Hey we have 1.5 weeks to go

We just had our 3rd and final day off. This was long anticipated and much deserved after so much biking. The days preceding this day off were very fun but very hard. This time we actually had it in a town with a population over 10,000. The only bad thing about this is that you have so much you want to do and see in the awesome city that you could potently end up wearing yourself out. This is what happened. But it was so worth it. Missuala, Montana is one of the most interesting towns I have visited so far. I went to a concert in the park during the morning and floated the river during the evening. Now when you think of a river in Montana your first instinct might not be to get in this river. You might reason that the river could be cold since it is in Montana. Well you must remember that we are all crazy enough to bike across the country so the thought cold river never entered our mind. It should have. As soon as I hit the water I knew that this would be an interesting experience. It got so cold that after an hour of continues shivering I decided to get out and walk along the highway for the rest of the way. A few other of my warm blooded friends had the same idea. This wasn't the most comfortable experience of my life but at least I can say that I floated a river in Montana.

Other that this the days have continued in regular fashion. Wake up at 5:00, leave by 7:00, lunch at mile 40ish, 2nd lunch at mile 70ish (for long days), 3rd lunch on your own (if only you knew how much we ate), get into town, nap, snack, check out town, write post cards, dinner, other stuff, snack, and sleep. And I'm still hoping to see a bear. From a safe distance.

Ok this is going to be long but worth the read

This week has been the best week at Bike and Build so far. So we did the infamous Teton pass a few days ago. And it was epic. The Teton pass is named after the famous Rocky Teton Mountains of Wyoming. Everyone had been talking it up for days so most of us were prepared for the hardest day of the trip. It wasn't. The climb started at the beginning of a bike friendly trail and ended about 4 or 5 miles later. Granted it was steep (about 10% a grade the whole time) but doable. There were actually times when my front wheel would go up but that might just be due to my riding style. I didn't stop the whole way up. Now this isn't because I'm an amazing cyclist. Nope. But rather because I thought that if I stopped and took a break then I wouldn't have the energy of willpower to continue (Ha!) The best part came at the top when a few others who were already there had music going from the van and were cheering everyone else on. As more and more riders got to the top we formed a line and hit (friendly tap) the riders as they were nearing the top. We then proceeded to have a mini celebration consisting of a dance party and a peanut butter, banana, and raisin sandwich. Oh and the 2 mile descent was pretty cool too.

A few days ago I did a pretty amazingly stupid but cool thing (ok more stupid in retrospect but cool at the time). I got dangerously close to a wild buffalo at Teton national park. I was riding along when I spotted a huge hunk of fur walking in the field of the national park. Of course I call over Michael and Frannie to check it out with me so I would feel safer (like 2 other people can defend me against a 500 lb wild beast). After we realized that it wasn’t a bear (yes there was a short time when we thought it was and ran away as fast as possible) we got a few up close snap shots of the thing and attracted a whole entourage of RVs. That same day we also got to go over the continental divide which was over 9,000 feet. No wonder I was out of breath all day.

We entered Montana yesterday. I believe there’s no better welcome into a state than a 3 mile down hill right after the state line and that’s what we got. Me and Montana are going to get along great!

One of the reasons (one of many) why this week has been so amazing is that headwinds are almost non-existent here. I’ll take big mountains over the windy plains any day. Yeah going up a mountain is hard but at least you get some nice scenery going up it and a sweet reward at the top. A downhill! But with windy plains there is no reward or anything to look forward to. It just a vast hopelessness of fighting the wind the whole way while seeing cornfield after cornfield after cornfield after cornfield after dang cornfield. We also got to go to Yellowstone National Park yesterday. We took a swim in the Yellowstone river which was so awesome. Until we saw the leaches. On us. But that problem was quickly resolved and it turned out to be a great evening. Oh and we saw a bear up close. But in the safety of our van.

Another great thing about this week is that we actually had hosts who took us into their house overnight. I can barely remember the last time we were in a house or for that matter the last time we slept in a real bed (3 times). Or took a shower when it wasn’t cold or when someone wasn’t rushing you. It was a big highlight of the week. Especially because they had a hot tube and 3 cute little children. Thanks Mrs. Dona! All in all one of the best weeks ever and I haven’t even written half of it.

