We awoke to the smell of scrambled eggs, and like moths to flames we were drawn from our beds and followed it into the kitchen. After the ridiculous climb the team faced in the Rockies yesterday, the prospect of a warm, filling breakfast was a welcome one, and an immaculate start to the morning. We loaded up on eggs, yogurt parfaits, and hot coffee, and saying goodbye to our generous hosts, we set off on our ride to Golden, CO, where we were to meet the one and only MIT Spokes team.
Golden was charming, its streets lined with numerous comely shops and restaurants, perfect options to meet our MIT counterparts. We settled on a hole-in-the-wall Colombian restaurant and soon the other Spokes team arrived. It was so much fun to meet up with other people who were doing the exact same thing we were and learning that no matter what Spokes team you were on, you were facing many of the same ups and downs, trials and tribulations. We bonded over the same exasperations pertaining to heat and bugs, the same wonder at seeing some of the most beautiful parts of the country, and everything in between. And although we were the same in mission and similar in despairs, we soon found out that our groups were very different in other ways.
A shortlist of our differences goes as follows:
When MIT Spokes bike, they tend to have much more space in between bikers and sometimes even take different routes from one another while our team usually sticks close together and we all follow the same route day to day.
They have multiple tents for camping while we share one big one!
On average, their team is older than us, with most of them nearing or having had graduation!
They have seven members while we have six.
After discovering our differences over lunch, we rounded off our meet-up with acai bowls, frozen yogurt, and a team picture. We said farewell and wished them luck as they began their ascent into the Rockies, then promptly continued our own journey out of them.
If you would like to get to know our new east coast friends, you can check out their website below! https://www.mitspokes.com/
~ Jordan