Bridget Bikes Across America

Fashion de Coeur d'alene

2007-08-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Before I even begin this post, let me make sure you have the pronunciation correct. The proper title of our fashion show in Coeur d'alene is pronounced, Fah-shawn de Core-dah- lawn. It began as Derricks brain child but soon the buzz and excitement of fashion night spread to other bikers. The rules were simple. Place your clothes in the middle of the room. Each biker had 10 minutes to create an outfit using others clothes and then each biker was allotted 5 minutes for hair and makeup. The results? Astounding. We even found lighting for the runway. Here are some shots:

After each of us wowed the judges (Emily, Tommy, Sam and Brianne), they narrowed the field down to 5 bikers. It wasn't really a competition anymore though, the clear and rightful winner was Nathan. The prize? He was first in line for ice cream.

Hello Washington, Bike and Build has arrived

2007-08-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today we crossed our last border! We had to hike under the freeway and scale a wall but we were not about to miss the Washington state sign. Tonight however, we are on lock down at the Fourth Memorial Church. Doors locked at 5pm and and alarm system will be set at 9:30. We cannot even go upstairs without the police knowing. So no celebrating tonight. The best part was that in order to enter the church I had to say that indeed I did love Jesus.

More blogging tomorrow. For now I am going to live out my last two hours of freedom before god says it's bed time.

Leaving Missoula entering the Naked Mile

2007-08-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Our day off in Missoula was just what we all needed. Bikers and young people were everywhere plus they had a movie theater that served beer, wine, hard liquor, cider and hot cocoa, so basically everything you need. Win, Kyle and I went on a date to see Sicko which I recommend everyone see. If you have ever spent more than 15 minutes on the phone with an insurance company you will appreciate it. No offense Uncle Tom. We also were lucky enough to find a great cliff jumping spot. After standing on the cliff for about 15 minutes I finally jumped, but I didn't take as long as Anne. Here are some pics:

In the days after leaving Missoula, and pretty much ever since we entered Wyoming the scenery has been beautiful, breathtaking...all those words. More importantly, everyday has been amazingly fun. We have been swimming, hiking, and eating so much good food. It's pretty much perfect out here in the West, besides this crazy church we are staying at tonight but I'll get into that later.

On one day in particular lunch was at a gorgeous river where we could all go swimming. I usually spend about 40 minutes at lunch, AT THE MOST. On this day I was there for 2.5 hours. It was so relaxing.

After lunch Terra and I took off down a frontage road. It was downhill and there was no one in site. About 2 miles in we see Greg pedaling up the hill towards us. My first thought was, "Great we went the wrong way and now we have to go back." Greg's first thought was apparently, "This is the perfect road for a naked mile." Now dad before you get all worked up I have to give you some background here. The Naked Mile is ingrained in the very history of Bike and Build and has been performed with astounding skill and beauty for six years now all across the country. We have heard about it since Rhode Island and now that we finally had the perfect road it had to be done. Sadly about 2 minutes later Greg got a flat. While he changed his tire Terra and I raced back towards lunch to gather more riders. 20 minutes later Terra, Greg, Sam, Courtney, Marie, Anne, Amelia, and I stripped down and jumped on our bikes. It was well, shall I say quite breezy. Half a mile into the ride a car passed. A second later another car passed, this driver was not smiling like the last one. Then to top off the ride a train passed us by and we got a lot of hoots and hollers from the conductors.

Afterwards we quickly dressed and pretended it never happened. In addition, I will post no pictures from this event.

Winding Down

2007-08-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sadly our days our now numbered and that means many things. 1: I am increasingly wanting to spend more and more time with these people and less and less time writing blog posts. 2: I will steal more posts from Sam which means less work for me. 3: I will show you some pictures.

ps: i am in Missoula right now and I love it and not just because we have a day off here. Everyone in this town bikes and there is so much going on. When we rode in yesterday there was a little festival in the park and then last night there was an orchestra that played at night. Also there is a cute little ice cream shop, The Big Dipper which serves some awesome treats and the bars were really busy for a Wednesday night!

SAMS BLOG:

Dear Montana,

I’ve only just met you and I think I’m in love. We first saw each other this morning, somewhere between West Yellowstone and Bozeman, and it was (forgive the cliché) love at first sight. You were cool and curvaceous, laying out lazily all along the Gallatin. We got along immediately, and all my friends liked you too—at first lunch everybody was talking about your looks and your style. I couldn’t believe my luck.

You’ll be in my dreams tonight. I can’t wait to see you again tomorrow.

xoxo,

Sammy-poo

7/30/07

Dear Montana,

The day started with coffee in Bozeman: a great beginning, or so I thought. The Rockford Café was a great little place, and with a belly full of French roast and our friend Marie tagging along, I knew that the next 100 miles with you were going to be unforgettable.

But then you totally dried up on me.

You blew a bunch of hot air in my face, something about the weather changing in our relationship, and then left me hanging. I felt like the rest of the day was interminably long—I had to struggle uphill against you and then when that conflict was resolved the decision was totally dissatisfying. Even when the fight leveled off I felt like it was an uphill battle, the same thing again and again.

I don’t know what to say, Montana. I had such high hopes yesterday, and things feel… different. When you’re not spitting wind and heat at me you’re cold and distant, desolate and teary.

I’m worried.

Sincerely,

Sam

7/31/07

Montana:

This is the last straw. I thought today was going to be short and sweet. I knew that there was a tough pass to navigate, but I thought we’d make it through unscathed. Little did I know that with you, even the easiest days can turn out deadly. We started the morning in a fight—that hot air from yesterday was even worse than before, and I was looking at a long uphill battle all day. You were beautiful as always, but inconsolable. I had to gaze upon you from afar. The distance was unbearable.

Even after the rough section I foresaw had passed, the conflict wasn’t over. It only got worse, because the end was in sight but I knew we had a long ways to go before we would rest.

I also heard a lot of nasty rumors—that a lot of cowboys have… ridden… you before, and that you’d even sheltered the Unabomber at one point. Now Montana, I’ve seen states with some pretty crazy exes, but that guy takes the cake. I don't want to think about what could happen if he gets out of jail.

Don’t get me wrong; you’re hot. Really, really hot. On fire. Literally. And you’re cool. Sometimes downright chilly. But I just don’t see this working out, for now or in the long-term. Besides, I was just out to get some tail. Wind, I mean.

All best in your future endeavors,

Samuel Cummings Carmichael

PS—I’ve been cheating on you with Wyoming.

Teton Pass

2007-08-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

30 bikers. 3000 feet. 5 miles. 10% grade. 5 mph. 6am. Arm Warmers. Leg Warmers. Clouds. Fog. Sweat. 55 Minutes. One Motorcycle ride. Success! Tetons what?

When we finally all got to the top a bunch of us decided we hadn't done enough exercise so we took a hike to the top of the mountain. We were 9,000 feet up but the clouds kept moving in and out so we had to rush so we could actually see once we got to the top. Rushing and hiking wasn't really in Derrick's vocab however, as he is afraid of heights. When we finally did make it to the top luck was on our side because the clouds cleared and we could see for miles. It was gorgeous.

After our hike more bikers arrived and we all decided we would wait for everyone to get to the top before we descended the mountain. Everyone arrived in their own style. Sarah by motorcycle. Brianne in tears of joy and our sweeps Tommy and Eric sprinted through our victory line. Actually making it up the pass and then watching everyone else make it up, made what we call "Teton pass day" the best day of the trip for me thus far.

