Fabreeze

First order of business: major shout-out to Mr. Lee, Craig's father. This afternoon, after the hardest hill I have ever ridden, I went to the post office excited at the prospect of mail. Alas, there was none for me. As I sat watching other kids with brownie- and cookie-laden care packages, something died within me. So I sat next to Craig for some vicarious letter love. But alas, in the last of Craig's letters (he had 3), there was a picture with Craig, his family, and Jay Leno. The post-it note read "for Kathy Hill." Thank you, Mr. Lee. I am framing this photo. Along with the post-it note.

Yeah, Bethel Mountain lived up to the hype. I planned to go up it without getting off my bike, but when my pulse hit 200 on the first major climb, I figured it might be a good idea to take a breather. But the bad stretch only lasted about a mile (i.e. 30 min); I really don't think it will be the worst day of the trip.

Upon arrival in town, I had lunch with the guys. Despite the pouring rain, we refused to enter the church as we had heard horror stories from Christopher about its proprietors. Apparently the church refused to host us (which was a problem since it's the only one in Rochester), citing a bad experience from last year's group (but seriously, how badly can you trash a church?). Anyways, the only way Christopher was able to secure a roof over our heads was to sign a waiver which would hold him financially responsible for any damages inflicted upon the area.

About 30 min. after loading our gear into the only room we were allowed into, a woman showed up wanting to speak to Christopher. She emphasized that the board of trustees would be coming through tomorrow to check the church over before we were allowed to leave. She was hands down the rudest person I had met on this trip until Christopher asked where the vaccuum was located. "Vaccuum" must have been the magic word, because after that she lightened up. Christopher informed us however that they had injected him with a poisonous serum, the antidote would only be given upon the immaculate return of the church. Perhaps we should call upon Jesus to help us with such an endeavor. That, and about 10 gallons of Fabreeze.

Which reminds me, funny quote of the day comes from John: "Dude, why didn't we get a sponsorship from Fabreeze?"

Looking forward to those care packages; please send clif bars. Right now, I'm off to clean everyone's dirty laundry. Chamois: shazaam.