Groups…

Hello hello again! We write this from a very generous church in Brookings, Oregon, less than an hours ride from the California border. We’ve (once again) come across a group of people of such astounding generosity it makes our heads spin and after being given the run of the place, cooked for (who invites TWENTY-SEVEN people to dinner on 8 hours notice?!?!?), and inspired all over again people are doing some well deserved re-charging for the days ahead.

The group took an unexpected rest day yesterday after the pace we had been maintaining simply wore portions of the group down to exhaustion and it became clear that unity and energy weren’t going to survive without a re-charge. This significantly complicated the route as we 1) NEEDED a rest and were pushing somewhat too fast for a portion of the group, 2) NEED to make it to San Fran in time for their critical mass on the 25th, and 3) have many people that consider it critical that they ride every kilometer of the journey with taking any rides to save time. With an early commitment to consensus decision making what followed was a fairly arduous process of coming up with a solution that would accomodate all people. Despite the frustrations felt by many in the group, the process was fascinating (for me anyway) and we managed to come to a solution that left all 27 people involved feeling listened to, respected, and understood, if not resulting in everyone’s ideal outcome. We will be pushing forward for the next 9 days, with no rest day, through some fairly difficult terrain - those that wish to keep their rest day will be driven ahead one day to relax and catch up on sanity while those that wish to ride every kilometre will ride through this day to meet up again. All will continue to have the option of taking a mobile rest day in the RV if necessary, all will arrive in San Fran together for critical mass on the 25th!

We’re learning a lot and the pace we’ve kept is probably quite suitable to completing a ride to Mexico, but often leaves people too drained to attack some of the things that really matter such as awareness in areas we pass through. We had a fantastic meeting tonight to tackle ways of further improving our impact both during and after riding days and came up with a ton of creative ways to diversify our approach. The group is really coming together and its pretty funny now to head into a town and try to introduce our group or cause to people and find that half the town has already spoken with someone or learned about us second or third hand already!

So we now have a solidified route, some crazy bike riding muscles coming together, and an ever improving group sense of purpose and drive. We’re super stoked to be hitting San Fran for a massive AOC/KIVA weekend, and everything is running smoother by the day. Not to say that a group this size doesn’t have its challenges or that trying to accomplish something like this is anything approaching easy, but this is a pretty special group of people. As always, we could never do this without all your support, much love,

Agents of Change

Pictures:

1) The old guys - a group including to 70 + year olds that routinely knock off more mileage than we do!

2) Ilan!! Also known as the bike god and possibly the major reason most of us are remotely outfitted and capable of completing this trip. He met us in Cannon Beach, Oregon while driving up the coast and we were SO excited to see him!!

3) Lunch break at the Tillamook Cheese Factory! They donated a massive bag of different cheeses to keep us on the road

4) An AOC cuddle puddle - the group getting cozy on a rest day in a church gym in Port Orford, Oregon.