Jackson Hole - Pictures for Ash, Rock, Zach

2007-08-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here is what your new home looks like guys! It is amazing. I also included some pictures from our build day. This is the nicest affordable housing I have ever worked on.

So what are these Teton things?

2007-07-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

We had been hearing about the Grand Tetons for a couple days and the ride to Jackson was going to be our first opportunity to see these things. I myself had no idea what to expect. There were so many mountains in the distance that day, I wasn't quite sure I would be able to tell the difference. Before we departed for Jackson a bunch of us decided to get coffee, chat on the phone and ride a giant Jackalope. I mean we did only have to ride 80 miles so we didn't really have much to do.

After all that was over we were off. We had a great gang and we were not afraid to stop every 5 miles. At the first stop Marie, Nate, Win, Lauren, Courtney and I had to pee. At the next stop we picked up Brianne, who was fixing her flat tire. The next stop was a bit of a delay. There was major construction going on so we couldn't ride up part of the mountain, we had to be driven by a huge truck! We were ecstatic.

Once we got off the truck we were about 20 miles into the ride which meant about 5 more until we hit lunch. The problem with this leg of our ride is that everything is so beautiful, I want to stop every 5 minutes and take pictures.

After eating some PB&J @ lunch we rode about a mile and hit the continental divide, we stopped. Then we hit more construction, we stopped again.

Then we saw it a sign that would provide our destiny, at least for the next 17 miles.

We had the road all to ourselves for a while and we were coasting down it at 30mph. No trailers. No cars or pickup trucks and no tractor trailers. But soon our victory ride was over and we were back down to a mere 23 mph with traffic on the road and thats when a bizarre freak accident occurred. I was riding behind Lauren and all of a sudden her seat broke off her bike and she went flying onto the road. Thankfully there were no cars around and we got the situation under control. Lauren is ok, just bruised and sore. She rode in the van the rest of the way and we carried on the next 60 miles riding a little slower than usual. The good news is that we finally saw the Tetons!

Hail Storm

2007-07-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

I usually do my blog posts in order; neatly and efficient. Today is a little different. This is only because I am so excited to tell you all that I am in a little library tucked in the woods of Idaho with Greg and Win, I can't even believe they have Internet.

The day began with a beautiful bike ride through a national forest and a hike down to a waterfall with a perfect "Lucky Charms" like rainbow. 10 miles later we sat down at a gas station for lunch where we found out our plans for tonight were not exactly nailed down. We are supposed to camp in Yellowstone tonight at a campsite that we have already reserved and paid for. Then the leaders found out that it was 40 miles into the park, and then they found out that it would cost us $400 altogether to get in, not $75. So after that little bump in the road everyone at lunch went crazy. How many miles are we biking today? How much will it cost? Will we see Old Faithful? How many minutes every hour does Old Faithful erupt? What if I don't want to camp out? Win, Greg and me just couldn't handle it so we biked on, but about 10 miles down the road it began to rain. We stopped and put our electronics away and that's when a little cafe caught our eye, we decided we would stay out of the rain and lightning and enjoy some hot cocoa. As soon as we stepped in the door of the cafe it began to pour and hail. The hail storm was unbelievable! We sat sipping our hot cocoa for about 30 minutes until the sun came out again. Soon enough our fellow bikers came down the road soaking wet, they apparently did not find shelter as we did. After making some clever jokes their way we continued on and we didn't even go two miles until we saw a sign that said "library." I looked to see where the arrow pointed and according to the sign there was a library off the highway in the middle of the woods. This we just had to check out. So here we are, in the middle of the woods in Idaho, using the Internet. 20 miles to go and we will be in West Yellowstone. Although i have no idea whether or not we are camping tonight or biking through the park or even seeing Old Faithful. Right now that really doesn't matter.

Tourists Galore

2007-07-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

We moved off Route 20 and onto apparently "Route Tourist." Gosh that was like a bad Sam joke. The trailers that pass me at about 90 mph have made me too tired to post about Dubois but here are some photos.

And then the backboard shattered...

2007-07-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure you've realized by now we usually stay at a lot of churches, YMCA's, schools, etc...Well in Lander we got a real special treat, we got to split up and stay in peoples homes! Yes I said it, real houses! This meant showers, dinner tables, and most importantly, beds!!!! Before I get into that though, let me tell you how amazing the town of Lander, Wyoming is.

We got into town around 11:30, here's a picture from the ride. We finally started seeing some mountains.

Once we got into town of course we were starving so Greg, Marie and I went to a local Pizza bar. We sat down and ordered two pizzas and root beer floats. To our surprise when we went to pay the bill, one of the regulars who had been sitting near us already paid it! This was just the first of many signs that the people of Lander are so generous and caring. I mean they let 30 smelly dirty bikers into their homes!

After dinner at the park, our hosts took us to an amazing natural Lander wonder, Sinks Canyon. Sinks Canyon is so named because the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie river flows out of the Wind River Mountains and through the Canyon. Halfway down the canyon the river abruptly turns into a large limestone cavern, and the crashing water "sinks" into fissures and cracks at the back of the cave. The river is underground for 1/4 mile until it emerges down canyon and then continues its course into the valley below. Where the water goes while it is underground is unknown.

Not only was this Canyon amazing but just the drive during dusk was enough to make me want to pack up and move to Lander. The mountains were gorgeous and just minutes away was a natural water slide and tons of hiking paths. Blocking the rode during our ride were two huge big horned sheep, the first I've ever seen outside the zoo!

I was exhausted after the day in Landon and was super excited to get back to my host site where I was staying with Bronwyn, Terra, Eric, Lauren and Katie. On the way home one driver stopped at Safeway and told Terra's car to buy anything they wanted and he would pay for it. He said he understood what living on the rode was like and knew we must be desiring certain foods! He pretty much hit the nail on the head there. They came back with lots of goodies.

Before they came home however Katie and I walked into our host site where we didn't exactly have hosts. The family was away for the weekend but the 18 year old son was home. Well he had some friends over and they accidentally smashed the backboard to the basketball hoop that just happens to be in their living room. Oops. It made for an eventful night to say the least but in the end I slept in a bed!!!!!

A 30 mph tail wind!

2007-07-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Terra and I had the wind at our backs the day we swept the bikers from Route 20 and it was awesome. This 100 mile day was yet another sandy and hot endeavor but we did have a fire house to look forward to staying in once we got to Shoshoni, and anyone who knows me knows I love firemen! My motivation was there. We had also been hearing about an infamous malt shop in Shoshoni so we could cool down from the 103 degree heat.

The day ended up being a show consistent ride in the beginning but it was great to ride with Terra because she is one of the, shall we say "speedier" riders on the trip and she also doesn't lolly gag in the mornings, so I don't get to ride with her often. She told me about the time she spent in New Zealand and her first bike ride which was apparently a lot like my amateur century ride on a mountain bike.

Our big scenic adventure of the day was first lunch stop, Hell Half Acre. Little known fact, this is where the huge blockbuster hit "Starship Troopers" was filmed.

Another little known fact. It's a lot bigger than a half acre.

