My entry from the bike 'n build site

This has been lifted directly off www.bikeandbuild.org...
I'd write more, but this is about how I feel about the day. Hope y'all enjoy...





















Wednesday, July 11, 2007, was a day that will go down in many a P2S07er’s memory as a day of toil and reward, drudgery and joy. It would be easy enough to convey the experience in traditional prose, as seen in other entries. But I think an exploration of multiple writing styles will be the most fitting way to communicate our ride. And yes, I was an English major.

Enjoy. And hang on to your saddles.

1. Statistics

Mileage: 100-103 miles, depending on detours
Vertical feet of climbing: 7,200
Elevation change: -140 feet
Calories burned: 8-10,000
Lunches consumed: 2 by each person (except Pat, who unknowingly blew by second lunch); one at mile 45, another at mile 68
Number of people in van with stomach flu: 2 (Tommy/Derrick)
Number of people in van with possible early carpal tunnel syndrome: 1 (Katie)
Number of people in van, driving: 1 (Sarah)
Miles run by Katie at second lunch, because she felt like it: 14
Miles ridden by Candace after severe cookie-tossing: 30
Pat’s arrival time: 3:45 pm
Arrival time of sweeps: 8:30 pm
Exhilarated, exhausted, extremely full riders at day’s end: 30
Earliest bedtime (Bridget): 7:25 pm
Latest bedtime (Emily): 10:30 pm

2. Superlatives

Most miles ridden to date
Most vertical feet to date
Most on-bike hours to date
Most chamois cream used to date

3. Haiku

One more day awake
To five a.m. shoulder pokes
And bitter coffee.

On to the bikes now,
With jaws set determinedly
And some well-lubed butts.

Lunch came late that day—
Abuzz with expectation
We wanted our food.

Kittens at first lunch
Were friendly, mewling, waifish
And climbed in baskets.

More hills now,
And so many hills later.
But fields from Ireland.

4. Limerick

There once was a ride towards Nebraska
It may as well have been Alaska
We went over the hills
And had just one spill,
But everyone felt better afta.

5. Free verse

These roads look like a rolling, rumpled ribbon
Draped across a twisting quilt
By some punitive, sadistic toddler. In Vermont
The roads are routed ‘round the mountains, but in Iowa
Civil engineers seem to enjoy straight lines. I say
Put ‘em on a bike and let them ride those roads. They’ll think
Different next time.

Raps and songs and primal screams were the plan of attack,
Exhaustion caught us all off-guard and threw us all on track.
Harry Potter fans cast spells against the wind
And curses on last night’s midnight showing.

Cresting a hill we saw a fertile valley, awash in afternoon light,
Verdant, deep, and, crucially,
flat.
Upon descent, the road pulled right, the headwind died,
And then we saw a hill.
And then the road went over it.

Why, Iowa?
Why.
Why, oh why.
Why-o-wa.
My thoughts, over those last 13 miles.

6. Food

Burgers
Pizza: Pineapple, Pepperoni, Plain
Salad
Crudites
Beef Stroganoff
Soy-meat Stroganoff
Black-bean salsa
Chips: Tortilla, Potato (plain/BBQ), Sun (multi-grain/cheddar)
Watermelon
Honeydew
Cantelope
Brownies
M&M Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies

7. One more haiku

We sleep thoroughly,
Afloat on our Thermarests.
The day's marks will fade.