It's All Happening

I arrived for orientation in Seattle on June 6, following a long day of travel from New York. After realizing that my packaged road bike had in fact not been lost (it snuck its way into the oversized baggage area), I was greeted by “Moff.” Moff is one of six crewmembers for our route who was given the less-than-desirable task of searching the airport to find cyclists all day. I was glad to be found!

Right from the get-go, I was introduced to the regimented lifestyle of a JOH rider. With barely enough time to make initial introductions to the unfamiliar group in my midst (with the exception of Elon brother Robby Knelson), we headed off for dinner at the University of Washington PKP chapter house. There we made more formal introductions. Actually, ‘formal’ may be a stretch. We each provided the group with our basic information, as well as the most embarrassing song on our respective iPods. My iPod is a wonderland of awkwardness, so I opted to go off on a tangent about my deep love for Carrie Underwood and the infamous “moment” I feel we shared at her concert last year. After a generous dinner provided by the brothers at “U Dub,” the newly assembled team comprised of 21 cyclists and 6 crew members held a ritual in order to go more in depth about what led us to take on the Journey. It was an important measure to center ourselves and begin opening up to the people who will make up our home-on-the-road this summer.


Walking back from dinner with the Space Needle in the background.

The remainder of Seattle is a bit of a blur. There was the mundane-but-necessary (the rinse-and-repeat rundown on policy and procedure), the eye opening (cycling skills assessment under the Seattle Space Needle) and the fun (having a chance to meet up for drinks with my friends Angela Griffey and Jessica Randazza at the waterfront market) and all the in-between. Seattle exceeded all of my expectations, yet perhaps the beautiful weather I experienced is not overly common (Jessica equated her city to me as a “hot girlfriend who gets sick all the time”). I’ll allow it.

The night before kickoff, the team and all present relatives were treated to a feast at an excellent Italian restaurant named Bucca di Beppo. In addition to minds racing about what the morning would bring, we also had the time to coin a phrase that would sum up our team’s consistently over-the-top eating habits which I will be telling you all about. Merving (n): A manly serving size. Example usages: “Ouch… I had way too many mervings at dinner last night,” “I can’t believe you only had one merving!”

And just like that, the day was finally upon us. With more butterflies than I’d care to admit fluttering through my stomach, I woke up to a foreboding text message from a JOH alum: “No matter what, do not stop peddling.” The kickoff event at Gas Works Park was a jumble of cyclists, friends, community members and media. There was also a very large breakfast buffet and an even larger ongoing discussion about what would be in the best interest of our team to consume. After a group picture to commemorate the occasion (daily photo formation has become an automated action for our team) and the traditional prayer led by project manager Jeremy Jones, the cyclists lined up awaiting the word to take the first stride. It was finally real and, just like that, we were off…


My friend Angela and I at the kickoff