After first lunch and second lunch Terra and I were lucky enough to receive an amazing tailwind. We were easily going 30 mph on flat land all the way to Shoshoni, so we brushed through the last 60 miles. It was amazing. I have decided that wind is the end all be all to biking. Hills and mountains are nothing, it all depends on the wind.

When I woke up everyone had mohawks

2007-07-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

You've probably noticed that in many of my photos people are missing the hair on the sides of their head. This can all be explained in Sam's posting from his blog. I cannot give an accurate account because I was napping when everything went down.

Stolen from Sams blog:

Okay, so we've been tossing around the idea of mohawks for a week or so now, and yesterday in Gordon, Nebraska, we finally got around to it. We'd ridden for 8 hours from Valentine, NE; we left at 4:30 AM Central Time to avoid the heat and we crossed into Mountain Time Zone about 30 miles in to the 94 mile day. Most of us finished the near-century before noon, leaving ample time to appreciate the two businesses open on Sunday: a gas station and a grocery store. We all swam in the public pool, and then when we got back from the pool decided to follow through on the mohawk option. Each looks different: Logan looks very 80's rocker, Derrick 90's club-goer. Nate's pulling off the emo look very well, and Amelia looks like a badass biker chick. Greg looks like he's always had one. And, as you can see, I'm rocking the "real" fauxhawk. I think we were all inspired by the extremity of our 600-mile week, and exhilarated by the prospect of a 46-mile ride into Chadron, NE the next day. I know I was ready to let off some of the anxiety built up from the week of 90+ degree weather and intense distances.

Casper: Jackalopes and Dick Cheney

2007-07-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

By the time the fifth or sixth Halliburton gas guzzling truck passed me on the highway coming in to Casper I thought something was up. Then when I found out good ol' "shoot your friend when you go hunting" Dick Cheney calls Casper his home, it all made sense! We got to spend two days in this lovely cowboy town because day two was a build day. The Drum and Bugle Corp let us stay in their air conditioned space where I napped for a good part of day one, until I woke up to make chili dinner for the 30 of us (it was my chore groups turn to make dinner).

A 6am wake up call was in store for day 2 so that we could meet Dean at the build site, and let me tell you Dean was quite the treat. At build sites I usually like to sit back and see what all the tasks are before I decide what I can do best, at this one I decided cleaning up would probably be my best bet. So Marie, Pat, Amelia and I went over to house #2 and swept up saw dust. We swept and swept, Dean would interject with positive reinforcement saying things like, "Once you think you're done sweeping, then just keep going." This went on for 3 hours! Finally we were finished and allowed to do a second sanding of the floor...then more sweeping. Then the fun began. We used power drills (I actually used one of these things) to put a new floor down as a base to go under the nice wood kitchen floor that would go down later. It took about 3 more hours to measure and cut the pieces and drill them down, but during that time Dean loosened up quite a bit and began singing. This build day was so much fun and we couldn't think of a better way to end it but to go to the Home Country Buffet. Yum Roast Beef and Mac n' Cheese.

Down home livin' on the Ranch

2007-07-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Before I can begin this post I would love to show you this beautiful house we were lucky enough to see on our ride.

God Bless America.

After that patriotic ride we were lucky enough to visit Pastor Struck's Ranch. We stayed at his church the night before and he invited us for dinner at his ranch 55 miles away the next night. As soon as we all arrived the fun began. There were horses, pigs, sheep, cows and ATVs!

Now Pastor Struck doesn't have to take care of this ranch himself. Between his kids and their kids there are 30 people that live on the Struck ranch property! Their were kids everywhere, just going buck wild in cowboy boots. I ended up staying late on the ranch, taking the last van shift home. This meant I got to hang out around the fire roasting s'mores with lots of little kids. They were hilarious, and I found out, living in the middle of nowhere does not mean that you don't have Akon and Carrie Underwood ring tones.

Douglas Wyoming

2007-07-19T15:51:00.001-07:00

54 miles to Douglas Wyoming. 2.5 hours doing laundry punishment duty. At least there is wireless.

PS: yesterday we met a man walking across the US. Holy crap! The other day we met a guy walking backwards across the US, he just wasn't all there though. Watch out for him, I believe his name is Mr. Bill.

The Sand State

2007-07-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

I never knew Nebraska was so dry and barren for sooo many miles. We just entered Wyoming tonight and I hope there is a change in scenery, so far it's not looking so good though. This picture displays the first photo worthy stop I made on an 87 mile day, notice the picture still includes a great deal of sand.

The sand cafe, gave Bike and Builders an amazing break on our century ride by providing us all with free water, lemonade and cinnamon rolls. The ladies of the sand cafe were so sweet. The best part was that on the walls of their this tiny french toast paradise, were pictures of Bike and Builders from years past who had taken the same route. This year was no different. They got out their Polaroid and snapped group shots of us in our 2007 gear, it'll be a great treat for next years crew to see us up on that wall.

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This is Marie's corn cob that she brings with her everywhere, here we shared a windy moment with tumbleweeds.

Yes folks, this gas station in Chadron Nebraska does have the worlds greatest nachos.

This is what happens when 20 Bikers enter a room.

Today was exhausting.
We rode 81 miles.
Around mile 52 I began losing vision and then blacked out completely.
My fellow bikers stopped with me and created shade with their bodies.
Lauren gave me her extra water.
It was all very dramatic.

This library is closing now and I'm off to bed. I hope the couch I've reserved back at the church still has my sleeping bag on it! Goodnight

Welcome to the middle of nowhere

2007-07-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

There wasn't much to do but play with hay bails!

Day off in Chadron

2007-07-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

The town of Chadron is buzzing with Bike and Builders! We arrived here yesterday after a short 47 mile day. Don't worry, we did stop at the fur trade museum before coming here and it was fabulous! I spent yesterday checking out the town and cleaning out our trailer with Marie, this was an incredible feat. We started by pulling everything out and sweeping the inside.

Unusual things we found inside the trailer:
- An Axe
- 2 Ham sandwiches
- One wool glove
- 3 baseball bats

Amount of time it took to clean and organize:
about 2.5 hours

Garbage bags filled:
2

Productive new trailer areas created:
- the makeshift library
- organized and categorized Tupperware bins!

For now I am hanging out in the library and would love to post more pics but the connection is quite slow. I will have to wait until the next time we have internet! I miss you all. Thanks for the packages and love on mail drop days, it means a lot. Tomorrow we will enter Wyoming, ride on!

The Bike and Build Plague

2007-07-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

We call it the plague. It begins with a slight headache. Then comes the queasy stomachache and soon you see a biker fleeing to the bathroom. It's never good. Jackie had it first, then Derrick, Tommy, Kyle, Brianne, and the list continues. It's gotten to about 15 bikers at this point. Each day the van carries at least 3 of them, unable to ride, they enter the van with buckets and saltines. We see them at our lunch stops. They crowd under the shade of trees and we all pray that we wont be next. Thankfully I have not yet received the plague, keep us in your thoughts.

Sand dunes and more bizarre signs

2007-07-17T13:50:00.001-07:00

My "First" Offense

2007-07-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

The latest excitement in my Bike and Build life has been my involvement in a scandal at a bar in a Bowling Alley with a bartender named Renee. It all began around 6am when we entered the Bowling Alley for pancakes, French toast and eggs, which by the way was amazing. I played a couple rounds of bowling and then Renee got rowdy. She challenged us all to a beer drinking competition. She said she could drink one beer in 7 seconds and a bottle of wine in 15. Let me give you a visual of Renee, a woman who singlehandedly won a "husband Calling" competition at the state fair last year.

