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as you may have read, our team has developed a bit of an addiction to culver’s frozen custard, a development that has left menard’s-loving joel relishing in the success of converting the remaining five of us to the ways of the midwest. more than 50 unique flavors of the day! how could we not love? although, according to this official culver’s personality quiz, almost all of us embody andes mint. not sure what that says about our team dynamic.
anyway, because i think that i can invent a fun little parallel between flavors of custard and metaphorical flavors of riding a bike, and also because i’m tired and otherwise uninspired to “dig deep” on this sunday night, i present to you exactly that: aja’s many (not quite 50, sorry) flavors of riding a bike.
flavor #1: “oops, all hills!” biking
case in point, today’s ride. the type of biking where google maps says 500 feet of climbing and next thing you know you’re scaling an illinois mountain at such an aggressive grade you feel like a desperate barnacle clinging onto a whale. no hill quite like a surprise hill, especially a surprise hill that just keeps going, no matter how many times you turn to escape it. “oops, all hills!” biking is cousin to the much less surprising version, “all hills” biking, which is exactly what it sounds like. think, sly park, CA…austin, NV…loveland pass. jokes aside, climbing is fun. i quite enjoy a rolling hill from time to time. today, however, my legs and my ego were begging for a different flavor.
flavor #2: existential biking
not necessarily as worrying as it sounds, existential biking can take several forms. today’s version was more of a self-embodied “i’m literally biking across the country right now” existentialism than a palms sweating, rocking back and forth, “what is the meaning of it all” existentialism. different spokes for different folks, i suppose.
flavor #3: peloton/ ducks in a row biking
the quintessential spokes formation of follow (or, sometimes, hopelessly chase) the leader, ducks in a row biking is one of the best. not to mention, we just look unbelievably cool when we successfully do it. the tour de france ain’t ready.
flavor #4: angry/ sad/ otherwise middle finger-worthy biking
aka emo biking, a unique source of inspiration but a necessary one nonetheless. the world can be a bitter place and sometimes we are bitter back. nothing quite as cathartic as shedding a few tears while pedaling, cursing into the roaring wind, or just keeping your head down and letting the sensation of burning calf muscles dull the sensation of a burning heart.
flavor #5: gravel biking
not to be confused with biking on gravel. gravel biking requires your body to fly horizontally across the gravel at such a velocity that you knock your bike chain off and deeply worry aja and sophia. road rash optional (just ask timothy).
flavor #6: “just get through this mile” biking/ headwind biking/ “i think i have a flat” biking
like biking through mud, or tar, or molasses, or some other awfully viscous liquid. sometimes biking is a drag, sometimes you feel inexplicably weak, sometimes the wind is just unbearably strong in the wrong direction. and sometimes your name is aja and you bike on a flat in said wind without noticing for forty minutes. shhh.
flavor #7: amphibious biking
especially prevalent in the latter half of kansas and the entire state of missouri, amphibious biking occurs when you sweat so much that your hands are pruny by the end of the leg and your eyes are stinging with salt-laden sunscreen. curse you, humidity.
flavor #8: tailwind biking
error: does not exist.
or, at least, we are convinced it’s a myth made up by someone who has never biked west to east across the US. see: flavor #6.
flavor #9: caffeinated biking/ psyched on a bike
arguably the best type of biking. sometimes it comes naturally and sometimes it requires about 400mg of caffeine and a little bit of patience…or, bravery? i am highly susceptible to the caffeine jitters, but scoring the combination of iced vanilla latte, adrenaline, and spotify rave just right makes biking feel like the most magical thing to ever exist. hyperbole, perhaps, but try flying down the side of a mountain into a whole new state for yourself and then get back to me.
today was a day of many flavors, (literal) ups and downs, and surprise baked treats. we scored a brownie-peanut butter cookie fusion from a local bake sale, free cookies from the wonderful employees at a coffee shop in murphysboro, IL (the state’s barbeque capital!), and freshly baked chocolate mud pie from joel’s incredible parents at the airbnb we are staying at in marion, IL tonight. massive shoutout to the kiernan family. without their generosity, delicious grilled corn, and willingness to let seven crazy 20-somethings use their beloved family car for a summer (love you ody), this trip would truly be impossible.
thanks for bearing with :-) that’s all for now!
aja
joel, our midwestern king, in menard’s, his midwestern kingdom
COFFEE
ody and friends at the mississippi
hello illinois!