I have been writing this blog in my mind for the last one week. Happy to be able to finally sit down today and put the thought into words. The ride was the most fulfilling, liberating, empowering experience for me. It was a different experience in every way. It keeps me beaming since I have been part of something phenomenal. I am little saddened that it had to end. I will try to walk you through the experience day by day so that you get a feel for it.
Day1: Coincidently, my parents were in NY visiting my sister. Their original plan was to start to India on Sept 18th. They made me happy by postponing their ticket to see me ride off.
We started from Brooklyn, NY at about 9:30am. We were given the turn-turn direction sheet for the day. We had to reach pier 11 to catch the ferry that left to Atlantic highlands at 10:45am. At 10:15am, some of us stopped at pier 16 to participate in 350.org's Draw the Line photo op event. After a few minutes, we reached the pier to start the ride. I caught up with my Green America team Russ Guskin and Bob.
After the ferry ride, had a nutritious meal in Atlantic Heights. Then
we started the hill riding. I was underprepared for the hills awaiting us in the ride. I now vaguely remember people warning me to do some hill training early on. Guess, I should have listened... The ride was beautiful. I had some problems clipping in my left foot and I got a slow start after lunch. But I was able to finish the day's ride of 48miles. Day 1 ride ended smoothly with a tour ride through Princeton. We camped overnight at YMCA football ground there. It rained heavily through the night. Many of us had to pee but were too tired to get out of the tent and find the restroom. So, many of us had disturbed sleep.
Day2: This day is a important day since its the longest mileage of 75miles. I was determined to do all of it. I tried to get an early start. In the morning, breakfast started around 7am followed by safety briefing. Had to wait till the talk was over to get ready and put away my luggage. Got ready and started at a reasonable time. Weather was perfect. I still had some problems clipping in on left foot. Strangely, I had trained with these clip-ins for two months and had no problems. The ride was scenic. I was riding with all advise in mind. Took this picture at around mile12 and went down this road. This was a narrow two way street without any shoulder. The traffic was not bad.
The wreck: I came to a steep downhill in same road as the photo (somewhere in NJ state). I was pumping brakes to control the speed. There was a truck with a small open trailer behind me. He kept honking at me. I was already at the edge of the road going downhill. He suddenly decided to overtake me and did it very close to me leaving no room. Don't know if his vehicle hit me or just the proximity made me loose control. I fell on my chest and my bike flew in the air. Luckily, I escaped with some road rashes. This truck guy did not stop but kept going. Lady driver behind him saw all of this and stopped to move my bike to the side. In the shock, I failed to note the license plate of this vehicle. In the shock, I didn't feel the rashes, thought I could bike to the water stop. Problem was my handlebar turned. I never lost consciousness since I didn't hit my head. Called the co-ordinator and the support van picked me up. Andrea cleaned and dressed up my wounds on the way to the water stop.
Met with Patrick, the medic who checked out my wounds, applied creams, checked my consciousness and inspected my helmet for damage. Meanwhile Kai and Vince fixed my bike. I was able to ride my bike for 1-2 miles before the van picked me up to take me to the lunch stop to makeup for the lost time. Thankfully, all the rashes were in places that didn't interfere with my riding. I guess, I was meant to keep riding.
If you see a bicyclist on the road, please leave 3feet gap to the cyclist. Please don't overtake when you don't have that space. Please educate your friends who hate bicyclists. This guy could have been in big trouble had he got caught. He knew that, that's why he fled.
At lunch time, my team (Green America) lead (Russ Gaskin) learnt about the wreck and started guarding me the rest of my ride. I was able to bike 40 miles after lunch. I could only do it because of support of Russ Gaskin and Climateride leader, Dave. Dave was biking behind everybody removing the signs. Dave encouraged me a lot. He let me bike as much distance as I can without jeopardizing the goal to reach campsite for the day. I was then shuttled in by the van for the last 7miles. Dave kept asking me how I am able to get back on the bike after the wreck. I strongly felt that I am meant to keep going. I was also relieved by the tamil saying, "The danger that came for the head went off with the hat!". So, I felt that the danger was over. That night at camp, this incident was announced and I shared my story with fellow riders. I became instantly popular as the "Girl in the wreck" :-). Many riders came and reassured me.
Day3: Gabe fixed my clip in problem this morning. Bob, Green America teammate offered to guard me today. Also met and made friends with another wonderful person Marla this morning. Marla was very supportive. Idea was that we will ride together until Bob catches up with me. It was very scenic ride. Made friends with a couple of horses. The white one started chewing on my bike handlebar and bit off some of my foam tape as in the photo.