The only foolish people to accept were Win, Courtney and me. I call this foolish only because drinking in your bike and build jersey before a ride is against bike and build policy. I put first in quotations because this is the first time alcohol related offenses have been punished on this trip, which is why we accepted the challenge so willingly. We didn't realize we would actually be punished. However, when all was said and done Renee took the cake, Win, Courtney and I were punished with triple laundry duty, and I ate ample amounts of bowling alley French toast afterwards. Lesson learned: It's still OK to live in the moment as far as I'm concerned, rock on Renee.

19 hours in a cafe

2007-07-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ames Iowa! All i have to say is Leslie Hall . She is a famous celeb in Iowa. She wears Gem Sweaters and has her own cd. CHECK IT OUT. In other news Ames was a big vacation for Bike and Build because 1. We only rode 47 miles to get there and 2. We had a build day the next day so we slept until 6am instead of 5am. We also spent about half our time there in this amazing cafe called Cafe Diem. They made the best smoothies plus they gave us free cookies.

The owners of a farm about 40 miles outside Ames gave us a real Midwest treat on the night of our build day. After gathering for a picnic full of tightrope walking and frisbee throwing we were driven to a beautiful farm for hayrides! And these were not just normal horses pulling the carriage, they were huge ginormous clydesdale's. We were so lucky! There is something about being pulled in a carriage during dusk just as the sun is setting and then seeing millions of fireflies in the dark. It was gorgeous. Once the ride was over, we were welcomed back on the farm with smores around the fire. I love you Iowa.

Iowa, we are breaking up

2007-07-09T10:17:00.001-07:00

I have a great idea! Lets ride 87 miles in incredible horrible headwind up steep hills and then lets throw about 15 miles of gravel hills in the mix. Also, just for fun; in the morning the lunch group can talk about the amazing snacks that we have packed away in the trailer, and then I can think about them all day while I'm biking. Then (here's the good part) when I get to the lunch spot all the snacks I have thought about all day will have already been eaten by all the other bikers who got there first!!!!! Hahaha. And then to top it off, when I arrive at the church at 7pm, everyone can say "Surprise, no showers, use that hose!" So yes Iowa, we are breaking up. I thought I loved you. But now I am over it.

Here is what Sam has to say about this day: (Stolen from http://sandbb.blogspot.com/)

So, turns out "IOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" makes for terrific primal scream material-- I've done my best impression above, and I did it a lot over the course of our ride through the headwindy hills of this great state. Today marks the culmination of some of the most intense riding we’ve done so far, it was an 82-miler, the day before I rode 102, and the day before THAT was 93 or so. And Iowa, despite all initial speculation, is HILLY. Like, 4-5,000 vertical feet of climbing per-day hilly. And windy, like, feels like you're going uphill when you're flat, and feels like you're flat when you're going down. It cancels out gravity out here. Yesterday I was riding downhill, hands-free, and started decelerating. It was eerie. It was frustrating. But we got it done.

So far, though, Iowa's been a pleasant, welcome surprise. In an earlier post, I alluded to a popular belief that these four states or so would be like one big, boring, flat state. And despite the fact that it's been a big, flat, boring ride at times, the people and places have been absurdly welcoming and generous. And beautiful.

We spent the day after our first "century" in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is an awesome little city with a killer farmer's market and a really good bike shop, where I got a cushy pair of Nike spandex (turns out they're the best. I've come to agree...). I was in Cedar Rapids till about 10:30 AM with Bronwyn, Win, and Chantel, waiting for Win's bike to be fixed, and then had to deal with a "76 mile" day which turned out to be 82, featuring 14 miles on GRAVEL ROADS. I'm not talking about pleasant hard pack, either, I'm talking about the kind I'd feel comfortable on with a mountain bike. Maybe. The leaders used four sources to check the directions, all of which indicated that the roads we'd be following were "two lane blacktop," and "well-suited for bicycles." Win and I had a 10 mile shiatsu butt-massage thanks to those darn "blacktop" roads, in 92-degree heat, with a 25-mph headwind. Up hills.

I'll stop bitching. Incredibly, we maintained a positive attitude through all of this sadistic washboard, and after "first lunch," (on 90+ degree or 90+ mile days we get TWO lunches, which is unbelievably exciting) we managed to actually have fun. Lauren was insane, and chanting "Push it, Push it" up hills, and we (Bridget, Win, Lauren, Eric, Carrie, and I) all had an impromptu primal scream session at about the mid-point of a terrible, wind-ravaged plateau. My internal monologue, unprintable in this forum, was hysterical by then. It normally consists of three- and four-letter words that I blush about, but yesterday it was far worse-- strings of said words, creatively arranged, ending in "hills," or "wind." Or "leaders," though I'm not proud of that one.

All of that aside, on days like that I keep in mind that, no matter how much it sucks, it'll pass. And we'll make it, and it'll feel great to make it. We had no showers, and cold pizza, but the ice-cold, Marines-style shower I took was about the most satisfying one I've had in a while. We're in Ames, Iowa tonight, after a real nice 44-mile jaunt over some hills and against the wind. I like it here. More to come soon.

I am thinking about moving to Iowa

2007-07-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

Iowa is amazing! Who would have thought? The ride to Cedar Rapids was our century ride and I am so proud that on this particular day I made it to the host site by 4pm! It actually wasn't a century ride because my odometer read 97 miles by the end. Now some bikers kept going once they got to Cedar Rapids so that they could complete the century. I myself saw that there was a Dairy Queen across from our host site and instead of riding the 3 extra miles I had a blizzard, a cheeseburger and a Coca Cola.

The Habitat chapter in Cedar Rapids had an amazing treat for us, we met with an amazing family who lives in a Habitat House. A whole bus load of bike and builders headed over to an avenue of Habitat houses, I believe it was called Americus drive, and sat down on the family's lawn to hear their story. At first I have to admit it did feel a little intrusive, as if we were some touristy group invading someones life just for our benefit, but Momodu (the father of the Kamara family) helped to quickly turn that feeling around.

The Kamara's are from Sierra Leone but fled the country in 1997 due to civil war. He told us the story (short version) of how his family was separated and moved into refugee camps, all the while hoping to establish a place, a home to live in together once again. After meeting several generous people and churches that helped them establish themselves in America, the Kamaras had to qualify for a Habitat home, that was a whole new obstacle. They bought and helped build their new home in 2001, getting in many, many hours of sweat equity.

As Momodu spoke you could see how passionate he was in his mission to get this home. Before, they were living in an overcrowded apartment, now his daughter and two sons have a place to come home to with their own space.

We tried not to bombard them too long with questions and conversations about affordable housing, but by the time we left the sun was setting. The church had one more surprise for us that night, mattresses! The 5am wake up isn't so bad when your sleeping on something thicker than one inch.

Iowa does have hills

2007-07-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

We finally crossed into Iowa. No more endless corn. No more endless soy bean patches! Yay. A local YMCA hosted us in Clinton and they were pumped about bike and build. Their Teen Club made us a spaghetti dinner and challenged us to a dodge ball tournament afterwards. Apparently they do this every year Bike and Build comes through town and every year the Teen Club wins. This year was no different. We were destroyed. I spent the rest of the night doing 30 bikers laundry. Ugh.

