got on our bikes again by around 10:30, but half a mile into our second leg of the day Mr. Malinchock got a flat, and Daniel’s seat fell off its hinge. This cut yet another chunk out of our riding time and we started to ride again around 11:30 with about 55 miles to go.

We made excellent time on the gravel Delaware Canal trail and rode to a gas station about 20 miles from our breakfast spot. Everyone got their various snacks and drinks. But with 35 miles left, we made the effort to move swiftly and get riding once again.

According to Strava, we were going to have a massive hill quickly into the third leg of the riding session. To our pleasant surprise, it was not as bad as we expected which felt awesome. We knocked out another 20 miles on a bike trail to a gas station with that section of the ride, leaving us with 12 left. We all had a snack and drink and moved quickly back onto the bikes to finish off the ride. Due to the problematic bike issues, we rolled into the town fire station at around 4:00 pm.

Our gracious hosts provided us with showers, an amazing area to post up for the night, and 5 boxes of pizza for dinner. We took various trips to the gas station up the road from camp to get what we needed for the morning. The night wound down as most nights do on the bike trip: everyone went in their tents, Wyatt made jokes that no one laughed at, and we all clocked out so we can perform tomorrow.

Day 11
Break Day - Yardley, PA
0 Miles
Hugh Carbrey

Hello everyone, my name is Hugh Carbrey. I am a returning rider. Last year, the goal of every break day is to do as little as possible. Today I certainly got close to achieving that goal. Most of my day involved relaxing or practicing whiffle ball. We are staying at some friends of the Malinchock’s house. This house is currently in the process of being moved out, so there is little to no furniture other than a couch and some chairs. Most importantly there is a TV with an XBOX and a washer and dryer.

Everyone was able to do any laundry they wanted to, and a lot of our time was spent in front of the Xbox, playing classics like Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga. For meals, we polished off most of the food the Hird’s Grandparents brought.  One of the most important parts about the break day for me was receiving some packages from home. Three days ago right before it was supposed to start raining all night and all of the next day, I realized I had forgotten my rain jacket. Another package I received was a back light for my bike. I had one at the beginning of the trip but it was ejected from my bike and fell into a river after I hit a bump. 

The three days leading up to the break day went very well, despite some unfavorable weather. My groups always worked very well together, and made some pretty hard riding seem very easy. 

Day 10
Exton PA- Yardley PA
57 Miles
James McAdams

What’s up guys, my name is James McAdam. I am new to Bike Loud this year and have loved the trip so far. Yesterday we had the blessing of being able to sleep in a hotel but that meant this morning we had the curse of having to get out of the cozy beds. It was not nearly as bad as it could have been, getting up at 7 instead of 4:30 like we normally do. Pack up was quick and we were all in the lobby with our bikes by 7:40. Evan gave a quick talk reminding the team of a few safety protocols and we were off on our trip from Exton, PA to Yardley PA.

Other than it being slightly chilly and the constant potholes we have grown used to over the last few days the start of the ride wasn’t bad. That is until Evan got a nail in his tire, it was a quick fix however it took enough time that both of the other groups caught up. Cole, Evan, Sean, and I went slightly before Hugh’s group, they left right after us and caught up while we were going through Phoenixville. We made a lot of comments about the pretty old houses we passed and how neat the town was.

From there we got onto Schuylkill River Trail for about 10 miles to Norristown where we had our second mishap. Down a single hill Evan’s rear light flew off, then only seconds later Sean’s front bag tore straight off of his handlebars. We retrieved the bag and continued for another few miles to the diner. I ordered a western omelet and everyone else ordered a few different breakfast dishes. After breakfast, we headed out.

Because we were going through suburbs we hit a lot of stoplights. I just listened to music and chilled in the back for this portion of the ride. There were a few cool cars here and there that Sean, Cole, and I pointed out. We pulled into a CVS 17 miles from the house we are staying at tonight to grab some razors and drinks, this was a quick stop and we were back on our way through suburbia.

Normally on rides, I’ve been used to seeing only a few signs of civilization and that would either indicate a stop or a ride coming to an end. But today was a bit different, there was constantly something around us. This felt a little weird but it was also nice to always have something to look at other than farmland. A few of the next 17 miles were on a highway which was a little scary. I knew it was safe but I have never really liked that type of road. Luckily after not too long, we made it into Yardley.

We pulled into a nice Wawa where I got a great meatball sub or as the locals would call it a hoagie. From there we hopped onto the D&L Trail up to the neighborhood. It was really pretty, going along a canal. When we got to the house we were very happy to finally be able to shower. Shortly after we got there the Hird’s grandparents and cousins came by with food for everyone. They were super nice.

