Day Six: Amherst bike making all local stops

Bike & Build trips feature a pair of "sweep riders" every day. Sweep is responsible for making sure that everyone gets to the host location without incident. Sweep carries a toolkit and a spare tire, and stays with everyone they catch. Sweep is always the last group of riders to arrive.

Today, I rode sweep with Amol, who was a good sport about riding in the back of the group.

The utility of riding sweep is clear. That doesn't make it fun (for me).

Though I didn't really notice it, today's 54-mile ride featured 4,000 feet of climbing and gave most riders a lot of trouble. This is the meat and gravy of the northeast, the part of the trip where people are really getting up to speed and learning how to ride and what they are capable of doing.

Once we eventually arrived, Amol and I took showers, and I refueled. We had dinner with Tracy Hecklet SUS '05, and Chris Burns. At dinner, I told some riders about my teen years, and how I got into bicycles and computers. I did my first century when I was 14.

I'm looking forward to seeing Charlie, my former Big Brother, tomorrow in Pittsfield. Hopefully, my mother will come visit our group in Poughkeepsie.