Hog wild on the Fourth of July

2007-07-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

During our dinner in Pontiac we met Farmer Lyons, he owns a hog farm 10 miles west of Peru. He said it was a Bike and Build tradition for us to stop and take a look at his farm and his hogs on our ride by his house, so that’s exactly what we did. Farmer Lyons is an amazing man who told us all about his travels to Alaska, South America and he even told us a couple war stories. While at his farm he told us even more about crops. He grows corn, soy, and wheat and most of his seed is distributed to a major bird seed manufacturer. The less glamorous section of the farm held the hogs, and let me tell you this was a very special smell. I could only go into the pen for about 1 minute due to the stench but outside we learned all about how we get our bacon. For Amy’s sake, I wont get into it here.

We had a long ride to Peru but it was July 4th so we wanted to make it special, and we did! Around mile 40 we got onto a bike path that turned out to be all gravel. Once again, this is not an enjoyable surface for road bikes. We knew however, that it would only be a 15 mile ride on the path, so we toughed it out.

It ended up being a beautiful bike path right along train tracks and a river, and once we thought we couldn't take the heat anymore the river opened up into a gorgeous swimming area. One by one bikers kept coming and jumping in the water. It was an amazing cool down. Once we got to Peru we had a lovely dinner and presentation and then we saw the best fireworks presentation that the Midwest has to offer. They really know how to celebrate America out here!

Rural Manhattan

2007-07-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Pontiac Illinois, voted the best small town in the Midwest. Well I have been there and I can vouch that it is small and it may be one of the best but really I have no clue and not too much comparison. I mean they do have three, count em, three swinging bridges. But even before that we had to travel through what I like to call rural Manhattan. Chronologically numbered streets and avenues in a grid like formation throughout endless cornfields. I know this sounds like a lot of fun, and it was for the first 10 miles, until all the roads turned to gravel and we felt like bikers of the corn. We rode for as long as we could on the gravel, but because we were going about 10 mph we decided something needed to change, so we asked some farmers where the nearest interstate was and we made it to Pontiac much faster. In Pontiac we were welcomed with a statue of Abe and the Route 66 museum. What more is there really?

A "Short" Day

2007-07-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

It’s very interesting how the evolution of miles on this trip has progressed. I remember during my “training days” when I rode 15 miles and that was enough for a week. Nowadays when we ride 50 miles we call it a “short day.” Well the ride to Gilman was just that, a “short day.” I believe it was a 60 mile ride and we quickly brushed through the first 40 miles before even stopping for lunch. Lunch on this particular day was awesome because our food came from so many different places! Our bread was donated from Panerea bread, all 40 loaves! Our meat and cheese was donated from subway. We claimed that during one of our pee breaks. Subway quickly packaged it up for us and we rode the rest of the miles to lunch with meat and cheese on our

While on the ride we met a guy who is riding cross country from Washington to Maine, but he is doing it all alone! His wife is driving his SAG wagon (aka their mini van) and he has only taken one day off. He left on may 28th so by the time we saw him he was pretty much almost there. He said he was going to take about 17 more days to get to his final destination. Wow. The discoloration in his skin did scare me a bit and encourage more personal sunscreen application.

Once we arrived in Gilman we held a bike clinic for the little kiddies in town. They loved this. There was one boy who was particularly adorable, his name is Dakota. He stayed with us the whole night, throughout dinner and our presentation. He even made it to breakfast the very next morning to send us off. Since we left Gilman Dakota and his mom have been keeping up with us through our online journals. Here's what she had to say:

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!
All of you were wonderful to Cody (Dakota) and all of us! He is so tickled with his "Bike and Build" shirt and water bottle. I'm sure as soon as it's washed he will have it on again. Please pass on to Evan that Cody gets on his bike all by himself by tilting it way over to the side and adjusting the pedal like he taught him. His bike helmet is on its way from his Mom and Dad in San Antonio, Texas. He said as soon as you were all gone "I'm going to miss all of them." Thanks for being part of our lives even for such a short time. I gave my phone numbers to one of your leaders--you are ALL welcome to call if ever though this area again even not on a bike.

The case of the lost keys

2007-07-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

The story goes that a blonde biker girl went into the van to use her computer and then left the van and two hours later the keys were no where to be found. Now imagine this being the night before our day off so everyone over 21 wants to use the van to get to the bars. So all the 21 year olds are tearing the van apart looking for the keys, glaring at me ( I mean the blonde biker girl) all the while. In the end, we don’t find them. The decision, at 10:30pm is to ride our bikes to the bars. So we dressed ourselves in headlamps, dresses, helmets, and shoes and headed out. Win had previously found a gay bar for us to attend (by previously I mean he immediately Google mapped it when we got there). So we leave from the Evangelical church and arrive at Zoolegers, a gay bar WITH a drag show! Our $5 cover charge is waved because we explain our cause. This bar was not your average hot spot, but it was amazing! Everyone was so welcoming, and wanted to hear all about our cause. They even invited us get up on stage, dance around, and tell the whole bar about the need for affordable housing. It was great, we did our affordable housing presentation at Zooleggers! The ride home was a bit more challenging than the ride there but we made it back safe and sound and the next day we got to sleep in!

I awoke in the church around 9am and immediately began worrying about the keys once more. I did not want to spend my whole day off looking for them. Thankfully our leaders said to enjoy our day and later on we would scour the church and the van. I spent my day off at the bike shop where I got two new tires and a new chain. Apparently after you go 1100 miles your bike starts to hate you. Then we went out to lunch at this great diner called Triple X that was just featured on the Food Network. Afterwards we finally saw Oceans 13, we have been talking about going to the movies this whole trip. When we returned back to church the keys loomed over me again but this time leader Patrick helped out. Once more we entered the van, it was about 90 degrees and I was almost ready to give up when he dug his hand in the hole where the seat belt buckle goes. He started pulling out toys, change, garbage and finally THE KEYS! After that was over with I could finally relax and that’s when I hit the sack.

Pedaling towards a day off

2007-07-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

I rode out from West Lafayette with Katie, we were the sweeps for the day. Today was a particularly exciting destination because we had the next day off, so it was extra victorious for us to arrive today. I couldn't wait to get there and not have to think about our normal schedule of shower, eat, chores, sleep...this night we could mix it up! Bike and build gone crazy. But first, the ride.

We didn’t make it far before we hit our first stopped bikers, Katya and Elle. Elle had a nasty flat tire which took about 40 minutes to fix. And that was probably the height of excitement for the day, as the rest was just cornfields. Derrick however, does deserve a "way to go" on this day because this was his third day in a row of biking 80 miles. He was definitely in pain but he made it all the way and kept up his sense of humor. Derrick you rock!

Once we arrived in West Lafayette we rode to where we would stay for two nights, an Evangelical church. It was an interesting environment, quite different than any of the other church settings we stayed in thus far. For example, posters like this hung along the walls:

Anyways, once i was clean I thought, i would love to use the Internet. So i search all over for a wireless signal and finally i find one! Right near the van. I get the keys from Tommy and take a seat in the van. This is where things go wrong, I will post later about the saga of the lost keys.