I felt bad because we didn’t finish all of the food but if you guys are reading this, first of all, thank you, but secondly, we will have no problem finishing every last bite of the food tomorrow. Later in the day after a bit of sitting in the cool A/C we went and played some whiffle ball. We struggled a bit with throwing the ball but we managed to get a few innings in before it got dark. We all had a good amount of fun playing despite it being hard to get a throw that was possible to hit (no offense to the throwers, it’s definitely not easy). We are not wrapping up the day, playing some Xbox and talking. The day was pretty uneventful but in the best way possible. After yesterday’s rollercoaster of a day, this was exactly what we all needed. We look forward to getting a good long night's rest tonight! Thanks for reading and following along on our journey. 

Day 9
Hanover PA - Downingtown PA
85 Miles
Tai Kark 

Hey everyone, my name is Tai Kark and I'm also a first time rider. Unfortunately,  today was not the best day for our biking group. We started the day out at 4:30. That sucked for me after finally falling asleep around 2AM. Hugh woke us all up sleep talking quite loudly. We packed up and set upout shortly after. The first few miles were a breeze until Sawyer got a flat tire. We were told it was supposed to rain all day, but we didn't care much at first. However, we were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Eventually, we ended up at breakfast after a quick 25 miles. The breakfast was good, and the ride so far was great. In the next 20 miles, the day started to take a turn for the worse. Up until then, the rain was just a light drizzle. Now, the temperature had dropped and the rain was starting to pour. We still had not put on rain jackets, because we thought, "Whatever, it'll be fine". We were wrong. By the end of those 20 miles, we were shivering and our clothes were soaked.

The Seven-11 finally came into view, and we were all grateful. Until we found out it was colder inside it than out. After a short break, we finally steeled ourselves for the next 26 miles. By this time, we had broken out the rain jackets. The ride started okay, but then the next challenge happened. There was so much rain and water in the road that if you were riding behind someone you could barely see because their tires kicked up a fountain behind them. On top of that, we were riding through Amish country so there were mounds of horse manure in the road every few yards. This meant that the water kicked up by the bikes was mixed in with manure. Luckily for me, I was riding in the front for most of that ride so I was safe.

We ended up stopping with about 19 miles left, because Jacob couldn't see anything in the rain with his glasses and he ended up calling an Uber. We were waiting there for about 15 minutes, and I looked around and realized Max, Daniel, and Sawyer looked like they just fought in WWII. Their faces and jackets were caked in dirt and grime. The next part of the ride was pretty much the same, until I dropped back to the back of the line 8 miles later. By then there was no more horse manure, so I was saved.

Unfortunately, the rain had picked up and it was freezing.  Before long we came to a gigantic hill. It was more than I had ever done before, over 500 feet of climbing. As if the day couldn't get any worse, my tire popped a quarter of the way up. The other guys were already too far up to have noticed, which meant I had to walk the bike all the way up. That sounds a lot easier than it is. When I got to the top I told the group, who had stopped, what happened, and they laughed. I was soaked in so much sweat that the rain jacket was useless.

Soon after I changed the tire, I learned that we had made a wrong turn and gone up the wrong hill. We all could not believe we just went up that hill for nothing. We ended up taking a different route than planned to the next gas station. When we were about to get there, I got trapped and hit a bunch of unavoidable sticks and rocks, lost control, and almost fell onto a busy 3 lane highway to my death. Thanks to my quick reflexes that didn't happen, thank God.

When we got to the gas station we got some food and sat down outside. We then learned that Mr. Malinchock's phone had died, and we needed it for navigation. That meant we had to stay there until his phone was charged. It took an hour and a half. We were so exhausted that Daniel and Sawyer fell asleep sitting on the concrete.

The next 13 miles were terrible. The rain had finally stopped, but we had some huge climbs. When we finally got to the hotel at 5 pm, we were physically and emotionally exhausted, freezing, soaked, and falling asleep. We went inside and immediately took showers. Safe to say this was the worst day of the trip so far for our group, but we get to look forward to some great days coming up.

Day 8
Leesburg, VA - Hanover, PA
70 Miles
Sawyer Tremaine

Hello readers, my name is Sawyer Tremaine and I am a first time rider for Bike Loud this year!

We knew a 4:30 wakeup after a break day would be difficult, and to make matters worse, two of the crew members, Matty and Tai, woke up feeling sick and were driven to the destination today. After careful deliberation, the rest of us decided to proceed with the ride, even though several others were experiencing varying levels of sickness. (We’re all vaccinated though).

