The Education of Shelby Knox

Ahhh, the joy of waking up with a roof over my head and the almost certain knowledge that no little critter has crawled into bed with me. We are now in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where we are staying in…an apartment! Today is our first day off the bikes since I joined the tour, and we are plotting to make a breakfast that can only be prepared in a real kitchen (scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage) and then we are off to the local Hog Festival.

My country girl upbringing prepared me a bit for what a Hog Festival will entail; I can’t wait to document others’ reactions. I told them to expect lots and lots of pork parts, fried and seasoned in various ways – and fried confections of every kind. Since regular Oreos are a daily purchase, I’m sure it won’t be long until someone bites into a nice big crunchy one.

Because of a conference call about an upcoming project and the fact that Vanessa, a really awesome member of the tour who happens to work at the Kinsey Institute, wanted a buddy while driving the beast of a van, I did not ride my bike up the steep hills coming into the city yesterday. Instead, I spent the day shopping for food and supplies, and following the route to offer the riders more water, snacks, and a ride in the van, if necessary.

While I thought that I would really appreciate the break, I found myself feeling a bit disjointed from the group – and actually ready to get back on my bike. My body is finally getting used to all of this exertion and the brain cells that were being used to simply turn the pedals seem to be turning back to the task of intellectual thought.

Heather Ault, an Illinois based artist and activist, and I had a great conversation last night about the history of abortion and reproductive autonomy, both of which go back to the ancients. In fact, Aristotle and Plato debated abortion and the ancient Egyptians used oral contraceptives. And here in America, Native cultures have always used herbs and plants to terminate pregnancies. It’s powerful to see myself as part of an incredibly long line of women controlling reproduction as a matter of daily life, instead of as a single modern day activist fighting to keep a right supposedly “given” by men just sixteen years before I was born. Heather has plans to do a fantastic art project on this almost lost “herstory” – I’ll let you know here on the blog how that manifests.

And while I am using the dreaded women’s studies word, we are looking for some “herstory” in Philadelphia, where we will also have a day off near the end of the trip. The Liberty Bell is nice, and we’ll pedal on over to see it, but we would also like to see if there are any sites or spaces that reflect women’s contribution to the founding of our nation. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

All right, off to sausage and hogs and then a barbeque tonight. If I haven’t keeled over from all the fat and grease, I’ll post tomorrow. Have a great Saturday!