Flying, but Always Thinking About Riding

Last night, I flew JetBlue from Oakland to Dulles. The flight was delayed taking off about an hour, but I really didn't mind that much. It just meant the flight would get in at around 7 am, instead of 6.

I dosed myself with Benadryl and miracle of miracles, I slept for a solid four hours. My two seatmates were in awe and were envious. The plane had not one empty seat, so that made it even more of a miracle that I slept so well. I brought a little pillow with me and had a window seat. I think those were the two deciding factors. Having a comfy perch for my head made all the difference.

When I woke up at around 6 am, the young man in the middle seat told me of his admiration, and jealousy. He said he'd look over at me periodically, and wished he were the one sleeping so soundly. We both talked about how we were not all that fond of the travel part of traveling, though we both loved to go places. He then mentioned how he had recently driven to LA from Oakland, and kind of enjoyed it. That was my entree into saying how I hated driving to LA but loved riding my bike there. His eyes got wide and the talk moved to ALC.

Talk about someone who was intrigued, I have a feeling I may see this young dreadlocked man on either training rides, or maybe as a roadie on next year's ride. The thought of raising $3,000 seemed a bit intimidating, but I assured him, no matter how he became a part of ALC, he was in for the experience of a lifetime, and that no matter how many times one participates, the thrill never dissipates. I didn't get contact information to follow up, but my hope is, he will do that on his own.

So, now, I am comfortably ensconced at Len and Lisa's house in Silver Spring. Lisa is home sick today. She wasn't feeling all that well last night, and needed to catch up on sleep today. I too, caught up on even more sleep, and then she made us quesadillas for lunch. Lisa is now on the computer, caching up on work emails. Lisa works for Search for Common Ground, an amazing NGO that has offices all over the world promoting peaceful dialogue and interaction. She's just back from a recent trip to their offices in Morocco and Guinea, to help them with offices practices== filing, record keeping and the like. Those things sound so mundane to an organisation like "Search," but is honestly the backbone to keep them going and successful. People like Lisa are the unsung heroes of NGOs.

Alas, I won't be riding for the next couple of weeks, but the ride is never far from me. I hope to finally finish up all my thank-you notes for my donations from this year's ride, and have brought all my ALC t-shirts with the hopes of striking up conversation about the importance of what we do when we ride from San Francisco to LA.