Today was particularly exciting for the reason that we biked through three different states from start to finish. We began our ride in Virginia, cruised through Maryland, and ultimately finished in Pennsylvania. As is tradition, each group placed a Bike Loud sticker on the road signs welcoming us into each new state. A friendly competition between biking groups is to place the sticker as high up as possible on the sign - more specifically, higher than the other group. I rode with the second group today, and we accomplished this feat both times as Max and Hugh hoisted up Daniel to ensure we positioned our sticker as high as possible.

The biking portion of today went very smoothly. We caught a few glimpses of mountains off in the distance for the first time of the trip, providing a preview of what’s to come as we travel further north. Today’s ride, however, was relatively flat and we made great time. Food-wise, I chowed down on a ham omelet for lunch from a Maryland Silver Diner and a phenomenal chorizo burrito in Hanover, PA.  

All things considered, conditions at today’s campsite might be the toughest we’ve experienced so far this trip. It was brutally hot for a large portion of the day, but just as the heat subsided, a torrential downpour lasting several hours ensued immediately after we arrived. Additionally, we lack access to a clean shower. As I type this, we are lucky enough to have a nearby building to stay in during the rain, but are all very worried about the possibility of water finding its way into our tents and equipment. Max’s tent has already been compromised. Tomorrow’s ride looks wet as well, but a HOTEL (yes, you read that right, we are staying in a hotel!) waiting for us at the end of the road will provide fantastic motivation. Signing off for now!

Day 7
Break Day - Leesburg, VA
0 Miles
Daniel Price

Today marked Bike Loud 2021’s first break day of the summer. After a long and difficult week, everyone in the group was excited to finally sleep in past 4:30, but we were rudely awakened by a mysterious landline phone in the corner of the basement ringing multiple times throughout the night. Besides our sleep being interrupted, our break day in Leesburg was spectacular. Breakfast burritos and fruit were provided by the Malinchock’s and the downstairs pool table kept the group entertained for hours.

Around noon we took our first steps outside and visited the local water park. The park had a pretty nice water slide that the group raced down multiple times. Wyatt was by far the slowest and lost almost every race he attempted. The lazy river was also very popular in the group but ended up being less of a lazy river and more of a mad dash to see who could go the fastest. After everyone had gotten tired out we crammed into one of the Malinchock’s cars and headed back to the basement.

We had pizza for lunch that Sean and James picked up and carried on their bikes and was definitely the best pizza of the trip so far.

After this, I’m not really sure what happened. I took a 5-hour nap on a couch and woke up to Wyatt and Blake screaming after losing yet another game of pool. We had a quick group meeting to prepare for the next couple of days of riding and then enjoyed a dinner of burgers and hotdogs thanks to the Malinchock’s yet again.

Everyone is dreading leaving the comfort of the basement tomorrow but we’re all excited to hop back on the bikes and make some more progress.

Day 6 - Break Day Eve
Fredricksburg, VA - Leesburg, VA
70 miles
Cole Malinchock

Hey All! It's Cole again from last year's ride and I'm back to bike the East Coast!

We had an early morning wake-up at 4:30 AM but luckily I went to bed at 8:30 PM to get a good night's rest. Unfortunately, several riders woke up with a sore throat and a runny nose that has been going around our crew recently. This took a toll on our morale, but we were able to pack up quickly in the dark to meet up at the 7-Eleven for a pre-breakfast. Luckily we are all fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine we aren't too concerned, but we will still be wearing masks indoors to help ensure the safety of the townsfolk we encounter.

With our wake up already making the day difficult, James was hit with another curveball when he had his first flat tire. He’s an experienced cyclist so he was able to change it pretty quickly. After taking some Advil for the sore throats and some pre-breakfast group 1 was ready to go.

As the first person to pull, it took me a while to gain some momentum for our group with morale already low. Luckily, we saw a beautiful descent for us that we were able to glide down with ease. To our dismay, we encountered what looked like a toll booth at the bottom of the hill. To our great surprise, a police officer and a marine walked out to stop us. It turned out Google Maps led us directly through QUANTICO, THE QUANTICO. We were all able to laugh it off, but as soon as we turned around we knew we had to bike back up the huge hill.

It was a fun ride with some hills and beautiful forests, but all I could focus on was my sore throat. James gave us a magnificent pull into IHOP where I had a great breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and pancakes. Our great server, Mandeep, was able to brighten our morning with some good jokes! He's been working there for 30 years and memorized all of our orders with ease!

