By: Jack Messerly
Maine Coast Junior (MCJ2):
Today our MCJ crew spent the first half of the day on the saddle, cruising along Acadia’s famous carriage roads. Afterwards, they headed back to camp for a dip in the heated pool (jealous) before a dinner out in Bar Harbor! What a treat for Dixie and Rosa’s crew.
From yesterday’s hike
13 goofballs, present! Zombies, we think…
Maine Coast College Essay (MCCE2):
With the arrival of our final two MCCE-ers this afternoon, Miles and Rhia’s gang is all together today, and they wasted no time jumping right into things. They stretched their legs this morning, exploring Morse Mountain and enjoying some beach time. Afterwards, they worked on a variety of topic development exercises with their Master Instructor, Jaed. Each student arrived with five essay topic ideas, and with the help of Jaed, Miles, Rhia, and their peers, they’ll narrow their ideas down to two. At tonight’s campfire, they’ll continue to work on their topic development and begin the rough drafts of their essays – we’re excited to see how their work progresses throughout the week.
Our thoughts exactly – Happy Birthday, Lydia!
Cape Cod and the Islands (CI2):
Our crew on the Cape had a very manageable 13-mile day on the beautiful, vehicle-free Cape Cod Rail Trail today. They had a big trip to the grocery store, too, to buy food for tomorrow’s big day of surfing! Kevin and Alyssa report that everyone can’t wait to hit the waves tomorrow.
Vermont to Montreal A (VM2A):
These Vermonsters enjoyed a rest day as they explored Burlington today. They enjoyed a big, delicious Italian lunch, for what we can only assume is a carbo-load for tomorrow’s ride. Then, if that wasn’t enough of a treat, Jessi and Jonathan surprised everyone with this crew’s namesake: Ben and Jerry’s Vermonster! If anyone deserves 20 scoops of ice cream, it’s these guys. They’ve been doing an amazing job biking so far, and this day of rest and refueling will only propel them forward!
Vermont to Montreal B (VM2B):
A little bit of rain can’t get these Vermonsters down – they took a rain check on their morning kayak excursion, had a relaxing morning before biking the Lake Champlain for a dip when the weather cleared, and are scheduled to kayak tomorrow instead. These guys are cruising through their trip so far, with six days of riding and over 100 miles of Vermont road behind them. Great work, VM2B!
California Mountains and Coast (CMC2):
It’s the second day of four in the Yosemite wilderness today for our CMCers, and as expected, we’ll still be without blog pictures. They did, however, send us a text from their satellite device – Matt and Midge reported high spirits and record time – they were into camp before 1:30 PT this afternoon! After spending last night camped out lake-side, they put a solid six miles behind them today, before their hardest day of the back country tomorrow. They’ll have a huge dinner and get a good night’s rest under the California stars (or clouds – drought aside, it’s actually fairly wet out there this afternoon…).
Caribbean Service Adventure (CSA2):
Our Caribbean crew spent the morning hanging loose on the beaches of the internationally-known surfing destination of Rincon. After riding the waves, these guys had a picnic lunch on the beach. Looks like a perfect day for both the beach and volunteer work.
Downeast Explorer (DEX2):
After a monster day yesterday, these DEXers kept their momentum rolling today, this time conquering the tallest peak on the eastern seaboard, Cadillac Mountain. They were glad to report that the morning fog cleared and allowed them some great views during lunch at the top. They continued to Bar Harbor this afternoon for some exploration, and John and Erinn inform us that everyone is fired up and ready for the back country coming up tomorrow!
Europe Coast to Coast A (ECCA):
With their first full day in Austria, Jeanne and Kirk’s crew rode into the Heart of the Alps. Their campsite tonight, in Landeck, Austria, is surrounded by the Lechtal Alps, the Northern Limestone Alps, the Otztal Alps, the Samnaun Alps, and the Central Eastern Alps. That’s a lot of Alps. Italy tomorrow!
Europe Coast to Coast B (ECCB):
Out of the Black Forest and into the Alps. Tough life for our ECCBers, huh? 75 kilometers for Posie and Postyn’s gang, and it was a hilly 75 km at that. The gang sat out some rainy weather and a couple of thunderstorms on their side of the pass, but they’re into camp and all’s well! Unfortunately, with the rain delay, they were not able to get us any pictures this afternoon – we’ll hope for some great Alpine shots tomorrow.
America Coast to Coast (ACC):
The big news of today (last night, actually) is that our ACCers had one of their strongest days of riding yesterday, arriving at camp earlier than any Apogee group in the past. They took a refreshing dip in the pool yesterday afternoon before what we can only assume was an early bed time. Today was no joke, either – 100 big ones today for Mia and Opie’s crew as they rode into Brownfield, Texas! And if two big days in a row wasn’t enough, tomorrow is another huge milestone – they’ll be leaving Texas behind and heading into New Mexico.
