The Bike Trips to tangier
I remember doing my first outrip in 86 to Tangier from camp to Yorktown, gloucester, etc. without a support vehicle. Of course one camper had to go to the hospital, twice, for heat exhaustion/heat stroke. Again we had no support vehicle whatsover. I also did the bike trip up the eastern shore although this time with a support vehicle and of course we had one kid wipe-out requiring stitches and an ER visit.
In fact I spent two summers on staff excluseively doing out trips. 89 and 93. Caving, canoeing, biking, etc. Looking back I still can't believe they let a very young 19-year-old male and a wonderful woman whose name I can't remember who had never been on staff before, lead 18 kids on a bike trip. What was Dave thinking? Yes he trusted me, but boy that couldn't have been easy watching the two of us head out with all of those kids with nothing but backpacks and panniers old those old panasonic three-speeds.
I remember taking the kids to Chincoteague and having to get them to sprint through a swarm of mosquitos so thick you couldn't see or breathe. The smell of the chicken farms which seemed to take forever to ride by.
Who else either led or went on bike trips - either a staff member or a camper?
Thom
Staff 84-87, 89, 93
Broken Bike
I never actually went on an out trip but I do remember having to climb onto those bikes and ride out to Chippokes Park on Anything Goes Day. Now, I don't know if you are the same Thom but I do remember that I had a very faulty bike whose chain would not stay on for anything and I bet we had to stop about ten times to fix that darn bike. Some guy named Tom or Thom was the one who had to keep fixing my bike and....well....it was quite a trip. One of my funnier memories.
Tangier Bike Trip
I led the bike trip to Tangier in 1983. Two memories.
At the end of a hot hot day, right when we were nearing Kilmarnock and the church we were staying at for the night, we stopped at a roadside stand. It was the stand of this older man whose name was the Captain. Why, I don't remember, But we bought a couple of watermelon and he took us to the back of his house where he cut it up for us. I do not like watermelon -- but on that hot sunny day, it was the best thing I'd ever tasted. I'm still waiting for watermelon to taste that good again.
After the lunch at Crocketts, and after wandering around the narrow streets, the above-ground graves, and chain-link fence that comprise Tangier, we boarded the boat to return. Clouds had gathered and wasted little time in dumping a summer thundershower on the boat. What's worse is the same rain utterly soaked all of our stuff that we'd left on the bikes in Reedsville. Luckily, Cis Alley picked us up and spirited us to Grace Church in Yorktown for the night. We draped the inside of their parish hall with out drying clothing.
Bike Trips
Wayne Wright and I lead a bike trip in 1983 to Tangier Island.
Biking was my only means of transportation at that time in my life, so I thought I was in shape for the trip. Oh I was stiff after that first day. The kids were super troopers. The scariest part of the trip was going over the bridge at Yorktown. One could see through the the grates of the bridge below to the river when crossing on the bike. No easy task with traffic and the Chanco Panasonic 3-speeds!! The 14 day trip was a lesson in self determination and will-power, I was proud of those kids and Wayne was an awesome leader of the bike pack. I hope the kids remember the verse: "At what time I am afraid I will trust in the Lord." We had excellent weather. Staying at a campground and swimming was a highlight for the kids. We did not have a support van, but food was left for us at each camp site. On night we stayed in a church hall. No bugs, and we had air conditioning! One boy was injured and I did not recognize Linda's dad, Dr. Ryder whom I saw while doing the group laundry!! Wish I had, But the injured boy was taken to ER and finished the trip.
"Ad-libs" were the main stay for the hurry up and wait stops. We appreciated the ride over on the boat--no biking required on the other side and great meal awaited us.
The numbing part came when after riding about 12 days to reach Tangier we were piled into the Chanco vans for the return trip to camp and covered the distance in about 3-4 hours!!!
biking, caving, canoeing and more
Hi Thom,
I think I remember you. I was on the out trip staff in 1987 and 1988 doing most of the trips. We biked the Skyline Drive in 87 and Eastern Shore in 88. Canoed the Staunton River and spelunked in WV. Even though I was program director in 1989 I had to fill in at the last minute on the Grand Adventure 4th session. I've got stories to tell too
!
Heather Martin