Answering some blogs! Spokes countdown is real.
What part of Spokes will you miss the most once you return to Stanford?
Hmm, this is a tough question. I think I’ll miss different things as I move forward. To be frank (haha—this happens to be one of phrases I frequent, so when my teammates-turned-friends! imitate, they make sure to parody my bluntness), it has been more difficult than I anticipated returning to this trip. Maybe it’s the fact that my quality of life is shifting. Or it could be the time pressure of an impending normalcy, soon triumphing anything deviant, like Spokes. Some might call it coping; others, adjusting. Maybe it’s a million different things that I will never quite piece together. But old habits die hard. And I’ve always had seemingly uncontrollable periods of headiness. In these last few days, I find myself dazing or thinking and envisioning some post-Spokes life, something just out of reach.
All that is to say, when I was on my hiatus, I missed the new things and places. My home, the one in Pittsburgh, was caved in. Not literally—but in my mind, it was many threads of my past lives which somehow felt less significant this time around. Now, I think I’ll miss my team. I’ll miss the co-living and co-caring and all the spurts of jokes and jabs that teepee into comfort and mundanity. In a few weeks, when I’m back on campus, I might miss the moments I’m right on the descent of a road, with the churches and shops and residences all within my worldview, and the speed sparking a hidden glee toward the wild and free.
What food do you crave most while biking?
This is also such a good question. On this trip, we’ve eaten so many pairings of bread (white, wheat, Hawaiian, whole grain, an everything bagel, plain white bagel, chives bage?), meat if you’re not vegetarian (turkey, smoked turkey, honey turkey, etc etc.), chopped veggies (celery if Anna shops, mixed greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers), and cheese! So in our mix of groceries, I always crave our snacks while biking. Especially when I’m sweating a bit and my body sense a decline in sodium, I’ll think about Cheez-its (white cheddar groves, specifically) or Dot’s Pretzels or flavor-blasted goldfish.
Then, we’ve been able to eat out, with a lot of dining towards the end of this trip. With more options, I’ll crave so many things. In landlocked states, I would dream of sushi and the spicy mayo sauce drizzled on top. Cheeseburgers, veggie quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, a fried chicken sandwich with macaroni and cheese in it, Pad Thai…wow, I’m getting hungry now.
- Victoria