So today. Should have been the easiest day of the trip, because it was only 35 miles. From Denver to Boulder, both bike friendly cities. In case you haven't figured it out, it did NOT work out that way.
I asked to be in the food van because I still felt sick, so I was assigned with Joanna to acquire lunch. Everything went well in the morning. We stopped by a number of restaurants, chipotles, etc. and while we didn't get the greatest lunch, we still got a good amount food, which was definitely going to be enough.
However, once we got to lunch, things started getting chaotic. First, we realized that 2 / 5 groups were completely off course and while they were headed to Boulder, they were headed there in a completely different direction, and were going to miss the lunch stop. When we called the two groups, the first group sounded like they were doing okay and would just find a place to buy their own lunch and continue unsupported. The second team, however, ran into a lot of trouble because Jocelyn, who had hurt her hand a few days ago, felt a lot of pain and needed to be taken to have X-rays taken. Usually Joanna and I would have taken the food van (which would leave the water van to continue supporting the groups with water and snacks). Unfortunately, because we still had all of our luggage in the food van, there was just no way we could fit Jocelyn's group, so the water van had to go.
So that's the story of how Joanna and I ended up being the food / water hybrid van for the rest of the day. I think everything would have been fine, except for:
1. we ran out of water (i.e. the van, not just the riders), because the water van accidentally only left us half a jug of water
2. the road into Boulder that the teams who didn't get lost was a really busy highway with very fast moving cars
3. there was crazy construction in the last stretch into Boulder that was really dangerous
As we left the lunch stop, we knew we could provide water to the first team, but that would be about it. Once we ran out of water, we ended up heading back towards a different small town and just bought a bunch of water for the other teams. No time to ask for donations really. The first team made it through the road ok, even though it wasn't the safest, but the other two asked to be shuttled into town, which is completely understandable. At some point, we somehow fit in the vans all of the luggage, snacks, water jugs, three bikes, and five people INSIDE the van. Not sure how that worked, but it did. We rode into Boulder, dropped the stuff off asap and went back to shuttle the last group, who had tried their best to find a bike path into Boulder but gave up after realizing that the paths, as beautiful as they were, just kind of meandered around the hills.
There were, however, some positives. Probably the most important thing is that Jocelyn's hand wasn't broken, and although she'll need to take it easy for awhile, it will be okay. Second, remember the two groups that went the wrong way? While Jocelyn's group was picked up, the other group that was lost somehow managed to have an amazing day. They avoided the incredibly busy highway for most of the day and when they arrived at the construction site, instead of going in front of the cars (who honked at the other groups by the way), they asked to wait until the last car had gone through (single lane road) and ride behind the cars. A small request that made all the difference.
It was also amazing to be in Boulder, the most bike friendly city we've been in so far by a long stretch. Bike lanes and paths and shops everywhere, so many cyclists.
We also had the 4K Prom with Team San Francisco, which was a lot of fun, nothing too serious or intense. It was great to talk to them and hear that they often struggle as much as we do, but have a lot of fun anyway.
Finally, we ran into a ton of 4K alums (Sidni, Bradley, Dan, Chelsea x2, Mary, V, and some others I'm probably forgetting sorry!) in Boulder. It seems like they gravitate here after graduation, etc. and it's really fun to swap stories that are so often similar. Special shout outs to Sidni West for letting us shower in her apartment and Bradley for offering to fix everything for us (he worked in a bike shop for 9 years and now he works for Shimano).
I think today is one fo the perfect examples of how this trip can be some days. Really hard, pretty chaotic, but always worth it. Despite the fact that the food / water van hybrid was stressful, at the end of the day I'm always happy that I was able to do my part for the team.
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