It’s been another busy three weeks and May is practically over, which means now we’re entering the final stretch to send-off! Things were a bit chaotic there for a few days but now I have nothing to worry about (except that I’m about to bike across the country) for the next two weeks! Notable events since my last update include:
- Participating in UK’s commencement ceremony (even though I’m getting an August degree)
- Celebrating with family
- Moving home from Lexington
- Signing a lease for an apartment in Albany
- Getting a mole removed :(
- Having to go to the emergency room because I kept breaking out in hives :(((
- Passing my thesis defense
- Spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to format my final thesis submission
- A surprise visit to see my friend in Florida for her birthday!
All of that unfortunately didn’t leave a whole lot of time for training but most of it was out of my control. Once I passed my defense and got the hives under control I was able to devote more time to riding. The weather was really nice last week so I was able to ride four days in a row– I can’t tell you the last time that happened! Most were on the shorter side but it was good to get my legs (and butt) used to being on the bike every day, even for a short time.
Nothing too notable happened on those rides except not one but two flats! Flats are more of an annoyance than anything so it wasn’t a huge deal, but in my few years of cycling I had only gotten one flat ever, so to get two flats in the span of three days was very annoying. The first happened on a ride with my dad and Beth. We were cruising down a hill when I hit something and my tire went completely flat. We had to do a roadside fix (only three miles from home, of course) which is never fun but it went ok. It’s also good that I had the practice of changing a flat now because I will almost certainly have to do that this summer.
Two days later it was another beautiful day, so we went for another ride and it was a fun one! There was a lot of traffic on the roads which is always somewhat worrisome but most of the drivers were very courteous and gave us plenty of room when they passed us. Unfortunately, lots of cars meant I couldn’t always dodge debris on the shoulder. Later when I was putting my bike on my rack my dad noticed a puncture mark on the tire. We looked closer and there were actually two pieces of glass embedded in my tire and it was slowly losing air. I did have to roll through some glass because there was a car in the lane next to me but it was still kind of surprising that I would get a puncture from that, so Dad is going to swap out my tires for some Continental Gatorskin tires. They are some of the toughest tires you can get. One of my teammates has done the 4K before and said someone on his last team went the entire trip without a flat, which is very impressive!
I’ve been riding my old Trek in the meantime, but I haven’t missed my 4K bike too much because I was out of town this past weekend and couldn’t ride. Florida was great despite the heat and humidity and I got some much-needed time with my best friends from high school. I currently have post-trip blues but am feeling so grateful to have friends like them!
While I was there I FINALLY submitted a final draft of my thesis. I never knew formatting a document could be so difficult but after a few days of losing my mind over landscape pages and page numbers I figured everything out and got the final sign-off from my advisor. It was a huge relief! As much as I had hoped to finish closer to the end of the semester, it was actually very nice to finish and then immediately go out and celebrate with my best friends.
With everything else that’s been going on I don’t really have any big 4K updates! I did book a hotel for send-off weekend and my flight home from San Francisco. It will take me 70 days to get there and 5 hours and 20 minutes to get back :) I also attended an online leadership training last week. It was nice to “meet” some of my teammates and learn more about the trip and our responsibilities as leaders. For a while I was feeling very, very nervous, but I’m starting to feel more excited as June 5th approaches! This week I plan to round up some of the last things I’m missing on my packing list and ride as much as I can. I already got a 50-mile ride in this afternoon, so hopefully I can keep that up :)
Until next week!
Lauren
Lauren Bikes America 
Can’t believe your trip is already here!
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Lauren, you write very well. I can make mind movies with your descriptions. You really should turn this into a book.
I wish you a wonderful trip. Can’t wait to read about it! Marilyn Crosby
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