Once we made it to my grandparent's house in Leesburg, VA, we were greeted with screams and smiles by my grandparents and their very kind neighbor. My grandparents were very generous to let us stay in their air conditioned basement for our break day. Group 1 immediately started by washing our bikes then we got showers and took long naps. After feeling better, we had some lasagna and salad from my grandma that filled us up.

To finish up the day, we played some Mario on the NES and some pool before heading to get tacos for our dinner. We got some great ice cream and are playing some intense poker as I write this.

Looking back on the day, I've realized how challenging and ruthless the bike trip can be with all of the issues in the morning. It takes a lot of flexibility and a lot of cold beverages to get through the day but through the challenges, you really learn to enjoy the break days more. Make sure to follow us on Instagram at Bike Loud to check out Hugh's Instagram take-over!

Signing off for now, Cole Malinchock

Day 5
Richmond, VA - Fredricksburg, VA
86.4 miles
Sean Hankins

Hello, my name is Sean Hankins. I rode with Bike Loud 2020, and it’s great to be doing it again this year. Hope you enjoy the Day 5 blog!

We all slept well last night. The temperatures dropped into the 50s and everyone was comfortable (except Cole, he didn’t bring his sleeping bag into his tent). It’s safe to say that the 4:30 wake-up call wasn’t the best feeling, but we knew we needed to beat the heat.

We left camp around 5:35 AM, making our way to 27 miles to breakfast.

About 7 miles in, we could see Richmond’s tall towers with the sunrise rising behind it. Sadly, we didn’t stop for breakfast, but that didn’t keep us from taking some cool photos. Cole led us to breakfast with incredible speed and consistency.

Breakfast was a cozy cafe with lovely and cheap food. I ordered two eggs with toast and fried potatoes. I also got an extra bacon egg and cheese.

We discussed the Be Loud! Sophie with a man dressed in all khaki at breakfast, and he was very impressed. He took multiple photos of our bikes and told us he would visit our website!

Next up, Evan guided us about 20 miles to Walgreens where I enjoyed some pomegranate juice and described the trip to the workers.

I ended up biking in the front over the next 21 miles. We passed George Washington’s birth house and tried our best to beat traffic. It was already in the mid-80s (~29.4 Celsius), and we didn’t want to be out much longer.

Not much happens during our bike rides, but today we saw a large cardboard box fall out of the back of the truck. James instantly took this opportunity to show off his super-human strength and throw the box off the road in one swift motion. I attempted to throw off the lid to the box, but failed not once, not twice, BUT THREE TIMES. Safe to say, I will let James handle throwing heavy things off the road in the future.

We took a small break at a 7-Eleven before James took a turn in the front. I had a coconut water, some hard-boiled eggs, and a cup of vegetables (It’s very rare for a member of the crew to touch a vegetable on the trip, so I was proud of myself). We handed out a few Bike Loud business cards, and gained some new supporters from this short yet productive stop. We all felt pretty proud when we saw the amazement on their faces.

The last 15 miles were guided by James. He moved very quickly, but it was clear that the day had been draining on him. I don’t think he was expecting such large hills. I casually remained behind the rest of the group, listening to a true-crime podcast for the rest of the ride to camp. The campground has showers, a pool, and a laundry room. These things are cool and all, but the outlets are where we immediately swarmed. We set up our tents and made our way to the pool. We needed some rest, and we were happy to be done with the day as early as 12:30.

The day was then spent enjoying cold beverages and Chinese food delivery. It was relatively uneventful, except for the campsite’s local kids. Evan first noticed that they were throwing rocks and pinecones at our bikes/bags (yikes!). We politely asked them to stop, but they weren’t done with us yet. When I went inside the bathroom to change, I heard the bathroom door slam shut from my stall. This was strange, but not anything alarming. Preparing to leave, I noticed the children wedging sticks underneath the door to keep the door from opening from the inside. Luckily, I was able to knock out the sticks before they locked me inside the bathroom completely. Eventually, they apologized for their behavior and turned out to be quite mature kids.

Now, we are winding down for bed. Even though the sun is still up, we are all ready to head to sleep. Tomorrow is break day eve. We couldn’t be more excited.

Overall, today was pretty good. It was a longer ride than yesterday (today was 86.4 miles, yesterday was 85.6), but it felt shorter. Morale is higher. We are all ready for a day off.

Day 4
Suffolk, VA- Richmond, VA
85.6 miles
Matthew Hawley

We woke up a little early today for a 90 miler that wasn’t planned. We couldn’t find a place at the originally planned destination so we are currently stopped in Richmond. We biked 22 miles to breakfast and got a big meal with basically everything, eggs, bacon, pancakes, ham, sausage, and a biscuit. Someone was nice enough to pay for our meals. After that, we biked to a ferry to cross the James river and while biking there we lost basically all of the elevations we gained in the last 3 days so that was kind of depressing. We got onto the ferry for a pretty short but nice ride.

