It’s a strange transition to go from Stanford where you live in weeks, to Highway 50. On “the Loneliest Road in America,” you live in seconds. In my head is an internal dialogue, “If I can just make it through these next ten seconds… If I can just push through this next quarter mile”. When you’re the only person on the road for miles, you notice the stillness of the world, and time seems to exponentially slow down. It’s a drastically different experience from being on a university quarter system. By week 5, most people have completed their second midterm, and three months fly by before you’ve absorbed anything that’s happened.
Zdenko, a hearty cyclist from Croatia we’ve befriended along the route, said, “It’s the people, not the places”. So here is what I’ve learned from and about my teammates in these eleven days in which I’ve enjoyed the luxury of time.
Zdenko on his recumbent bicycle. We pass him several times a day along the route usually.
Brad is someone who is always looking at the moving parts of the bigger machine. It’s easy to see why he’s drawn to becoming a mechanical engineer. He always wants to be the one to personally tinker with a malfunctioning gear or a leaky water valve. Brian has endearingly called him his “training apprentice” for how closely Brad always watches and tries to learn the underlying mechanics when Brian fixes our flats or faulty cleats etc. As any good mechanic should, Brad always wants to maximize efficiency, and it applies to how he pushes the team towards becoming a well-oiled machine. He’s not afraid to call team members out on slacking and always makes sure we’re following all the safety precautions. It must be exhausting and stressful, but it also makes him a natural-born leader. He’s a perfectionist and a hard worker. You see it in the way he constantly challenges himself to keep up with Brian or always volunteers to drive on the shortest and easiest rides. Music seems to be his outlet for letting loose and also serves as the fabric that weaves his relationship with Rachel, with whom he has developed a beautifully organic and joyful friendship.
Brian and Brad(right) with one of Zdenko's tires that he unknowingly dropped and we picked up
“Jolly” is a word I’ve only ever reserved for Santa Clause, until I met Rachel. She has one of the most authentic and heartwarming laughs I’ve come across. It’s so refreshing to hear among all the times I’ve been unsure if I was listening to feigned laughter. Every time I talk with Rachel, I have no doubt in my mind that she’s enjoying life and is finding genuine fun in the simplest things. You should see the way she lights up any time someone mentions playing Secret Hitler. People say that laughter is the best medicine, and there certainly is no better team morale booster than her amazingly contagious giggles. Her roaring laughter is also paired with a soothing and sweet voice that you can always hear singing softly. The way Rachel sings seemingly mirrors the way in which she helps out without expecting any recognition. She’s always the first to jump in and do the chores most of us are avoiding whether that’s doing the dishes, hand-washing our clothes, or picking up the mess we’ve left behind— all done behind the scenes without a word of complaint.
Rachel in Austin's city park with a gnarly tan line
Alex delves into anything he’s interested in with full force. He does what he wants and says what he thinks regardless of whether it’s the popular opinion. When we had a rest day in Carson City, he walked by himself to the capital even though no one else wanted to go, and he insists upon using paper maps to self-navigate in foreign cities (of which you can probably bet he somehow knows the population of or other absurd facts). I wish I knew more people as clear and transparent about their intentions and beliefs as Alex is. When he’s frustrated, he lets it known. This means there’s no pent-up anger and that he’s fast to bounce back and cheer up. He also finds immense joy in the things he loves. We’ll be in the scorching heat with many gruesome miles of biking ahead, but he won’t be able to suppress his excitement for “how beautiful the geography is”. As someone who’s very meticulous and focused on being organized, you’d expect someone who lives a very fast-paced life. Yet I wouldn’t be able to count the times Alex has just pulled off to the side of the road while biking, to take in the scenery and smell the roses. He knows his individual strengths and sticks by them with admirable integrity.
Alex on his 19th birthday at Joan and Greg's house
Vivian lives life in stories. It’s never just the sautéed vegetables we’re eating. It starts with the farmer who planted the seeds, then the field hand who tended to the plant, the worker who harvested the crop, the driver who transported it, and the store clerk who sells it, ending with the team member who cooked our meal with love. She is always curious about what people are doing, and it seems that that interest is rooted in wanting to fully appreciate people. She chooses her words sparingly, so that when she speaks it is insightful and that much more meaningful. She’s very perceptive of subtle signs of our characters like when she commented on Brian’s comfort with the bike and how they seem like one unit, or how she guessed that I was a dancer by the way I stood and rolled through my feet. Vivian holds this quiet confidence that can only come from a deep understanding of herself and of the role she wants to fulfill in the interconnected web of relationships she fosters. I’m sure it’s what gives her an air of being so put-together and poised, and she is such a calming and motherly presence to the entire team.
Brian and Vivian constructing an L-shaped box out of cardboard scraps they dumpster-dived for to ship back the bike rack. Their ingenuity saved us MANY dollars!
Brian rarely takes himself seriously so that pretty much everything he does or says is executed with an undertone of humor. It makes him undeniably likable and endearing. He’s unapologetically childish and a complete oddball, and it keeps all of us from becoming tunnel-visioned. If you want an idea of who he is, he’s created a Spokes playlist for us “pals” that pretty much only consists of his four favorite songs: “Jar of Hearts”, “Good Morning”, “What Does the Fox Say”, and “Brand New Key”. Every morning he plays these songs on repeat, all while belting off-key to them and dancing ridiculously. We groan every time he plays these songs, but I’ll also notice that we now know all the lyrics and that my teammates will be humming these songs in their free time. Simultaneously, he’s very humble, capable, and committed to pushing himself. When Rachel injured herself, he was actually happy to jump in and cycle for the rest of the day. Anyone else probably would have been upset to give up their rest day as the driver. When Joan (one of our Warm Shower hosts) invited us to a 5:45am Master Swim class, he was the first to volunteer. I mean he does triathlons for fun; how much more can one person challenge himself?
Brian ecstatic at the plateful of watermelons he's about to devour
Alyssa has an impossible sense of optimism. She is always the voice of positivity whenever our team faces difficult situations, and her enthusiasm is perfectly captured by her unique inflection. Anytime she’s affirming our work or she’s excited about something, the ends of her words stretch and increase in pitch in the most adorable way that can’t be replicated. She also cares immensely about her relationships. One of the first things she mentioned in our team meeting was about how we have people to come home to— people that she wants to see and who want to see her. She takes the day off when needed and reminds all of us not to push ourselves too hard. Any spare time she has, she’s writing letters to her friends and family back home, and the first few days she was worrying about the flooding back in her home town. It’s very easy to see that she’s grounded in the people and community that have brought her to this point now, but she’s also incredibly accepting of the new people who have come into our lives on this trip. There is always a sincereness in the way she gives gratitude to the pastors and hosts who have opened their churches and homes to us, and it’s humbling to observe.
Alyssa digging into the strawberry ice-cream Zdenko bought for the dinner we shared in Eureka's city park
I thought I’d have time to figure out more about myself and do some soul-searching in the several hours I’m biking everyday, but it has been infinitely easier to notice all the beautiful quirks and strengths of my teammates. My care and love for each of them grows every day.
- Olivia
On the ceiling of Middlegate(Pop. 17) Station's Bar