The Longest Day, The Hardest Day, The Most Memorable Day, My Birthday.

On June 14^th I turned 19.  My first thought on my 19^th birthday was, “oh my god, I’m going to die.”  Let me back track a little.

                On June 13^th we rolled into Berea after a very short day for a wonderful time at a great restaurant sitting in the AC having just come out of the Appalachians once and for good, watching the world cup.  We get to our camping location which is a field behind a fire station outside the town of Barea Kentucky.  The firemen were great, they let us use their shower, their AC and anything else we wanted.  Then when it came time to go to bed we painfully wandered to our tents in the not-so-sweltering 100% humidity cloud seemed to follow us through the first weeks of our ride.  As we get in our tents and brush our teeth we look up to notice a terrifying ominous cloud approaching our location.  I take two Advil PM to ensure a smooth night and prepare for whatever is to come.  Litteraly as soon as we all set settled we hear the first drops. Those drops multiply and soon we are in what sounds like a downpour inside of our tents.  I somehow fell asleep for maybe thirty minutes only to wake up completely convinced that I was in the middle of a full-blown tornado.  Two of the stakes staking down my tent got pulled up in the wind.  I haven’t been so terrified in my recent past, and this is when I thought “Oh god I’m going to die in a tent in the middle of a field in Kentucky” (I never thought that thought would ever cross my mind).  When the rain stopped my tent was flooded all of my stuff was soaked and there really was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep. So in my sleepy stupor I ditched my water-filled abode and headed for the trailer. The trailer, where all of the riders stuff is kept on a daily basis, has a wood floor and no ventilation, it was also the most best feeling ever to be in a solid walled dwelling. I finished the night sleeping, using my plastic bag full of dirty clothes as my pillow I got a total of maybe 3 hours of sleep.

                Waking up in the morning to someone coming into my temporary home to get their belongings at 5:15 in the morning to get an early start on a long long day.  We were in for a 100 mile day, in the blistering heat and headwinds of middle Kentucky. By noon we were about half way through running on fuel from a McDonalds breakfast, the second half would not be so smooth.  Caleb and I were riding together for the last 50 miles and we were quickly headed for delirium when we came to the last stop. The heat was sweltering, the wind felt like putting your face under a hand dryer, and you could literally feel the sun burning your skin. We somehow made it through together, and if it weren’t for caleb I literally do not think I would have survived the day.

                I have never been so happy to see a McDonalds with my wonderful grandparents inside!  That night was truly one of the most restful nights I have ever had, with a shower, washing our clothes in the bathtub and sleeping in a warm bed with NO humidity. Thank you so much to my grandparents for giving me honestly the most needed birthday present I could have asked for and that was a sense of comfort and relief.  It was the longest day of the whole trip, it was the hottest and hardest day of the whole trip and it was a birthday I will not soon forget.