To Nags Head Tomorrow!!

I leave tomorrow to become oriented to Bike & Build life in Nags Head, NC!! Given that the rain gods have been drenching us for the past few weeks, probably to make up for the droughts of the previous years, I foresee wet times ahead. I am excited nonetheless.

Updates:
The party at the French Broad was awesome! Thanks to all who came to show their support. Also, a big thank you to the bands, Ian Thomas, and Cary Fridley & the Down South. The music was amazing and the show was a ton of fun!

My shoulder is healing nicely. I went on my first bike ride since the injury yesterday, and it wasn't terrible. It's a bit tight, but fully functioning. The road rash is healing well, although I did get an infection from failure to properly clean my wounds. I knew something was wrong when I was only getting bug bites on the left side of my body. There are no painkillers strong enough to make me want to scrub out fresh road rash, but next time I will be more likely to follow my dad's advice, "grab a stick from the yard, stick it between your teeth and scrub at it with a clean washcloth."

This past Saturday, I worked on a ramp build with Mountain Housing Opportunities here in Asheville. The weekend consisted of MHO's Annual Ramp Festival, where groups of people get together to build wheelchair accessible ramps for those in need. I joined a group headed up by one of the attorneys at the law firm I'd been interning at this semester, Roberts & Stevens. Made up of members of his ministry group, they were all incredibly nice, showing me how to use certain tools and being patient with me as I hammered the same nail 100 times. Needless to say, I am no expert builder. Our timing was perfect: as we were finishing packing up, the rain poured down once again. I went home soaking wet, tired, but feeling good.

Today will be spent getting last minute, important items such as chain lube and a rain jacket, and packing my life into a 68 liter plastic bin. Leaving tomorrow, I've got mixed emotions. I hate having to leave my man-friend for 2 months, but I am so freakin excited to bike 70 miles per day, every day, for 2 months.

Wish me luck!