Today was our most challenging day yet- we rode the farthest (38 miles), spent 30 of those miles soaked to the bone, and it was the hilliest.

Jenn left us this morning on an early morning flight back to DC. She joined us for the first 3 days of Back in Bloomers, and we hope she had a great time, because we certainly loved having her ride with us! Although, Jenn if you’re reading this, you picked a good day to leave- weatherwise!

So we left the house of Sally and Diedre, after they filled us with delicious coffee and homemade coffee cake! The ride started out beautifully. We went nearly 8 miles without seeing any cars (save for our TWO support vehicles flanking us the entire time! What devoted boyfriends we have!), we saw deer scamper across the street, and we could really imagine what it must have been like for Annie to whiz down hills and only hear the chirping of birds and the sound of her own excited breath.

At around mile 8, the sky started to darken, the drops started to fall, and Team Londonderry proceeded to get very, very wet. For those of you who know me, you probably know that I hate water (drinking it, getting wet, whatever), so let’s just say that cycling 30 miles in the cold rain was a character-building experience! But Meghan, Gary, Peter and I did our best to keep a sunny disposition, despite the cloudy sky. In fact, by the time we reached Mystic. I determined that riding in the rain can be an almost meditative experience, in that you are concentrating so hard on the road ahead, that the voices in your head are silenced and you find yourself completely in the moment… a cold, wet moment, but a moment nevertheless….namaste.

So we reached Mystic in search of the Mystic Marriott, and discovered that the Mystic Marriott is indeed not in Mystic, but rather in Groton, so we rode an additional very hilly 8 miles to our hotel. Gary had to walk up a few of the hills, but he made up time by free-wheeling like a parachute down the steep declines. The moment we caught sight of the Marriott, Meg and I were practically throwing down our bikes and ripping off our wet clothes to get to the hot tub. Like the feeling you have after a long day of skiing, we were ready to bake in the over-chlorined, bubbly hot tub! Fortunately, the skies cleared while we swam and dined and, by the time we needed to turn around and return to downtown Mystic for “our event”, the day had become a rather nice one! Better late than never, I suppose!

Our original plan was to “set up” in Mystic River Park from 3-5, hawk our wares, give out some Luna Bars, and passively hand out some press kits to interested people. Within no time, we had turned our little event into a full-out dog & pony show. Ben and Mike set up the mic in the middle of the park, and as Ben started to sing, and Gary set up his bike, a crowd of dozens gathered around. Ben introduced the Spokeswomen, and we gave a little introduction to Annie and Back in Bloomers, and then segued to Gary who, on a wireless mic, gave a very gentlemanly demonstration on how to ride his high wheel. Mike piped in afterwards as the emcee, with a mini quiz show about the Victorian era and antique bikes. And then….we did this on a loop for about two hours, entertaining the masses as they came and went. We were quite a spectacle, we all had a great time, and we even raised a few bucks!

We dined at the historic Mystic Pizza in downtown Mystic, and brainstormed about more historic trivia to add to our quiz show. In fact, we were so inspired by the pizza that we went to the movie rental store to rent the film, and ended up having an interesting chat with the man who worked there. Wayne, a fellow film enthusiast, told us that when he worked on the set of Amistad as an art director, someone was actually hired to remove the black fish eyes from cooked fish, and replace them with fresh fish eyes. Gross!

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