Day 2: Shakedown Ride

We woke up for the morning of our shakedown ride. For those of you who don't what that means (I didn't either), it is a 25 mile ride around Charleston so the leaders can get a sense of our strengths and weaknesses. We all suited up in our jerseys and chamois (cycling shorts). Right as we stepped outside, a golden lab puppy was spotted. I have never seen a group of people flock to an animal so quickly! The puppy was super excited to see all 28 of us petting her. 

After we got over the excitement of the puppy, we did some cycling drills like abound obstacles, calling, signaling, unclipping, etc. I was a little rusty on the sharp turns, but a fair amount of people had a hard time with that drill as well. But thankfully, I mastered the art of unclipping during training. 

Finally, we headed out for our ride to one of the islands. I rode with Rachael, Cindy and Kendra. The bridge over Charleston was breathtaking (in multiple ways due to beauty and steepness). Here is a picture of us at the top. 

My favorite part was getting to the beach and running into the Atlantic Ocean with Ethan and Brian. We head our bikes over our heads and suddenly, a massive storm struck. It felt like hurricane weather and I ended up getting soaking wet, but it felt so wonderful after sweating up hills.  After completely the shakedown ride, there really was a feeling of "you can do this!!"

We went to the Citadel to shower later. The military campus is very clean cut and interesting with all the tanks and model airplanes. I forgot my towel so I ended up having to walk around the locker room naked (but if we are being honest, it didn't bother me a bit). I also decided it was a good idea to pour Gold Bond powder on me to get dry...it wasn't a good idea. Turns out it doesn't rub in well with water so I looked ghostly for the rest of the day. 

Later that night, a few of us decided to go to Mellow Mushroom to watch the Hawks/Red Wings game. It was awesome that we all could hangout out with out texting or constantly looking at our phones. At one point, the servers turned off the tv and Brian didn't take it so well since it was the middle of the third. An awful bunch of offensive comedians came on so we decided to leave. 

Something that I will forever thing is funny is that since all 28 of us were sleeping in the same room, you get to know people pretty dang fast. Chris yells in his sleep occasionally, JD snores and someone was constantly farting in their sleep so i think it's safe to say we are starting to become a family.