We were biking and suddenly Marla's chain broke. I had to call it in and keep going. Today was projected to be the hilly day (1200 elevation climb) of 56 miles. It was a cold morning of about 48 degrees and the weather quickly changed. Bob caught up with me and we rode together for 30miles until the lunch stop. The ride up to lunch was through beautiful Amish country. It was laundry day for the Amish. It was nice to see the high raised long laundry lines. Reminded me of my childhood in India when we line dried our clothes. Its still that way at my parents place in Chennai (South India).
At the lunch stop Eric took over as my guardian. He is a funny guy. He would ride ahead look back and inform me of each car and the precise time in seconds when it will pass me. I smiled and kept attacking the hills. After the day2 bad experience, I have started to strain my arms on downhills. By the time I reached the water stop, I had bad ache on my forearms. Eric advised me to stop for the day and recover so that I can continue the next two days. Rose, Climateride leader also felt I could use the shuttle. So, I chose to stop and take the van. I could have probably done 10 more miles but I had a slight headache as well from the changing weather or maybe because I didn't drink enough.
Night 3 was lobby training night. Met up with my lobby partner, Brian Levy and relaxed at the Bonfire after. The Bonfire was superb with pleasent music by Mateo and Tatateo. While listening to music, I lifted my head and saw stars above the tree tops. How long has it been since I have seen stars? Miss living in Tucson especially for this. Got a short massage to relax my arms and shoulder from Anthony, one of the masseurs traveling with us.
Day4: We had to get an early start today to complete 65miles before dinner. Dinner is usually followed
by speaker series for an hour or so. We had to start by 7:30am and this morning was very cold. I also found out that this day's ride is going to be even more challenging with 1700 feet elevation climb. I was very nervous this day. Couldn't explain why? Was it late reaction? Maybe I was grasping the narrow miss on day2. I also felt the bruise underneath the rash above the right knee.
This day Marla rode with me the whole time. It was beautiful but very hilly. When I could see the end to a downhill, I was able to ride down it but if it was a long and/or steep downhill, I got down and pushed my bike down. Riders passing me inquired if I was alright. They didn't know I was doing this to deal with my jitters :-). Without the momentum from going downhill, I couldn't attack some uphills on this day. I have to thank Marla for being so patient with me. She stayed behind me at my pace. Of course, we got picked up by the van to the lunch stop. There were a few long miles on roads with heavy traffic which didn't help with my nervousness. I slowly got better through the day and biked until the hill that was at 21 degree angle around 59th mile. We were only able to do 33 miles that day but Marla stuck with me throughout. Lot of riders were picked up from the road since dinner was about to start. Few riders had strained their knee so much. One girl did so well throughout and could not ride on Day 5 due to a swelling behind her knee. All riders biked their maximum during this ride thats the beauty of the ride.
Day5: This is a long bike ride day as well. We had to do 70 miles to get to DC. It was hilly in the beginning and easy when we finished. We had to be at boathouse in DC at 3:30pm to start the finale ride. So, few of us got a head start at mile 25. We had to bike only 45miles and we were all set to do it.
This day was so beautiful. The weather was perfect. I rode for about 20 miles when Russ found me. He biked behind me the rest of the way. There were many highlights to this ride. After the strenuous hilly rides with traffic, it was a treat to ride in the Georgetown Branch trail for 10 miles. We got to ride in speeds we have long forgotten we are capable of.
We reached the boathouse ahead of time and waited to start the finale ride to Capitol hill. DW newsman was there to capture this event. Bike leader Blake who usually briefs us the safety instructions ripped open his top shirt and rode with us in our climate ride jersey. We lined up and started the three mile ride. There was police escort and free path through traffic until we got to capitol hill for the speech.
We then rode to yards park to collect and disperse. It was a truly amazing experience for me. The leaders and fellow riders were great. They were friendly, supportive and encouraging. It is refreshing to experience such company. I am definitely going to do this again. Only next time, I will go after more training. I miss everybody I met in this trip.
Lobby day: Brian and I were to lobby with the senators on Sept 26th, the day after the ride. We met at Yards park (on Day5) and came up with a strategy. I met briefly with House representative alone in the morning.
It was short and the representative is a pro-climate congressman. So, that was easy. In the afternoon, Brian and I met with two Texas senators. Brain works for CCL (Citizens climate lobby) and hence more experienced. I learnt a lot from this experience. Look forward to work with CCL more in future.
I didn't have photos with all the people who supported me. All Climateride leaders were amazing and the riders were great. I really miss the community I was part of last week. It was depressing to come to Dallas and enter my apartment Thursday night after living with at least one other rider for last five days. I have registered for Climate Hike in Glacier National park for 08/2014. If you are impressed with my efforts on this ride and/or wanting to help various environmental non-profit organizations, consider donating what you can to my fundraiser to participate in Climate Hike next year.