Surreal sunsets and snow caked mountain tops

Random collection of facts and thoughts

~Wyoming is the most awesome state ever.

~Surprisingly, the vast expanse of space and sparse population of the state do not make it boring (unlike Nebraska). In fact it is these characteristics that work to give it a type of rustic and enchanting feel.

~ I spent an afternoon on a real Wyoming ranch. I got to milk goats for the first time and feed the milk to baby sheep. No I did not drink this milk nor did I have an impulse to do so.

~ My total Number of flat tires: 9

~ Average number of flat tires: 4

~ Most number of flat tires by one person: 16 (sorry Emily!)

~ Total number of cemeteries passed: 125ish

~ We did another century ride yesterday in Wyoming. It went very well and was so much easier than riding 77 miles straight into the wind.

~ The day we did the century we didn't pass one town that had more than 30 people. We only passed one single gas station. Literaly 100 miles of nothing.

~ I think we are one day away from being in the Rockies.

~We just met a man on the road who is biking 17,000 miles around America. He has been on the road for 3 years now. Wow.

~ We are about to climb the Tetons of Wyoming. It is said that many cars will honk at cyclists going up this. Not because of impatience but for encouragement to complete the seemingly crazy task at hand. Hmmmm. Or maybe they honk as if to say "what the heck are you thinking".

~We are now in Grizzly Country. I don't think the dog pepper spray I carry on my bike would work on a bear. Let's not find out.

~ I just passed a town with a population of 1. Yes that's right 1. I got a picture

~ Jeff Hunt and Mark Smiley thew me into a moving river. It was cold. And wet

~ 2.5 weeks until we reach the coast of Seattle.

Oh boy I can't wait for Wyoming

What do you call 3 trees beside each other in Nebraska? A forest! We are almost out of Nebraska and all I can say is whoa. It is our day off today and it is much needed (we get 3 complete days off this summer)! This week we biked approximately 495 miles with 104, 77, 88, 84, 95, 47. Whew! It was certainly the most challenging state I have biked through yet and I'm sure most everyone else can agree with this statement. Imagine 25mph winds. Now imagine biking straight into these winds for 90 miles while staring at cornfields for hours. Towns are few and far between. I have literally ridden through many "towns" here where the population signs read 50 people or less(one had 9 people!) We are in the middle of nowhere. This will drive anyone insane. Riding in these conditions and this atmosphere is what we did for the past 6 days. Although some days the wind was much better than on other days. If we got lucky, we rode into crosswinds which are a nice break from tailwinds. Yet strong crosswinds threaten to fling you off your bike and into oncoming traffic (if there is any) and fighting to stay on your bike can sure make one tired.

One of the biggest challenges of the week had to be staying properly hydrated. We're basically out in the middle of nowhere and if you run out of water then it can potentially be a problem. The trip leaders did a great job in making sure we got the H20 and Gatorade we needed. It's strange because this crazy wind will blow all the sweat off of you and one might be tricked into thinking that they haven't produced much sweat. Oh but they have. These past few days I've gotten into a situation where I wasn't consuming enough electrolytes. This can make for some pretty tough days. Without the aid of essential electrolytes, exhaustion comes much easier and faster. A few of the riders found me just siting in the sun on the side of the road. I just had one of those moments where I couldn't peddle another stroke. They took me into some shade, gave me some electrolytes, and off I went. Also one of the riders took it upon himself to make sure I had enough Gatorade when I got in from biking (because I was acting really stange)and was constantly making me drink the whole afternoon. Times like these (and many other times this week) have really shown me that none of us could get through without the constant help and encouragement of people in our group.