After we got off the ferry we got onto a bike path that we would be on for another 40 miles. My memory of the 40 miles is honestly is a little hazy because it literally all looked like the same place. I do know that we stopped at mile 20 and had a big lunch. I had a burger and way too much Sprite. After we left the restaurant we just biked for another 20 miles. The last 20 miles were pretty bad, but over a final big hill, we got to a Food Lion which had shade and food. We left from the Food Lion and biked 2ish miles to our host’s house where we set up tents and got to showering and eating. Some of the neighbors came over and we played corn hole and other games. That’s all I can say about that though because I was asleep the whole time. And that is everything that happened today.

Day 3
Roberson, NC- Suffolk, VA
84 Miles
Max Hird

Today we had an early wake up at 5 AM in a barn.  I slept next to a tractor which was pretty cool.  Jax the barn cat kept Blake up all night sniffing his face every 20 minutes which was funny to us, but not to Blake.  We hit the road at about 6:30 with a 25 mile ride to a gas station for breakfast.  After waving at many cows and enjoying the sunrise, we arrived at the gas station.  I had a Moon Pie and a giant cookie.

After an hour we got back on the road for another 25 miles to the next gas station.  These miles were pretty uneventful.  Just classic bike trip riding.  After a nice gas station break, we hit the road to finish our last 30 miles. 

Halfway through this portion, we reached the Virginia border sign!  We hoisted Daniel up to the top of the sign to put a Bikeloud sticker as high as we could.  After taking a short break at the sign, we finished our last few miles and arrived at the Suffolk fireman union which is where we are staying the night.  After dropping off our stuff, we all made free Planet Fitness day passes to use their showers.  Once we were all clean, we split up for dinner and started winding down for the night.  We made lots of homemade snow cones, saw a train, and hit the hay.  Century day tomorrow!

Until Tomorrow,
Max

Day 2
Richlands, NC - Robersonville, NC
76 Miles
Jacob Summers

The 5:00 wake up this morning came way too quickly. We were blessed with air conditioning, some warm showers, and a hearty pre-breakfast! We had to wait a bit for the rain to stop and we departed around 6:20 for the 30 miles to Kinston, NC.

The first 10 miles flew by in an instant because of the smooth roads and friendly cows. There were a couple of mean dogs who chased us down the road. After around 12 miles the roads started to become bumpy and we started to dodge all the potholes in the road. We pulled into Kinston and sat down in Lovick’s Cafe. We scarfed down “Warehouse Specials” and continued on our adventure to the next stop around 30 miles from Kinston.

The next 30 miles were tough. Once we left Lovick’s, the summer heat had set in. Max pulled us down US 11 for around 15 miles until we took a much-needed break under a shady tree. Daniel then took over and pulled us into Greenville where we stopped at our favorite gas station - Sheetz! We stayed there way too long dreading the final 19 miles in the heat.

Leaving the beautiful ECU campus behind, Mr. Malinchock led the charge onto the highway for the second time today. Tai then turned on the jets to blast us to our destination in Robersonville, NC! We are very thankful to have been given an opportunity for a warm shower and food.

Day 1
Wrightsville Beach, NC- Richlands, NC
60 miles
Wyatt Benjamin

This morning we were blessed with a 7:00 wake up. Just kidding, we woke up with the alarm blaring at us at 5:00.

This morning we packed up very slowly, and were all packed up at 6 o’clock. Unfortunately this year, we did not do the ceremonial tire dipping, but instead took pictures of us at the marsh. Finally we were set to leave.

We had 9 miles to breakfast. In these 9 miles, I saw 8 police cars. In my biking experience, I have never seen so many cop cars in so little time. These miles were extremely easy.

We went into a “Mickey D’s”, and I had some eggs and bacon. The bacon tasted like plastic.

After this we had 30 miles to our next gas station. We were on the same road for a while, and everything morphed into the next.

When we finally got to the gas station, I feasted on a snicker, and some peanuts. After this we chilled and played some group clash royale.

We had 23 miles to the end of the day. Unfortunately we hit a stronger headwind, however because of a heroic pull from Matty, this was done in no time.

Today, we were able to get a spot at a church. We have AC and showers. We are so thankful for the hospitality of the church!

Looking forward to 80 miles tomorrow!

Signing off 
Wyatt