Hartford City Indiana

2007-07-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

A summary of the day:
The first 25 miles go super fast
Emily gets a flat
Stretch break
Emily gets a flat
Emily gets a flat
I eat a hot fudge sundae
Win eats a chili cheese dog
Courtney eats fries and chicken
It’s 10:45am
We press on without Emily
Enter Indiana
Lunch stop at the trailer and town library
Pat catches up on romance novels
We ride 22 mph the rest of the way
Win tells a 15 minute joke about a duck, a virgin, and two hunters
We meet Sam on the side of the road, he has a flat
Win chalks messages for the now disgruntled Emily
Enter Hartford city where 4 lovely church ladies present us with dinner
Eat
Eat
Eat
Brush my teeth
One more handful of popcorn
9:30pm
Sleep

The burning question: How many corn cobs grow on one stalk?

2007-07-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

This day seemed to last forever on the road, but it was so relaxing. We left the JCC around 8 and were forewarned to be extra careful when driving through rush hour traffic in Columbus. Two days earlier Nate was hit by a car, he is OK, but his bike was damaged. Once we reached downtown Columbus I realized that it's actually a city. For some reason I never thought of Columbus as having tall buildings or any type of city life, but it did and it was great. Win and I stopped at the intersection of Gay and High Street at a coffee house that many bike couriers hang out at, so naturally we fit right in.

Once we got on the road we moved at a steady pace, only stopping at really bizarre signs to take pictures. One of the many things I've noticed throughout this vast country is how people use freedom of speech in such a fantastic way. This church sign is really one of my favorites.

Another favorite of mine, that I really had to do a double take for was back in Ohio, in the middle of nowhere, so I'm not really sure how this message is going to be widely spread but anyways it said "Get the U.S. out of the U.N." Alrighty then.

Along the road, it became painfully obvious that this was the beginning of what we had all been dreading, flat land with corn on the right and corn on the left. You can see miles ahead, so you KNOW there’s nothing coming up to excite you!

We arrived at lunch to find Patrick, who was the days van driver. He told us he had just visited the ice cream shop across the street and tried to make conversation with the woman inside. He said things like, “this is a really cute town, do you like to live here? How long have you owned this shop…etc” And she quickly replied by saying in an accent I only wish I could recreate through this post, “Son have you looked around? This town is White trash.” Pat smiled politely and walked away. So much for small talk in small towns.

After lunch things kind of went downhill. There was a severe downpour so Win and I stopped at a drive through convenient store (they have these all over Ohio)! Then we continued driving only about 10 miles until I got my fourth flat tire of the trip. As soon as I knelt down to change it, the rain began again. Great.

So the flat was changed and we pushed on but in about 3 miles we both had to use the bathroom. With all this corn everywhere, it’s the perfect mobile bathroom, it really goes with us everywhere. Off our bikes we go, trekking into the cornfield to pee, not thinking so much about the rain and the mud that has been created in the cornfield. We sure did notice it once we walked out though and then we spent about 10 minutes digging it out of our shoes.

After this whole production was finally over we arrived to such a welcoming church. They put a sign out for us, provided little snacks and a great dinner. That night brought a lot of positive energy for our group because we had a mail drop and even I got a postcard (thanks dad). Herman, from Habitat Providence also sent us each an individual package full of goodies so that was really sweet. Later, at our town hall meeting, we each read anonymous “Way to goes” about one another, congratulating each other on accomplishments for the week!

Once morale was boosted I slept on a couch. Life is sweet.

Columbus Dispatch Article

2007-07-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

CROSS-COUNTRY CONSTRUCTION

Cyclists' goal: pedal, hammer

Bike & Build riders aid Habitat for Humanity

Thursday, June 28, 2007 3:43 AM
By Brittany Kress

Logan Rhyne's green shirt was spotted with sweat from working in the heat, but he was smiling -- especially because he got to sleep in his own bed the night before.

The 20-year-old New Albany native has spent the past three weeks bicycling from Providence, R.I. He's riding across the country this summer, stopping along the way to help build affordable housing.

Yesterday, his group of 30 cyclists with Bike & Build put together trusses and interior walls for two Habitat for Humanity houses on Guilford Avenue in Franklinton.

The 18- to 24-year-olds usually sleep on church basement floors or YMCA basketball courts, but Rhyne crawled into his own bed Tuesday night after his group attended a Columbus Clippers game.

Building or bicycling upward of 50 miles every day makes for the ideal summer, Bike & Build participants said.

All stressed their love of travel, learning and helping.

Resume-building is "something I don't seem as concerned about as some of my peers," said Rhyne, an incoming junior studying science, technology and international affairs at Georgetown University in Washington.

He thought about working in Washington or maintaining trails in the Allegheny Mountains, but the concept behind Bike & Build appealed to him the most, he said.

This summer is an escape from the monotony of work for Caroline Schepker, 19, of Hartford, Conn., an incoming junior at Brown University studying neuroscience.

"For me, this is sort of a vacation," said Schepker, who has held a job since she was allowed to work.

"The only hard part was knowing I would have to be tight with my budget at school this year," she said.

The hardest part has been cycling in silence, without another's voice or music to listen to, Schepker said. As a safety precaution, cyclists are not allowed to listen to music while riding.

"It's not lonely, but for all those hours, sometimes you're like, 'Whoa, I'm really getting to know myself.' "

Candace Blas, 18, has been taking everything in with the hope that she'll narrow her focus on a career path.

"All I know is, America is big; that's such an abstract thing," said Blas, an incoming sophomore at the University of Alaska whose hometown is Chugiak, Alaska. "I want to be exposed to everything our country has … so I can apply myself."

Groups of 30 Bike & Build riders are following six cross-country routes. The cyclists in Columbus yesterday left Providence on June 7. They will spend six days during the course of the ride stopping to build homes and will arrive in Seattle on Aug.13 for a final day of construction.

Each was required to raise $4,000 to participate in Bike & Build. The 4-year-old program has so far distributed $752,804 to affordable-housing groups.

Roger Powell, site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Columbus, said he was pleased with the group's work on the two-story, three-bedroom houses in Franklinton.

Volunteers have been working on them since early this month and expect to finish by October, said Deb Light, Habitat volunteer director.

bkress@dispatch.com
For additional health information, visit OhioHealth

Sweat Equity - Seriously

2007-07-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

As I have noted in my earlier posts, build days are not my specialty, and this particular day was 93 degrees. We arrived at the site in our matching tees and were immediately dressed in hardhats and tool belts. We could tell right away that this group was very organized. Greg, Win, and I were sent to the second story of the first house, our job was to create walls. Even though it was unbearably hot, I did learn a lot in the first couple hours, before my confidence was torn apart by some of the workmen.
What I learned:
• How to cut with a power saw
• What a Jack/King means when making a door frame
• How to hammer from the side when there are other pieces of wood in the way

Why my builders confidence was torn apart:
• One man told me I had a 30 stroke going for 5 stroke nails
• Another man told me he might have to retire the project I was working on because I was taking too long

Soon after these comments the ice cream truck drove down the street and everything was happy again.

The good news is, our group of 30 builders made so much improvement in the 7 hours that we were there. When I looked around throughout the day from the second story of the roofless house I was on, I saw bike and builders building roofs and cleaning up garbage and the people next store slapping on siding. We left the area having provided a lot of free labor that could have otherwise taken much longer. So even though it was 93 degrees and I may not have the best skills with the hammer, it was great to put work into the beginnings of a great home.