Note: I promise that I won't send multiple fundraiser emails about the hike.
Day1: Coincidently, my parents were in NY visiting my sister. Their original plan was to start to India on Sept 18th. They made me happy by postponing their ticket to see me ride off.
 |
| My bro-in-law and parents |
 |
| Team Gream America, Bob, Swetha, Russ |
Day2: This day is a important day since its the longest mileage of 75miles. I was determined to do all of it. I tried to get an early start. In the morning, breakfast started around 7am followed by safety briefing. Had to wait till the talk was over to get ready and put away my luggage. Got ready and started at a reasonable time. Weather was perfect. I still had some problems clipping in on left foot. Strangely, I had trained with these clip-ins for two months and had no problems. The ride was scenic. I was riding with all advise in mind. Took this picture at around mile12 and went down this road. This was a narrow two way street without any shoulder. The traffic was not bad.
 |
| Patrick dressed my wounds twice everyday |
If you see a bicyclist on the road, please leave 3feet gap to the cyclist. Please don't overtake when you don't have that space. Please educate your friends who hate bicyclists. This guy could have been in big trouble had he got caught. He knew that, that's why he fled.
 |
| Dave encouraged me a lot! |
Day3: Gabe fixed my clip in problem this morning. Bob, Green America teammate offered to guard me today. Also met and made friends with another wonderful person Marla this morning. Marla was very supportive. Idea was that we will ride together until Bob catches up with me. It was very scenic ride. Made friends with a couple of horses. The white one started chewing on my bike handlebar and bit off some of my foam tape as in the photo.
 |
| Eric was a pillar of support |
Night 3 was lobby training night. Met up with my lobby partner, Brian Levy and relaxed at the Bonfire after. The Bonfire was superb with pleasent music by Mateo and Tatateo. While listening to music, I lifted my head and saw stars above the tree tops. How long has it been since I have seen stars? Miss living in Tucson especially for this. Got a short massage to relax my arms and shoulder from Anthony, one of the masseurs traveling with us.
Day4: We had to get an early start today to complete 65miles before dinner. Dinner is usually followed
 |
| Marla, couldn't have done it without you |
This day Marla rode with me the whole time. It was beautiful but very hilly. When I could see the end to a downhill, I was able to ride down it but if it was a long and/or steep downhill, I got down and pushed my bike down. Riders passing me inquired if I was alright. They didn't know I was doing this to deal with my jitters :-). Without the momentum from going downhill, I couldn't attack some uphills on this day. I have to thank Marla for being so patient with me. She stayed behind me at my pace. Of course, we got picked up by the van to the lunch stop. There were a few long miles on roads with heavy traffic which didn't help with my nervousness. I slowly got better through the day and biked until the hill that was at 21 degree angle around 59th mile. We were only able to do 33 miles that day but Marla stuck with me throughout. Lot of riders were picked up from the road since dinner was about to start. Few riders had strained their knee so much. One girl did so well throughout and could not ride on Day 5 due to a swelling behind her knee. All riders biked their maximum during this ride thats the beauty of the ride.
Day5: This is a long bike ride day as well. We had to do 70 miles to get to DC. It was hilly in the beginning and easy when we finished. We had to be at boathouse in DC at 3:30pm to start the finale ride. So, few of us got a head start at mile 25. We had to bike only 45miles and we were all set to do it.
This day was so beautiful. The weather was perfect. I rode for about 20 miles when Russ found me. He biked behind me the rest of the way. There were many highlights to this ride. After the strenuous hilly rides with traffic, it was a treat to ride in the Georgetown Branch trail for 10 miles. We got to ride in speeds we have long forgotten we are capable of.
We reached the boathouse ahead of time and waited to start the finale ride to Capitol hill. DW newsman was there to capture this event. Bike leader Blake who usually briefs us the safety instructions ripped open his top shirt and rode with us in our climate ride jersey. We lined up and started the three mile ride. There was police escort and free path through traffic until we got to capitol hill for the speech.
I didn't have photos with all the people who supported me. All Climateride leaders were amazing and the riders were great. I really miss the community I was part of last week. It was depressing to come to Dallas and enter my apartment Thursday night after living with at least one other rider for last five days. I have registered for Climate Hike in Glacier National park for 08/2014. If you are impressed with my efforts on this ride and/or wanting to help various environmental non-profit organizations, consider donating what you can to my fundraiser to participate in Climate Hike next year.
Note: I promise that I won't send multiple fundraiser emails about the hike.
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