And we're off!

June 6. Departure day. Cool morning, light mist. 32 riders outfitted in matching blue and red jerseys cycled excitedly from our host church to the (slippery) Providence dock. Dipping Ceremony. On the count of 3 we all dipped our back tires in the lapping waves of the Atlantic. Now, theres just one direction - West! - Riding towards Pacific.

The streets of Providence were full of potholes and interesting obstacles. As our group of 32 riders snaked along the city's main streets (in snazzy blue spandex), you could hear phrases passed along to from one rider to the rider behind him/her such as "Pothole! " "Slowing!" and frequent jubilant cries of "P2SF!!" [i.e. Providence to San Francisco].

After 10 miles of city streets, we climbed a sloping hill and emerged surrounded by farm fields and old style New England houses. 23 miles later, we caught up with the van + trailer (painted with our mural of bikes and houses and a big map of our route across the U.S.A.) and stopped for lunch. St. Martin's church (our host during our 3 days of Orientation) had cooked us a fabulous departure breakfast of quiche, omelets, and muffins and we were delighted to see that our lunch was comprised of the delicious leftovers supplemented by the standard PPJ.

At the CT welcome sign of course we stopped to shoot about a hundred pictures with all of us riders elated next to the sign. Then, we had a couple of fantastic downhills (where one rider reached 45 mph) which opened up to a valley of quaint houses and stone walls with a landscape dotted with a few cows.
On the day, we cycled 37 miles and spent the afternoon resting at a church in Plainfield, CT - another quaint, New England town. We finished up painting the trailer this afternoon - and man, do we have some artists or what in our group! It looks really sweet. (I'll have to take some pictures to show you). And from what I hear, we have a pretty spectacular dinner awaiting us prepared by the congregation of St. Paul's.