The Quick 45 Mile Sprint to Logans Mom and a Pool

2007-07-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

After spending a night in a bed at Kent I felt so refreshed. It was amazing what a little bit of padding under your back and some privacy could do. That morning we were spoiled even more with what was in store for us throughout the day. Breakfast was at the Kenyon dining hall, that means hot food! I enjoyed eggs, bacon, muffins, coffee...I frequently turned to people in line who i didn't know and excitedly stated how happy I was and asked them if they felt the same. I forget that not everyone gets as excited about food as us. Once breakfast was over we all had one thing on our minds, Logan's house, which includes his pool. Logan lives in New Albany, which is about 10 miles away from the JCC in Columbus where we stayed. So our first stop was naturally his house. That day i got on my bike and I thought of nothing else but the pool for 40 miles. We rode at about 19 miles per hour and got there around 11:15. It was amazing. Logan's mom had a huge spread awaiting us. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, cheese cake, sweet tea...we spent the whole day eating and pool side where we checked out one another's tan lines.

Afterwards we all went to a minor league baseball game, but I'm pretty sure no one really paid attention. A really generous and helpful family of a past rider bussed us over to the ball field and got us tickets and free food, so that we would have a good time at the game!

Our whole day was made possible by so many people who put so much time and effort into feeding us, housing us, and making sure we had a good time. Thank you so much to all of those people! We really needed that little bit of relaxation and pool time!

The Sweet Smell of Amish Country

2007-06-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

The ride to Gambier was ripe with the lovely smells of Amish country. Cheese, yogurt, and horses. On this 90 degree day, we rode through a touristy stretch of rode that really sent us all on quite a detour. I ended up spending two hours eating peanut brittle, touring a cheese factory, and learning about the Amish culture at a mural museum.

After I had a stomach full of dairy, I was ready to go, but my fellow riders still hadn't had enough. This was the first time on the trip where I felt the desire to take off and ride on my own. I left Amish country and headed south towards the lunch stop. With my odometer broken (thank you Patrick) I had no idea how far i was riding or how fast i was going. There was no one behind me to make me feel as though I wasn't going fast enough and there was no one in front of me that I needed to keep up with. It was amazing. I rode alone, took pictures, wondered if i was lost, and finally about an hour later, I saw some fellow riders. We met up right before a huge hill. The temperature outside felt like it was about 100 degrees but I felt great. I took a huge gulp out of my camel pack, switched gears and pedaled up what seemed like a mountain. Once I got to the top the coast down was amazing, and Patrick was awaiting us all with a perfect lunch spot. Chalked arrows led us to a covered bridge, a nice shady spot to enjoy a pb&j and some Gatorade.

We left lunch only to be spoiled with more joys. Not only did we get Amish cheese and an amazing lunch spot but we also got to ride the last 15 miles down a beautiful bike path. Our destination was Kenyon College, where we would be sleeping in beds!!! The path was surrounded by perfectly groomed farmland, ponds, bridges, cattle, and ended at the old train station.

This day was amazing. Laying in my SINGLE room that night, in a real BED, I couldnt really ask for more.

I hate railroad tracks...and so do Amelia and Elle

2007-06-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

The ride from Youngstown, OH started out lovely. First off I was with some great people: Kyle, Emily, Win and Greg. We did the usual stop for ice cream, stop for coffee, stop for kyle and win every 5 miles because they dropped their chain...anyways.

We get to this dreaded railroad track and things went all wrong. I know the drill. You get to the track and you go over them perpendicular, just like leader Tommy taught us. Well i started doing that and then this track got all crazy on me, it twisted and turned, and i got all confused and fell over right there. This time i made sure to keep my head far away from the ground because there was no way I was going to pay $45 for another helmet. So I am laying on the ground in gravel and a car slows down right next to me. I am bleeding and alone, bike shorts torn. Obviously injured. The older couple in the car looks at me, gives me the once over, and then speeds away!! So i get up, get back on my scratched up bike and ride on. But here is the damage.

So the best part was that i got to our destination and i find out that both Elle and Amelia fell on the same exact tracks! So i wasn't the only one.

On a more positive note, Derrick is back. He is crazy, amazing, unbelievable...etc and is riding even though he has a broken pelvic bone. He just can't stay away.

Who did put the Oh in Ohio?

2007-06-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

We finally entered a new state! It's always exciting, that good ol'state sign. On this particular day we had about 65 miles to decide what we were going to do when we got there, this picture is about all that we could come up with. On our way to the sign, and to lunch, we did encounter an amazing yard sale! We try to stop at these as much as we can. At this particular one I found a board game that we could all enjoy, Double Trouble. We attached it to my water backpack and I rode the next 6 miles to lunch carrying a board game on my back in 85 degree heat. It really slowed me down on the downhill. Its been about 3 days since then and we still have not played Double Trouble. I think it might even be lost.

Short cuts, a tumble and bears oh my!

2007-06-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

I awoke in wellsboro, PA on the porch of the church youth center surrounded by our entire group. The night before was not a very good sleep. This particular morning Win and I were off to a very slow start and once again we were distracted by a quaint diner on the side of the road. We chalked our location for the sweeps and planned to get only a cup of coffee. Naturally i ordered two eggs, corn beef hash, and toast. The entire staff was amazing as they ended up paying for us and giving us an alternative route which led us around the hills! We left the diner full of food and hope that we would possibly pass at least one biker on the road, now that we had this shortcut.

This is where things went a little sour (this will be the dramatic version). We were zooming down this country road and a bear crossed the street in front of us! We didn't know what to do so we started making loud noises to scare it away. The bear roared and roared, tossing anything in its way towards us. Win and I dodged these objects and i created a diversion with my arm warmers. As i was saving a little boy from the bears grasp my bike hit a divot in the road and i tipped over, hitting my head and my side on the cement. I awoke to the calming sound of Wins voice. There was no longer a bear and all i can really remember is this story.

Truth: We saw a bear. I fell later on. Slight injury. One day in the van. Headache.
Lie: No little boy was injured during this day.

Build day: Franklin, PA

2007-06-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

Sweeping and chalking

2007-06-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

On the ride from Wellsboro to Coudersport I was a "sweeper" with Evan. Sweepers are riders who start riding last, usually an hour or so after the pack heads off for the morning. Yesterday Evan and I decided to leave at 11:30am. We started our morning by eating breakfast with Win, Pat, and Greg at the local diner. This was a half hour after our breakfast at the church. Then we headed to the bike shop where we got our tires and cables changed and I got a new seat, which I desperately needed! After that the ride was a breeze. 45 miles of ups and downs, and only a little wind and rain, but we took it nice and slow. And we even got some great chalking messages along the way, which I'm sure were from Greg, as he is the only one who would take the time to get off his bike and draw pictures. About the chalk: This is our form of communication. If you stop to eat, you draw an arrow in the road pointing to the restaurant. If you make a wrong turn, chalk it so someone else doesn’t do it. If you make a right turn, do the same thing. Now this isn’t always efficient, seeing that sometimes we are going 40 miles an hour and may miss a small pink arrow, but it works most times. Once we rode into Coudersport we had ice cold showers at a ski lodge and then slept outside on the deck at a youth bureau. Last night we learned: Win doesnt like cuddling, and Logan is the snore Nazi and may have to sleep in solitude from now on.

