4-02-08 Chaos

This morning we got our wake-up call at 6:00 AM.  The only problem was it was an hour earlier than it should have been.  So we went back to sleep for another hour, then woke up.  Our first stop was only a mile or so away from the hotel so it was an easy bike ride.  At Raleigh we were christening their new CAT (Capital Area Transit) buses, that are more fuel efficient, and use less energy.  During the ceremony Tyrone gave a speech about what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it, then held a little question and answer session.  Actually I thought he did ok, not great, but ok.  Thomsen, however, had another opinion so we had a little meeting in the park after the ceremony was over.  Apparently we forgot to call the Raleigh contact yesterday so consequently they didn't know if we were coming or not and made other arrangements to have the bus christened.  Whoops.  Tyrone's talk was supposed to be from 3-5 minutes and he only spoke for one minute and then asked if there were any questions.  Since his comments had to fit a news story, we got cut there to.  Crap.  After the press conference we had the privilege of taking a tour of Raleigh Fire Station number thirteen.  It was pretty cool and we got to here a lot of behind the scene stories. Next Thomsen had half the riders; Tim, Tyrone, Paul and Sydney drive ahead to Columbia to get a hotel.  The other half of the riders; Ally, Justin, and I got on the bikes and headed for Columbia, South Carolina with the help of Jennifer and Thomsen.  It was a great day and we were on roads with very little traffic so the ride was really nice.  After 9 hours the bikers finally reached Columbia.  When we arrived we had to get directions from Tim so we could find the hotel, which was “The Quality Inn” this time.  Somehow the directions got jumbled and it took over 45 minutes to find the hotel, a fact that didn't please Thomsen at all.  So, when we arrived, he had everyone come down to the truck for another meeting.  This time it covered the importance of communication and, getting the journals done.  It seems this is becoming a re-occurring theme. After we got our journals done we ate dinner and crashed.  Long day.