While it is a safe statement to say that Nebraska isn't one of my favorite states, the challenge of it makes one a stronger cyclist. The fact that we biked directly into the strong, prevailing winds for the majority of the time will certainly make the upcoming Rockies easier to handle. The large distances between each "town" allowed us opportunities to come up with creative ways to pass the time while on the bike. Aside from counting road kill (oh boy what fun), we managed to have "dance parties" on the side of the road. On certain days we do this in 13 mile increments so we can celebrate that fact that we are 13 miles closer from being out of the state of Nebraska. We get off the bike, turn on the portable speakers, and dance. Didn't I say Nebraska will make anyone insane? To give it credit this state did have some pretty cool things. There was a fossil museum that me and some of the other riders explored. It was worth biking 8 miles out of the way because you got to see some amazing fossils that had once roamed Nebraska (not the fossils but the actual animal). Apparently Nebraska once had a climate like Africa where Rhinos and elephants roamed. Well I could write so much more about this amazingly intense and awesome week but my time is running up in the library.

"What are Hushpupies?"

So I underestimated the distance that we had actually traveled. According to other rider's odometers we are now actually about 1,850 miles into the ride. This means that yesterday was actually our halfway day! To celebrate we rode 104 miles. Ha! Ok so that was actually already on the trip schedule and had nothing to do with our halfway celebration. But it was still cool that we had our first century (100 miles) ride that day. All in all my first century went really well. Most everyone else felt the same way. I've learned that you can ride way farther than you think you can as long as you have several rest stops, fun people, an overabundence of food, an optimistic view, hills to keep you sane, and of course ice cream. Fun people is probably the most important thing on the list. We've invented several games along the way to keep the entertainment level high. This includes: A.) Seeing how long you can scream while going down a hill (I won), B.) Getting 18 wheelers to honk at you, C.) Counting the number of road kill per mile, D.) Playing "would you rather" (I can't even explain), E.) Playing the spelling game (I lose or should I say loose) We were just so exhausted by the end of the day due to our 4:30 a.m wakeup, 90 degree heat, and of course 104 miles. I was asleep by 7:23 p.m.

We are in Nebraska now. If Nebraska is half as nice as Iowa then I will be happy. So far Iowa has been my favorite state. Who would have thought Iowa would have been so amazingly beautiful and hilly? On a sad note 2 of our riders had to leave. Julie, a national competitor in tae kwon do, received a broken arm from doing tae kwon do at the YMCA and Hanah had to leave for a while to be with a friend in need. But we plan for both to be back soon. They will be greatly missed by all.

On an interesting side note, I found it very funny that most the people on this trip do not know what a hushpuppy is. That's like asking what a French fry is! I never knew that hushpuppies were such a southern food. I also never relized how different things could be up here. Today I had to discribe what a fire ant and a red wasp was. Also, the amount of fried food consumed up here is like 1/4 the amount that would be consumed where I'm from. One of the first things I'm going to eat when I get back is chicken fried steak smothered in gravy (also a dish that many have never heard of) But I love learning new things and seeing how other people do stuff.

1,350 miles and counting

So we're in Iowa now. Is there less corn? Yes! And more hills! (I love hills) But the wind is still here and I feel it is too stubborn to leave anytime soon. So the States I have successfully biked through so far are: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, PA, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Before this trip I had only been to one of these states (New York). We still have Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana (really looking forward to that one) and of course Seattle. None of which I have ever visited. We've already biked about 1,350 miles, passed 81 cemeteries and countless roadkill, fallen about 17 times (approximate group total), and got approximately 3 flat tires per person ( I beat the average with a total of 8 flat tires). I think either next week or the week after that is our halfway point. Wow how time flys when you're having fun!

Yesterday I had one of the best rides I've had on this entire trip. It was early morning, the wind hadn't really picked up yet, the sky was blue, it was nice and cool, and the birds were chirping. It was just really pretty. I think I've finally made my peace with the flatness and found the beauty of cornfields. Afterwards, we all went to a pool party that one of the previous Bike and Builders hosted. It was a blast! A perfect ending to a perfect day. Today was a little tougher (82 miles) but was interesting. Some of us stopped at the Dairy Queen for a break. I've found we make plenty of food stops. The local news reporters just happened to be there and we got on T.V. They just asked us a few questions about the organization and filmed us riding around the parking lot. I'm glad we got some good press for afordable housing.