Day 4: First Build Day

June 1, 2022 in Richmond, Virginia

First off, I am so glad the 5 and 6am wakeups are going pretty well. I was worried it would be super hard to be alert and ready to roll that early in the morning. The sheer panic that hits when you realize that if you're the last one, you're the reason no one has had breakfast yet works pretty well to get the juices flowing though.

There was a much more relaxed vibe during team breakfast today. I think that's probably because we weren't gearing up to bike 70 miles in the scorching heat.

After we ate, we rolled out to the build sites. I went with five other girls to a ReStore, which is essentially a Habitat-sponsored discount furniture store. When we got there though, there was no one there to give us work to do. I guess with volunteer opportunities, It's not super common to have them just fall through sometimes. No big deal though, we just joined the rest of the team at their build site in Ashland, a suburb of Richmond.

The home we were building was for an older woman who had grown kids and young grandkids, who had a pretty tough life. As my memory serves, it had two bathrooms and three bedrooms. We spent the day outside though, staying in the shade as much as possible.

We were tasking with digging a 2-3 in ditch as wide as a sidewalk all the way from the driveway to the two doors. This would serve as a way for the homeowner to get to her house in bad weather without tracking mud or snow. It was to be filled with gravel, because it's cheaper than cement but still effective enough.

Digging the ditch took hours, and I spent my time finding ways to help that didn't involve squatting, because I didn't want to hurt my knee. There was still plenty to do–– mostly shoveling dirt into wheelbarrows to be carried away.

After lunch, which was delicious sandwiches brought by a Southern route 2019 alumni, I went on a walk with one of my leaders because I wanted to talk about how I was settling in and brainstorm ways to make the day to day of Bike and Build feel manageable. It really hit my today how mentally draining this trip is and will be, and I wanted to get ahead of the feeling crappy so I could experience as much wonderful as possible.

The talk really helped, and I was able to return to the build site in time to see the gravel go down and complete our day's work!

After a quick post office trip to send back an enormous box of stuff I shouldn't have packed, I found the cutest little coffee shop and stopped by.

I really wanted to go swimming, but it ended up being a wild goose chase, which was a bummer. The coffee and chocolate bar I had waiting for me REALLY helped though. I played card games with my teammates for most of the evening before dinner–– I'm finding that the little moments like playing Spoons and foursquare and meals have been the most meaningful so far.

After dinner, I took a stroll to see the Virginia statehouse and monuments with some buddies. It was really beautiful, and so nice to be able to get out and explore.

I was feeling pretty anxious about 49 miles of mostly uphill tomorrow through the Blue Ridge Mountains because I'm not comfortable standing up on the pedals when I bike. To try to calm my mind before bed, I talked to a couple people who had done cross country trips before. To my absolute shock, they both said they never stand up! They even said they recommend people don't, because it drains energy on long rides and is damaging to your knees. God knows I don't need more knee damage...

I'm writing this post before our nightly meeting (unclear if one is scheduled for tonight) because I had the free time, but I know we're getting up at 5, so I'll wrap up here.

And here's a picture of my friends Razzi and Nathan under the biggest oak I've ever seen (in Colonial Williamsburg) I forgot to post yesterday!

Also, I am developing a Southern accent. Will probably be gone by the time we hit Oregon.