Rumble strips: The ride to wellsboro

2007-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

There were hills, hills, and more hills. But besides that there are these great things called rumble strips about every 10miles. Now those really hurt the hands. So i was almost done with this 70 mile trip when my tire blows. I changed it myself for the first time and rode down the hill. This is where Win and I decided we would need two dinners Our first dinner french toast and chili cheese dogs. Then we begged two separate hotels for showers and a subway restaurant for dinner. No dice at the subway, they said they couldn't accommodate 30 people - lame. But we did find a motel which gave us one shower. So by 9:30 my chore group cooked up dinner and by 10:30 i was in my sleeping bag outside where apparently there is a large slug population. I woke up this morning with 6 slugs stuck to me, gross. Logan pointing the first one out which was sleeping on my pillow. EW Tonight im staying on the porch.

George Bakers Garage: The ride to Towanda

2007-06-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

The day began slow and steady. It was hott and we had a lot of hills ahead of us. I rode along with Bri, eric and kyle, once again our bike and build directions were far from accurate and the roads were not always labeled. So we come to a fork in the road. Kyle goes left. The rest of us stop (smart ones). Soon a huge motorcycle man in a VW beetle comes along and helps us out. Just like pretty much everyone we had talked to, he told us our directions took us way out of the way but HE had a solution. He said "go back thata way and take a right at george bakers barn." this sums up getting directions in PA.It's either take a left at the squirrel or turn at that light over yonder. Anyways...george baker and his barn was no where to be found. But we made it to lunch and we found pat who later in the day took the first risk in his life after unzippering his jersey. We took a shortcut, made it the 68 miles to towanda and sat under a tree for 2 hours while we waited for the van to bring us to the Y. That's where i got a major surprise! My Ithaca roommates were waiting for me at the y!!!!! that night we ate dinner together and caught up, it was amazing. Plus to top it off a bunch of us slept under the star, at the bottom of the hill with all the hay bails. The stars were amazing! Great day.

PA roads and drivers = many grunts, honks and one car accident

2007-06-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

The last couple days have been increasingly hard as our mileage increases and our directions get even more confusing. It's just not the same turning around on a bike as it is in a car. Everyday somehow i get to the destination, but on the way sometimes i really think i am going to give up. The other day for instance, on the way from Poughkeepsie to white lake there was a major communication breakdown in the directions. Right away the group i was with got lost. even team A had trouble. Team A is what we like to call the people who immediately leave, bike really fast and get there like 8 hours before everyone. I myself am in team Q possibly. I stop everywhere, swim, eat, drink, pee, etc...anyways...we got lost right after we crossed the Hudson and until we entered the great town where Woodstock happened. SO i was quite grumpy and tired the whole day.

The amazing thing has been however, that when we see people on the side of the road or in a restaurant they give us money because they support our cause. and when we finally do get to our destination the people that greet us are so amazing that i forget about how angry and grumpy i was and all the hills and mountains i just went over and it doesn't matter anymore.

So today is our day off and we had a car wash for habitat and raised about $900. Which is great! I have never made that much in a car wash before and it was pretty fun. but i do have to say, relating to cars, PA has horrible drivers who hate bikers. i almost got ran off the road many times and cars just couldn't stop beeping at me. i think they like the spandex!

From NY to PA

2007-06-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

The Dottie Henson River

2007-06-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Ride to Kent: Getting lost and loving it

2007-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Derrick

2007-06-13T18:30:00.001-07:00

The past couple days have been really hard both mentally and physically. Yesterday we rode from Mass. back into Connecticut, 68 miles. It was a hard day full of hills and muscle pains and many many wrong directions. There were a few great stops tho and beautiful sites. But unfortunately there was a bad spill on one of the hills. Derrick fell going down a hill about 45 mph. The hills are really steep so riders get going fast even if you're not pedaling and breaking occasionally. So he got taken to the hospital after laying down for about 6 hours and it turns out he broke his pelvic bone. He was amazingly strong and stoic the whole time, no one would have ever known how much pain this kid was in. he cant continue with us and sitting here in NY we miss him already! Heal derrick and come back and conquer these hills next summer, we are all thinking of you!

Riding with win and entering Mass.

2007-06-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

Connecticut and highest peaks

2007-06-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Wheel Dipping and Beginnings

2007-06-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

New pictures

2007-06-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

The plus or minus 10 rule

2007-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

yesterday was our first day out on the road and let me tell you my body felt the road. We left RI and we were supossed to ride 30 miles to connecticut, 46 miles later, we were there. Apparently there is a plus or minus 10 rule where the directions could be way over or way under mileage. I ran out of water, the van never made it lunch, i was sore in every place possible, and in case you didnt know this state is full of hills! But even through all of this it was an amazing experience. Riding behind, in front and beside people who were motivating me and feeling the same way i was made it so much more rewarding and even a little easier. And the best part was arriving at a beautiful church in woodstock where we were welcomed with a BBQ chicken dinner, grilled veggies, potatoe salad etc..we had a wonderful time meeting and greeting all the wonderful people of woodstook. Later on my friend from ithaca, a bike and build alumn, Todd, had his parents drop off amazing ice cream to us for dessert. Today we are in massachusetts rooming at our trip leaders house. this beautiful farm house where we will be camping in the backyard. and today went a lot better than yesterday, i had a snack, a good lunch, didnt run out of water, AND my tire blew on th eroad and i knew how to fix it!

The Build Part

2007-06-09T10:41:00.001-07:00

After a strenuous couple of days of orientation games,

Learning how to change tires, spokes, and the bike man using all sorts of words i dont know, i am just hoping nothing goes wrong with my bike from here to seattle...

We did get an amazing dinner last night from the lovely folks at a local church

Although i did eat heartily it was not enough to make me a strong builder as was seen by todays events. We awoke at 7:00 am and were bussed over to our first project site of the trip. A house that already had a basement and a first floor, but obviously there was still a lot to do.

My first job was to move a lot of wood from one pile to another. This i was good at.

My next job was to wrap the house in tyvek. This is something I can say I will never really want to do again. After that i took on a lot of odd jobs like hammering, raking and moving dirt. By 11:30 it started to rain too hard and we had to stop working altogether. So the rest of the day is ours! I have to to say on our next build i hope we are painting!

The Smallest State

2007-06-07T19:37:00.001-07:00

I have finally arrived and met everyone and I cannot tell you how excited and happy I am! Everyone is so nice and different and exciting, i love it already. Today we got to know each other and went over what our day to day life is going to be like and we played those really great ice breaker games...well those could have been left out. The high point was painting our bike and build trailer in which painting Nazi derrick made all final decisions and squealed at me every time i messed up and rolled over the wrong section with white paint. I'll post before and after pictures later. Tomorrow we are eating group breakfast at 7:30am and a packed day of events continues from there.

PS: I seemed to be the only one concerned about confronting a tornado in the Midwest - apparently its no big deal.

And so it begins

2007-06-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

My first blog. My first post. I even taught dad how to use this thing today, so dad i better see some comments! Well i am leaving for Rhode Island tomorrow and I think I am ready to bike. Starting on the 10th I will be on a bike for almost everyday for two months. I will stay connected through this blog and my cell phone. So leave me comments, call me, email me, bridget.sheehan85@gmail.com ...stay in touch! On the sidebar you will see all the dates and locations of where i will be and weekly mail drop information. Well I am off to Rhode Island, 7 hour road trip with mother and grandma, more to come!