June 17th, 2008
This morning I am perched above the Atlantic Ocean after commandeering one of the lifeguard stands here on Myrtle Beach. I can barely see the screen because, once again, I had to sleep in my contacts because my case has disappeared – like so many other little items thus far!
Yesterday we rode 60 miles from our last campsite, all of it on Highway 17, which must go all the way through the Carolinas. The heat wasn’t so bad in the morning, and we stayed together as a group for a while, which is always fun. It’s feels great to walk into a gas station or store and explain why 12 panting, red faced women just walked in! We get generally positive reactions, although Heather got yelled at for spilling ice all over the floor while trying to fill up her backpack hydrator – but the woman in the parking lot drove with us for a while, honking and shouting encouragement.
The first twenty miles or so were really hard for me; I arrived next to last at lunch and only my incredibly stubborn nature steered me away from the van and it’s glorious air conditioning. My shoulders hurt, it was hot – why, I asked myself, is this NYC girl in the middle of nowhere trying to get somewhere on a bike? But I stuck with it and the last 2/3 of the ride were much easier, probably because I followed someone about my speed and felt better able to keep that pace without having to race or worry about running over someone’s tires. We took a slight detour (got lost) through Garden City Beach and could see the ocean beckoning us – we let out wild banshee yells when we finally saw the campsite! We were given a short reprieve from setting up camp and instead raced to the water. I have never ever been so glad to see waves in my life.
Today we are set to ride 40 miles inland, so this is where the ocean and I part, sadly. I almost wish we could stay forever, but we have to push on to Chapel Hill and then to DC, which is the meeting I am most excited about.
As an unrelated side note, today marks one year since I moved from Texas to New York City. I have changed and evolved immeasurably while living in the city, as a person, as a woman, as an activist, and as a feminist. Some of those changes are the ones that make it possible for me to be on a trip like this – I am more adventurous, more confident, and frankly better physically fit that I have ever been. I owe so many people in New York for making it possible for me to even live there.
So, thanks to Rose and Marion for providing me food, an office, any little item I want to borrow as well as love, guidance, friendship, mentorship, and a surrogate family. Dan, for all the miscellaneous things that you do, even though they are not your job – from getting me phone numbers to reassembling my bike! I will quote a t-shirt I bought right after the move: Damn, it’s good to be a New York girl! (Even when one is writing from Myrtle Beach!)